North Central junior Nathan Pipkorn makes a move to the basket against Hannahville on Feb. 19, 2026 at Hannahville School.

HANNAHVILLE — A pair of double digit scoring runs were key for the North Central Jets as they knocked off the Hannahville Soaring Eagles 66-53 here Thursday.

The first run came after Hannahville took an early 7-2 lead. The Jets responded with a 15-5 run as junior Riley Cretens knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing. Senior Brooks Castle had three layups during the run and had six of his 15 points in the first quarter,

“This win gives us a big boost of confidence going into districts on Monday,” Castle said. “Credit to Hannahville, they shot the ball well tonight and we knew we had to stay aggressive on the offensive side to win this game.”

The second run came with the Jets trailing 37-33. Cretens drove to the basket for a layup and moments later Castle got an offensive rebound and got the putback to tie the game at 37. Cretens split a pair of free throws to put the Jets up 38-37.

“I was back in the starting lineup tonight,” Cretens said. “Coach, expected me to have a big game and I just came into this game playing the way I knew I could and getting this win was big for us.”

A layup by Castle put the Jets up 40-37 and junior Kaden Malone drove to the basket for a layup after Cretens connected on a pair of free throws to extend the Jets lead to 44-37 and junior Nathan Pipkorn closed the run on a layup to put the Jets up 46-37.

Cretens had nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as North Central outscored Hannahville 20-13 in the fourth stanza.

Devin Arteaga led the way for the Soaring Eagles with 19 points and Sam Beaver added 14.

It was a hard fought game,” Arteaga said. “We came in wanting to play tight defense and we did that. They were just shooting the ball well tonight.”

The Jets who faced Bark River-Harris Friday will host Carney-Nadeau in the District 99 tournament on Monday night. The Jets also won the JV game 69-13

North Central 17 16 13 20 — 63

Hannahville 14 15 11 13 — 53

North Central — Cretens 25, Stage 2, Pipkorn 5, Malone 12, Sandoval 5, Castle 15, Dombrowski 2. FT: 17-24; F: 14; Fouled Out: Stage; 3-pointers: Cretens 2, Sandoval.

Hannahville — Arteaga 19, M.J, Smith 9, Beaver 14, K. Smith 3, Lea 8. FT: 5-8; F: 14; Fouled Out: None; 3-pointers: Arteaga 5, Beaver 2, Lea 2, M.J. Smith.