Grizzlies Win District Title!

The Grace Grizzlies season has had its share of ups and downs.  The Grizzlies started the season missing several key players due to injury and eligibility issues.  Even with the missing players Grace was able to stay competitive and even picked up a handful of wins.    The Grizzlies finished the regular season with just an 8-13 record with their final game being a blowout loss to district rival Butte County.  As the regular season wrapped up there was a real unease around Grace and what the team’s chances were of making it to the state tournament.  Luckily for the Grizzlies they would once again be at full strength going into the district tournament.  That tournament started last Tuesday with Grace facing off with Alturas Prep.   With the conference being just three teams deep and Alturas being a new start up program the seeding was more of a formality.  In that first game the Grizzlies quickly dispatched Alturas by the score of 74-20.  This set up the round two game of Grace against Butte County.  The bracket was set up as a double game elimination meaning that the loser of game two would face Alturas in a loser out game.

In the round two game between Grace and Butte County the Pirates got off to an early lead and held that lead for most of the first quarter.  In the last two minutes of the quarter Grace put together a great run and took the lead away.  In the second period it was the Grizzlies turn to hold the lead for the majority of the quarter.  The Pirates did chip away at the lead and temporarily took the lead away.  In the closing seconds of the first half the game was tied before Grace senior Derek Hill hit a buzzer three point shot sending the teams to the break with Grace holding a slim three point lead.  As the third period kicked off the Grizzlies came out on fire and quickly built the lead to ten.  However slowly but surely the Pirates began to chip away at that lead eventually getting as close as four points.  The Grizzlies regained control of the game in the last minute of the quarter and the third period finished with Grace leading by seven.  The fourth quarter seemed to never end with both teams making several trips to the charity stripe.  The Pirates were unable to fully capitalize on those trips making just six out of fifteen foul shots.  Meanwhile the Grizzlies made eight out of twelve in the quarter and secured the round two win.

That win meant that Butte County would now have to play Alturas in a loser out game.  It also gave Grace the upper hand as they had yet to lose in the tournament meaning that whoever won the Butte County vs Alturas game would have to beat Grace twice to win the district title.  Once again as everyone suspected Butte County easily got by Alturas setting up the rematch with Grace.  That game took place Monday night at Thunder Ridge High School.

In Monday night’s match up if Grace grabbed the win they would be crowned the district champs but a loss would mean another trip to Thunder Ridge on Wednesday.  As the game got going the Pirates once again took the early lead.  Grace did not let them get away this time and they quickly reeled in the Pirates.  The majority of the first quarter was evenly played by the two teams but Grace finished the quarter with a three point lead.  In the second period the Grizzlies slowly began to pull away and by the halftime break the Grace lead had grown to ten.  The Pirates opened up the second half with an effective press.  The Grizzlies turned the ball over several times and just three and a half minutes into the third the ten point lead was cut to just one.  Eventually Grace settled back in and finished the quarter building the lead back to six points.  The fourth quarter was a back and forth battle with the Grizzlies maintaining a seven point lead for the majority of it.  Some foul shots in the final minutes would push the lead up to thirteen as the final buzzer sounded.  The Grizzles won the district championship over their biggest rival in a two game sweep.  The win does not guarantee Grace a spot in the state championships.  The Grizzlies will have to play in a play-in game on Saturday to qualify for the tournament.  That game will be at the neutral site of American Falls.  Their opponent is not yet known at the time of the writing of this article.

Grizzlies 19 12 18 16 65

Pirates 13 15 14 15 57

D.Hill 14, J.Smith 2, B.Kimball 6, L.VanGass 16, C.Smith 14, C.Reeves 4, P.Yost 7

Grizzlies 12 14 8 16 50

Pirates 9 7 12 9 37

D.Hill 8, J.Smith 1, B.Kimball 7, L.VanGass 19, C.Smith 8, C. Reeves 2, P.Yost 5