Grizzlies Find Success On Senior Night

The Grace Grizzlies boys basketball team hosted the Butte County Pirates for their senior night last Friday.  Prior to tipoff the Grizzlies celebrated their four senior players by having their parents escort them onto the court to the applause of their loyal fans.  Then during the halftime break the ten senior pep band members as well as the lone senior cheerleader got their turn in the spotlight as they got the same treatment with their parents escorting them onto the court.

The game itself was the last game of the regular season and it was a big one for the Grizzlies.  Their opponent Butte County was not only a huge rival of the Grizzlies but the Pirates had won the previous match-up.  That meant that if the Pirates won on Friday they would get the number one seed in the upcoming district tournament.  This also meant that not only would the Grizzlies need to win to earn the number one seed but they would have to win by more than seven points which was how far they had lost to the Pirates three weeks earlier.

It took a few minutes of game time but the Grizzlies got things rolling early on.  Senior Chase Smith got six of his points in the first quarter and helped boost the Grizzlies to an eight point lead at the end of the first.  The second quarter saw the biggest outpouring of points by each team.  The Pirates attempted a run to get back into the game but the Grizzlies were able to fend off the attack and outscore the Pirates by five.  Bodee Smith hit his first three of the game in that same quarter that added to the lead that stretched to thirteen at the halftime break.  Though they already held a comfortable lead the Grizzlies did their best to slam the door shut on the Pirates in the third.  The Grizzlies spread the scoring around and matched their second quarter output.  Seven different Grizzlies scored in the third and the lead grew to over twenty points.  In the fourth quarter the Grizzlies continued to pull away.  Bodee Smith led the way with hitting three three-point shots in the fourth.  The Grizzlies easily cruised to the win on senior night and secured the number one seed in the district tournament.  

By securing the number one seed the Grizzlies will get a bye in the first round and will await the winner between Butte County and Alturas Prep.  Based on everything we’ve seen this season Butte County should win that game easily.  That will put the Grizzlies and Pirates facing off again.  That game will have already taken place by the release of this edition but after the writing of this article.  Though the Grizzlies got the big win on senior night they should be expecting a completely different team in the district tournament.  Last Friday the Pirates were without a pair of 6’ 5” post players that are expected to play in the tournament.  I suspect some very competitive games as it is likely that the Grizzlies and Pirates will meet no less than twice in the tournament and could be three times.  All of the tournament games will be on a neutral court in Aberdeen.  The Grizzlies first game will have taken place on Tuesday with their next game scheduled for either Monday or Tuesday next week.  Check out next week’s article to see how the Grizzlies are doing in tournament play and how their chances of a state berth look.

Grizzlies 16 18 18 16 68

Pirates 8 13 7 10 38

K. Kimball 5, K. Edwards 2, G. Draper 11, C. Mecham 4, B. Smith 18, B. Andersen 3, C. Smith 10, 

P. Yost 10