This Bloomington North boys basketball team is happy to put the past behind them.

The big smile on Derrick Cross' face gives it away when asked the difference a year makes. Morale was tough to come by when coming to games and practices meant finding out who was not going to be available that day as injuries and illness ran rampant. The Cougars never found out what they could be.

This team, this year, the esprit de corps winds its way from its four returning starters on down to the freshman ninth man, who looked like he was playing his 10th game, not his first. Their collective effort on both ends buried Bedford North Lawrence 71-50 in the season opener at the Cougar Den on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

"I'm super impressed with everybody," Cross said. "I think that we all just want to be he

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