By Christopher Duclos

Update: Ballard Athletics sent us this great video of one of the night's big plays: a pass from Raymond Owens to Nate Rauda to Seth Berger for a slam dunk. Watch it here.

Original: Ballard boys basketball opened their season Friday night, Nov. 30, against non-conference opponent Cleveland high school.

Prior to tip off, a moment of silence was had for Ballard High world history teacher and former basketball coach John Nygaard. Nygaard, 43, died in his home Thursday, Nov. 29, after being out sick this week with pneumonia. He was loved by his students and those he coached at Ballard High School. His untimely passing was unexpected and brought sadness to those close to him. A couple of the players could be seen wrapping arms around each other during the silence.

On the court, the boys from Ballard were stout, keeping Cleveland under control as they outscored the Eagles in 3 of the 4 quarters. The final quarter, Ballard was outscored 19-18, but by then it didn't matter.

The three players that led the charge were UMass commit Seth Berger, Johnny Verduin and Ray Owens. Owens led on the score sheet, netting 13 points, while Berger and Verduin had 12 each. Other notable performances on the court came from Chase Deger (10 points) and Suart MacGeorge (5).

The beavers will travel to Sammamish on Friday, Dec. 14 to take on the Skyline Spartans. Tip off for that game will be at 7:30 p.m.

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