Grizzlies Punch Ticket To State

The Grizzlies boys basketball team capped off a wild district tournament last Thursday with a narrow win over the Butte County Pirates.  The Grizzlies facing off with the Pirates for a spot in the state tournament has become as common occurrence in February as President’s Day.  In several cases the games are very competitive and entertaining to watch for fans of the two teams but this year's tournament was especially close.  In game one of the best of three format the Pirates grabbed the win by just a single point.  During game two the Grizzlies answered back with a one point victory of their own.  That set up a winner take all district championship game that took place last Thursday.  The game took place on the neutral court in Aberdeen.  Each school brought dozens of fans with full student sections and cheerleaders with the Grizzlies also featuring their class leading pep band.  The stage was set so all that was left was for the players to take the floor for thirty-two minutes of battle that would end in either glory or crushing defeat.

The game was as expected very close right from the get go.  The teams traded baskets in the early going with the Pirates eventually gaining a slight advantage.  Then sophomore standout Carter Mecham entered the game for the Grizzlies.  In just two quick possessions Mecham took the Grizzlies from three points down to up three points.  With the momentum on their side the Grizzlies held a four point lead as the first quarter came to a close.  As the second got underway the Grizzlies continued to ride that momentum building the lead to eight points.  As it always seems to do when these two teams meet the momentum shifted and the Pirates came flying back into the game.  Even though the Pirates got the better of them in the quarter the Grizzlies still held the lead at the half but it had been cut to just a single point.  The same difference that the first two games of the series came down to.  As the second half got going it only took a little over a minute for the Pirates to tie the game up.  For the next several minutes the score would bounce back and forth from the Grizzlies leading back to tie and so on.  Grace was able to stave off the Pirates for much of the quarter but with a little more than two minutes left in the third Butte County took their first lead since very early in the first quarter.  As the quarter closed out the point differential was once again just one single point.  This time however it was the Pirates leading by one.  It would take the Grizzlies nearly half of the fourth quarter to overcome that one point deficit and retake the lead.  Grace did not hang on to the lead for long as the score bounced back and forth with several lead changes.  In the end this game came down to foul shots.  Neither team had shot particularly well on the night but in the fourth quarter the Grizzlies grabbed a slight edge in that category.   In the fourth quarter alone the Grizzlies as a team went four out of seven from the charity stripe while the Pirates could only muster two made foul shots out of nine attempts.  After the Pirates were able to cut the lead to just two points with one and a half seconds left in the game the Grizzlies just needed to get the ball inbounds to run the clock out.  Grace lobbed the ball out to halfcourt where it was tipped and for a split second was up for grabs.  Grace was able to secure the loose ball and the buzzer sounded handing the Grizzlies the district championship and a ticket to state. 

Despite their win over a solid Pirate team the Grizzlies tumultuous season resulted in a low maxprep ranking which in turn will see Grace enter the state tournament as the bottom seed in their bracket.  This means they will face top seeded Kendrick for their opening game.  Taking down the Tigers will be a tall order for the Grizzlies.  They will need to play near perfect to accomplish that feat but stranger things have happened when it comes to the high school version of March Madness.  That opening game will take place on Thursday at noon inside Vallivue High School in Caldwell.

Grizzlies 15 12 12 15 54

Pirates 11 15 14 12 52

K. Kimball 2, K. Edwards 3, G. Draper 7, C. Mecham 13, B. Smith 12, C. Smith 10, P. Yost 7