Melody Morris is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North High School for AZPreps365.com

The North High School Mustangs defeated Carl Hayden 69-57 on Tuesday night.

The game was for first place in the 6A Metro region, putting the Mustangs in the top spot. North improved its overall record to 12-4 and its regional record to 8-0. It was close the entire game and the crowd was loud and passionate for both teams. 

This is a huge win for the Mustangs. If they win their next two games, they will be undefeated region champions. Senior point guard Patrick Ayon was out due to an injury and senior Salvador Arreola took his place. Even without Ayon, the Mustangs remained driven for the championship title.

North's starting five were: Arreola, sophomore Luke Haugo, senior Iyon Brown, senior Marcel Calvin and junior Vicente Castro. Coach Dana White was communicative and passionate with his team, motivating them to play their best.

“I shoot threes first, but when the defense takes it away like they did today, they played heavy man-to man defense,'' Haugo said. "You know, you drive because they are way too high on the key.” 

Haugo scored at the end of the first quarter to give North a 15-11 lead. After Carl Hayden rallied in the second quarter, North responded. The Mustangs came back quickly and tied the contest with five minutes left in the quarter. Calvin scored before the buzzer to give North a 37-35 halftime lead. The team was energized and swift getting off the court for halftime.

“I try to take some weight off of my shoulders and put it on my teammates – not put it on them, but you know, distribute it evenly and make sure that everybody’s engaged into the game.” said Calvin when asked how he deals with pressure in a high-intensity game.

The Mustangs' determination shined through in the fourth quarter, taking a 63-55 lead with two minutes left. White said that the team played amazing and it definitely was a team effort. 

“This is what we’ve worked for,'' he said. "We started November 1st and all this time we’ve worked for this. And they got out there and they played amazing tonight.”

North plays Camelback at 7 p.m. Thursday at Camelback High School in Phoenix.