WEB EXCLUSIVE After an early lead by View Park, chants of “Defense!” and “I believe that we will win!” rang out from Section 113 of the Golden 1 Center as the Knights and Cubs cheered on their classmates.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to support the boys and cheer them on,” freshman Naia Urruty said. “Everyone is coming together as a community, helping the team to gain confidence.”

Clad in white shirts emblazoned with “We the North,” provided by the school, the student section passionately screamed for the team, who trailed by a narrow one point margin at the end of the first quarter.

“Whoever created these shirts did a great job,” sophomore Mira White said. “It really unifies the crowd and helps us feel like a team, too.”

Blown up images of the SHHS Knights’ heads bobbed above the crowd, along with red and blue pom-poms, as the teams fought tooth and nail for domination of the scoreboard.

“Cheering gives you a lot of extra energy to combat the down feeling you can get when you’re behind,” teacher Chris Person-Rennell, who started many cheers during the first half, said. “Having somebody cheer you on really helps you keep your head in the game.”

The lead bounced back and forth in the Knight versus Knight showdown — the View Park mascot is also the Knights — the point margin between teams never higher than ten points.
SHHS left the court to regroup at halftime, trailing by nine points.

Reporters Laura Mogannam, Josephine Rozzelle and Cece Giarman contributed to this story.