Both teams entered the game shorthanded.

The Bearcats were missing key player—defenseman Maximus Cable (hand).

The Mountain Lions were missing their three best scorers—Camden Babin (25 points in nine games), Masen McCosh (32 points in nine games), and Brendan Phelps (31 points in nine games).

Outside of the injury to Cable, the Bearcats were hot on a seven-game win streak.

They had scored 58 goals during the win streak.

The Bearcats consist of the combined teams of Basha High School and Perry High School.

“We have some good talent,” Bearcat Goalie Coach, Scott Lundahl, said in a pregame interview. “They’ve played with each other for a while, so their team chemistry is high.”

Lundahl credited the team’s offensive-mindedness and his insight on how to attack opposing goalies.

Their Mountain Ridge opponents were no slouches.

The Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions were as ready as the Bearcats, standing at 7-0-1 in their last eight games.

Northeast Valley News asked about the tough match-up—Lundahl kept it simple,

“Outscore them, just keep scoring, we can’t let up, we know that they have talent.”

The intensity levels were high for both teams.

The Bearcats started hot with two goals within the first seven minutes of the game.

An open net tap-in for Zaden Cheslea and a snipe from Luke Phillips got the Bearcats going.

But a costly slashing penalty on Basha Perry’s forward Jackson McCutcheon led to a power-play goal for the Mountain Lions.

The Mountain Lions quickly turned the game around with a jaw-dropping goal from Brayden Hormann, dangling through two defenders and then ripping a quick shot to tie the game.

No less than a minute later, Hormann scored again after a Basha Perry turnover.

The score was 3-2 in favor of the Mountain Lions at the end of the first period.

Basha Perry defenseman Dylan Gmelch reverse checked two Mountain Lion players, trying to bring momentum back to the Bearcats.

“Physicality is kind of our strong suit,” Basha Perry defenseman Benjamin Bunde told Northeast Valley News regarding the importance of physical play.

Bunde explained how big hits can create offensive opportunities for the team.

The second period was fast-paced and chippy gameplay.

Mountain Ridge extended their lead to two before Basha Perry finally responded with a Luke Phillips one-timer.

The Bearcats continued to get opportunities; the Mountain Lions remained stout, but with five minutes remaining in the second period, Aidan Olshefski tied the game after a battle in front of the net.

Another penalty by Basha Perry led to a Mountain Ridge goal with 2.7 seconds left, a deflating ending to the period.

Then, a Mountain Ridge penalty opened the door for Basha Perry to tie the game again.

The Bearcats capitalized on the power play, tying the game with 10 minutes remaining in the third period.

The penalties continued to hurt the Bearcats.

Shortly after tying the game, Olshefski committed a cross-check.

The Mountain Lions retook the lead at 6-5 thanks to Brayden Hormann’s third goal of the game.

Basha Perry would not quit without a fight, 30 seconds later, Weston Vert tied the game at 6-6— marking the fourth tie of the game.

Momentum was on Basha Perry’s side.

Mountain Ridge was even further shorthanded by two in-game injuries, and a penalty committed by Daniel Basinski favored Basha Perry.

The Bearcats could not capitalize on the power play, less than two minutes remained in the game.

Just as the Mountain Lions were expecting to be at full strength, Basinski’s lack of discipline led to his ejection after his third penalty of the game.

Basha Perry was back on the power play with a minute left, but the Mountain Lions ran the clock out.

The intense rivalry between Basha Perry and Mountain Ridge ended in a 6-6 draw.

“They’re still a solid team, even though they’re missing their big names,” Lundahl said, “We had a lot of mistakes, which they capitalized on, we got lucky to come out with a tie actually, with the way we played.”

Despite being shorthanded, the Mountain Lions were resilient, putting up six goals against a top team in the standings.

The Bearcats of Basha Perry is 11-3-1 after the tie with a chance to bounce back against the Horizon Huskies on Sunday Dec. 14.