Lady Grizzlies On A Hot Streak

It has been over a month since the Lady Grizzlies have tasted defeat.  Currently the girls from Grace are riding a seven game winning streak.  Granted a couple of the wins could be considered gimmies but there have also been some very impressive games by the Lady Grizzlies.  Most notably their wins last week where they defeated a scrappy 3A West Jefferson team on the road while also taking down one of the states top 2A teams Butte County.  

Last Wednesday the Lady Grizzlies hosted the Lady Pirates in a clash of top five teams.  Not only are both teams among the best in the 2A classification but they are district rivals meaning this game already has tournament implications.  With just a three team conference that includes Alturas Prep earning the regular season title means a first round bye in the district tournament as well as getting two out of three officials coming from the top seeded district.  One may assume that all officials should be the same but anyone that has seen games in other districts knows that teams become accustomed to their home district officials.  All that being said in last week’s game in Grace most pundits had the edge going to the Lady Pirates.  Throughout the first half of play it did appear that the Lady Pirates did hold an advantage over the Lady Grizzlies.  The depth of the Lady Pirates saw seven different girls score in the first half.  Grace did their best to keep pace but saw a first quarter two point deficit grow to seven at the halftime break.  Grace was not ready to quit however even after getting outscored once again in the third quarter.  With their backs against the wall and now trailing by nine the Lady Grizzlies went to work and began to claw their way back.  It took nearly the full quarter but with just thirty-five seconds left in the game the Lady Grizzlies had completed the comeback and took their first lead.  Some clutch free throws by Presliegh Steadman sealed the deal for the Lady Grizzlies and earned them the win.

Following the late game victory against their district rivals the Lady Grizzlies hit the road to West Jefferson to face the Lady Panthers.  Very early on in the season the Lady Grizzlies had easily defeated the Lady Panthers by nineteen points but nearly two months later and on the road it would be a different story this go around.  Grace got off to a slow start in last Friday’s game while the Lady Panthers got rolling right away.  After a fast first quarter Grace found themselves trailing by eight.  In the second quarter the Lady Grizzlies lethal duo of Steadman and Yost got rolling and carried Grace to a sixteen point quarter that earned them a halftime lead.  In the third quarter the Lady Panthers hit four three point shots and closed out the quarter by knotting the game up.  In the final period of play the Lady Grizzlies settled down and took control of the game.  Several different girls were able to score for Grace while their defense stepped up and limited the Lady Panthers to just six points.  The Lady Grizzlies added another mark in the win column in this game.

The Lady Grizzlies celebrate their big victory over district rivals Butte County

 The Lady Grizzlies have their work cut out for them this week if they want to keep their win streak intact.  Grace heads to Butte County on Thursday for their final conference game before the district tournament.  You can bet that the Lady Pirates will be out for revenge after giving up the win in the final seconds of last week’s game.  Then the Lady Grizzlies will travel again on Saturday this time to Raft River to face a solid Lady Trojan team. 

Grizzlies 7 11 11 18 47

Pirates 9 16 13 6 44

K. Stoddard 6, K. Mansfield 6, P. Steadman 12, C. Yost 11, T. Jorgensen 10, P. Hatch 2

Grizzlies 6 16 11 14 47

Panthers 14 4 14 6 38

K. Stoddard 9, K. Mansfield 5, P. Steadman 14, C. Yost 9, A. Cooper 2, T. Jorgensen 8