Huge Week For The Lady Grizzlies

The Lady Grizzlies finished off their regular season with three great wins last week.  They faced off with West Side, Butte County and Cokeville Wyoming.  The Lady Grizzlies were able to enjoy all three games on their home court.

They kicked off their final week taking on West Side and celebrating their three senior players on Wednesday.  The Lady Grizzlies three seniors are Lilly Gilbert, Karlie Christensen, and Evie Olenslager.  All three were escorted onto the court by their parents prior to the start of the game.  The three seniors have started several games for Grace this season and have contributed in positive ways.  The same was true in this match up last Wednesday.  The Grizzlies jumped out to a fast and early lead in this one.  The Lady Grizzlies held the Pirates to just eight made shots from the floor for the entire game.  Meanwhile the Grace offense had very little trouble scoring.  Eight different girls got on the scoreboard in the game.  The Lady Grizzlies won every quarter and finished the game with a running clock and a thirty point victory. 

The big win on Wednesday got the ball rolling for the Lady Grizzlies as they next faced their district rivals the Butte County Pirates.  This was the second meeting of the two teams this season and the game would decide who would enter the district tournament as the number one seed.  In the first game between the two Butte came out on top with an eight point win in Arco.  In this go around Grace would get off to a good start offensively putting in three baskets from behind the arch that they added nine more points to.  The Lady Grizzlies ended the first period leading by seven.  The story of the second quarter was foul shooting.  Eight of the Pirates twelve points came from the line as Butte County was able to outscore the Grizzlies in the quarter.  The Lady Grizzlies did not help their cause by going just one for six from the line in the period.  Grace was able to pick up baskets for eight more points and still held the lead at the half.  The second half of the game was very competitive and tight in terms of quarter scoring.  Neither team was able to gain any significant advantage over the other.  When the game wrapped up at the end of the fourth quarter the Grizzlies found themselves on the winning side.  Stoddard and Steadman both performed well in the game.  The two guards combined for twenty-six of the team’s fifty-three points. The Grizzlies victory was a seven point margin which ended up being one less than the eight point win the Pirates had in Arco.  That means that one point ended up being the tie breaker for the number one seed in the district tournament this week.  Grace will have already played Alturas Prep in game one of the tournament on Tuesday.  The Lady Grizzlies being heavy favorites in that game should have won that game putting them in game two of the tournament against Butte County which will be played on Thursday at Thunder Ridge High School.

The Lady Grizzlies finished their season last Saturday hosting the Panthers from Cokeville Wyoming.  The Lady Grizzlies once again got off to a hot start putting up twenty one first quarter points that they got from six different players.  In the second period the scoring slowed a little for Grace but they still nearly doubled the scoring of the Panthers in the quarter and went to the halftime break leading by twelve points.  The Panters ratcheted up the pressure in the third quarter making for a much more competitive stanza.  Tessica Jorgensen responded to the challenge from the Panthers by putting up eight points in the period.  Going into the fourth the Lady Grizzlies held a double digit lead.  The Panthers were not done however.  Cokeville got hot from outside and quickly got right back into the game.  The Panthers did not miss from the foul line and were able to add a trio of three point shots earning themselves twenty one points in the period.  The Grizzlies struggled from the line shooting under fifty percent but they did do just enough in other areas to come out on top by five points finishing off a perfect week.

Check out next week’s article to see how the Lady Grizzlies fared in the district tournament.

Grizzlies 18 11 19 5 53

Pirates 6 6 8 3 23

E.Olenslager 3, K.Stoddard 6, K.Christensen 6, K.Mansfield 6, L.Gilbert 4, P.Steadman 7, C.Yost 7, T.Jorgensen 14

Grizzlies 18 9 13 13 53

Pirates 11 12 10 13 46

E.Olenslager 1, K.Stoddard 16, K.Christensen 3, K.Mansfield 2, L.Gilbert 7, P.Steadman 10, C.Yost 4, T.Jorgensen 10

Grizzlies 21 12 15 13 61

Panthers 14 7 14 21 56

E.Olenslager 6, K.Stoddard 8, K.Christensen 7, K.Mansfield 6, L.Gilbert 2, C.Yost 11, T.Jorgensen 21