North Hills’ 2025-26 basketball regular season, just like their campaign a year prior, led them to the WPIAL playoffs.
But coach Buzz Gabos admits that this season feels a bit different. And that it feels a lot better.
A year after finishing with a 7-16 record, North Hills concluded its regular season 15-7. But the increase in wins didn’t mean the Indians were able to kick their feet up and relax in the final week of the season.
“Last year, we knew going into the last Friday that we were in (the playoffs),” said Gabos, in his 20th season with the Indians. “But, this year, we were sweating it out as of (the last Wednesday of the regular season). Nothing was guaranteed, and we had already won 13 games. It’s a little different.”
The Indians won their final three regular season games — all coming in the ultra-competitive Section 1-6A — propelling North Hills from a 5-6 record to an 8-6 record and a second-place finish in the section in a matter of three days.
“We feel like we’re a better basketball team than at this time last year,” said Gabos. “We have a little more balance than we did. We’re younger, because we only have one senior and rely on a lot of juniors, but we’ve won some games and played a pretty good schedule.”
North Hills earned the No. 6 seed in the Class 6A playoffs, securing a first-round matchup Feb. 16 against Imani Christian. Gabos’ hope is that a more battle-tested and successful Indians team will fare better than his squad did a year ago, when it stumbled down the stretch and fell to Butler, 71-54, in the first round.
“Teams have been making it difficult for us, with the different defenses we face,” Gabos said, adding that his team has won several games against playoff teams this season, both in and out of section, that it failed to win a year ago.
“It’s not going to be all that pretty. We’ve had some nights where I was just frustrated and we had to win some ugly games. But we dig in and fight.”
Giving Gabos even more optimism has been the continued emergence of one of the WPIAL’s top scoring duos in juniors Nathan Schanbacher and Jackson Long, who are scoring around 24 and 17 points per game, respectively.
“They’ve both been very consistent from the first night, going back to our tipoff tournament,” Gabos said of the duo, who each went for over 30 points in an impressive nonsection win over Penn Hills on Jan. 24. “I don’t think there’s any team that has two players who garner as much attention from the opponent as they do. Every night teams come out and try to take them away.
“One thing that’s changed with them from last year is how they’re staying patient and trusting their teammates. That’s what’s made us so effective late in the season here. They’re still putting up their numbers, but our other guys have stepped up and played well on the offensive end.”
North Hills was scheduled to wait 10 days between its regular-season finale and its postseason opener. It’s a good time to rest up for what it hopes to be a deep playoff run, but also plenty of opportunity to prepare for Imani Christian.
“We’ve had a few guys who play nearly every minute of every game,” said Gabos. “We’ll balance (rest) with making sure we’re staying in shape and keeping them sharp.”
While everyone in the section ultimately chased one-loss New Castle, the battle to the finish line was hotly contested, with North Hills, Seneca Valley, Fox Chapel Area and Pine-Richland all reaching the postseason, while Woodland Hills narrowly missed out and Butler and North Allegheny each threatened many nights.
North Hills played eight games this season that were decided by two possessions or less.
And now, in search of its first playoff win since making the semifinals in 2023, North Hills will rely on its experience in tight games and in a deep section in the postseason.
“Every game this year has been a dogfight,” Gabos said. “We’re tested and have played all these close games. Fingers crossed that we come out ready to go, get that first one and then go from there.”