Grizzlies Experience A Hard Fought Week
Jan 29, 2026 10:45AM ● By Jody Reeves
Chase Smith shoots for two against Liberty Charter. Smith has started to step up his scoring in recent games, something the Grizzlies need him to do.
The Grace Grizzlies boys basketball team had a very challenging week last week that consisted of three games against worthy opponents. The Grizzlies started their week on the road at Bear Lake. Bear Lake is never an easy place to play and the Grizzlies have had their fair share of knock down drag out battles there over the years and last week was no different. As the game got underway the Grizzly’s bigs got into some early foul trouble. Parker Yost and Chase Smith each picked up two fouls in the first period of play. The Bears wound up shooting eight first quarter foul shots making five of them which was nearly half of their first quarter points. Meanwhile the Grizzlies only went to the line once where they went just one for two. The first quarter ended with the Bears earning a slim three point lead. In the second quarter the scoring picked up with both teams but once again the difference was made at the foul line. Grace missed their only two foul shots in the quarter while the Bears would make two out of four and the halftime lead grew to five points. I hate to sound like a broken record but much of the third quarter was once again spent at the foul line. The Bears were perfect hitting all three of their charity stripe shots while the Grizzlies once again struggled making only four out of nine attempts. Grace missed a golden opportunity to cut into the lead and instead headed into the fourth quarter now trailing by seven. The Bears finally struggled from the foul line in the fourth but still managed to hit enough of them to come away with a small six point victory over the Grizzlies.
Sophmore Carter Mecham has really improved as the season has moved on. Mecham’s play has begun to have an impact on the team’s offensive output.
Following the tough road loss the Grizzlies had to turn right around and host a very good Rich County team the very next day. The scoring was fast and furious in the first quarter of this game. The Grizzlies were able to put up a very respectable eighteen points in just the first quarter. Unfortunately they were outpaced by the Rebels who were very good from beyond the arc hitting five first quarter three points shots. The scoring slowed in the second quarter as the Grizzlies were able to hold the Rebels to single digits and cut the deficit to just five points at the half. In the third quarter the Rebels hit three more deep shots and pushed the lead back to seven heading into the final period of play. The Grizzlies made a valiant effort to get back into the game but just could not get enough shots to fall. In the end some late game fouling sent the Rebels to the line for six shots where they were perfect in the quarter and pulled away for the victory handing the Grizzlies their second loss in as many days.
With one game left on the schedule for the week the Grizzlies were desperate to get back into the win column. For the third day in a row the Grizzlies took the court this time hosting Liberty Charter from the third district. Once again the Grizzlies got off to a hot start putting up eighteen first quarter points to the Patriots twelve. This time however the Grizzlies would keep their pace and follow up their first quarter performance with a nineteen point second quarter performance. The Patriots were not going away however as they nearly matched the Grizzlies scoring seventeen points of their own. Finally in the third quarter the Grizzlies would create some real separation on their way to putting up twenty more points and pushing the lead to double digits. Parker Yost would help the Grizzlies get to the finish line in this one by scoring nine fourth quarter points as Grace pulled away for the win. Several Grizzlies played well in this game notably Chase Smith who seems to just now be hitting his stride and the young sophomore Carter Mecham who put up fourteen points.
The Grizzlies face another tough week this week as they host Malad on Tuesday, then travel to Soda Springs on Thursday before finishing the week at home against Raft River on Saturday.
Grizzlies 8 16 12 16 52
Bears 11 18 14 15 58
G. Draper 11, C. Mecham 9, B. Smith 7, C. Smith 8, P. Yost 17
Grizzies 18 10 12 11 51
Rebels 25 8 14 17 64
K. Kimball 7, K. Edwards 4, G. Draper 8, C. Mecham 6, B. Smith 11, C. Smith 8, P. Yost 7
Grizzlies 18 19 20 16 73
Patriots 12 17 12 14 55
K. Kimball 6, K. Edwards 4, G. Draper 9, C. Mecham 14, B. Smith 7, B. Andersen 3, C. Smith 12, P. Yost 18
