Grizzlies Battle Through Busy Week

Of all the local teams the Grace boys basketball team had the busiest week last week.  The Grizzlies played in four games in a five day stretch.  In those four games the Grizzlies would only pick up one win but did face some solid teams with some respectable results.

The Grizzlies week started in Malad on Tuesday night.  The Dragons are off to a hot start this season so the Grizzlies knew they were in for a tough game even before the tipoff.  Despite scoring the first three points of the game the Grizzlies got down early in this game.  Once they were down by around ten points Grace struggled to ever overcome that deficit.  Though I did not receive any stats for this game my observation of the game saw several Grizzly players find themselves in foul trouble.  The foul trouble along with not enough scoring by some of the key players for Grace prevented the Grizzlies from ever getting over the hump in this game.  Grace was able to get it to a one or two possession game a couple of different times in the second half but ultimately lost the game by ten points.  A bright spot for Grace in the game was 6’5” senior post Parker Yost.  It was clear to any casual observer that Yost led the scoring for Grace, something that he has done regularly thus far this season.

After the hard fought loss in Malad the Grizzlies traveled to the Flaming Gorge Classic in Green River Wyoming over the weekend.  The Grizzlies started the weekend taking on Riverton Wyoming.  The Grizzlies struggled in this game against the larger school with superior talent.  If you just took the first and last quarters of the game the Grizzlies would have only lost by four points to a very good Wolverine team.  Unfortunately in the middle portion of the game the Grizzlies were blown out by thirty-three points.  In this game there was just no debate on who the better team was and the Grizzlies should not be ashamed of losing to a great team.

Next up for the Grizzlies was Worland Wyoming.  The Warriors presented the Grizzlies with their best chance at grabbing a win on this trip.  Bodee Smith helped the Grizzlies get started in this one with a pair of threes and eight total points in the first quarter.  After one Grace led the Warriors by three.  Then in the second quarter Yost exploded for eleven points as the Grizzlies outpaced the Warriors to take a nine point lead into the locker room.  The Warriors did their best to hang with the Grizzlies in the third but the Grizzlies still managed to push the lead to eleven going into the fourth quarter.  The Warriors hit two threes as they tried to make a run at the Grizzlies and for the first time Worland did outscore Grace in a single quarter.  However the one point fourth quarter advantage was nowhere nearly enough and Grace finally earned their second win of the season.

In their final game of the weekend Grace faced Mt. View Wyoming.  The Grizzlies got off to another good start in this game putting up a respectable sixteen points in the first quarter to the Buffalos eleven.  In the second quarter two things happened that turned the game around.  First off the Buffalos hit five three point shots.  The second issue the Grizzlies had was their inconsistency from the foul line.  Grace went zero for four in the quarter and as a result the Grizzly lead evaporated and they went to the halftime break now trailing by seven.  In the third quarter the Grizzlies continued to struggle to score adding just seven points to their total.  The Grace defense did prevent any further outside shooting but sent the Buffalos to the charity stripe for eleven shots of which they connected on eight.  In the final quarter of the game Grace did outshoot Mt. View from the floor but once again the Grizzlies struggled from the foul line while the Buffalos feasted.  In the final quarter Grace was just two for five from the line while Mt. View went eight for ten.  In the end the Grizzlies lost by nine.

Though the Grizzlies current record is not anything to brag about historically Grace teams get stronger as the season progresses.  Even with several tough teams still on their schedule and facing many potential losses the Grizzlies are not out of the state playoff conversation yet.  They are making progress and ultimately will just have to beat out Butte County to win their district.

Grizzlies 11 17 UK UK 56

Dragons 20 18 UK UK 66

K. Kimball 2, K. Edwards 4, G. Draper 4, C. Mecham 8, B. Smith 7, C. Smith 5, P. Yost 26

Grizzlies 13 2 5 8 28

Wolverines 16 20 20 9 65

(No individual stats available)

Grizzlies 14 21 13 16 64

Warriors 11 13 11 17 52

K. Kimball 6, K. Edwards 1, G. Draper 6, C. Mecham 10, B. Smith 13, C. Smith 7, P. Yost 21

Grizzlies 16 8 7 13 44

Buffalos 11 20 10 12 53

K. Kimball 2, C. Barthlome 3, G.Draper 2, C. Mecham 2, B. Smith 13, C. Smith 5, P. Yost 17