Lady Grizzlies Season Ends In Heartbreak

The Lady Grizzlies had a whirlwind of a week last week.  They began their district tournament last Tuesday.  Grace entered the tournament as the number two seed and first matched up with number three seeded Alturas Academy.  Alturas is a team in the building stage and are not on the same level as the Lady Grizzlies or Butte County, the other team in the district tournament.  Grace effortlessly dispatched of Alturas and advanced to game two against Butte County.  The two teams split the regular season match ups with each team winning on their home court.  In Thursdays semi final game the Lady Grizzlies got off to a slow start scoring just four first quarter points and falling behind by five.  Grace was able to bounce back in the second period and by halftime the game was close with just one point separating the two teams.  In the third period the teams went back and forth with the Grizzlies ending the period with a small lead.  Early in the fourth the Grizzlies looked like they had the momentum as they got out to a four point lead just two minutes in forcing a Pirate timeout.  Out of the timeout things fell apart for the Grizzlies as they watched Butte County go on an eleven to zero run.  Grace could not overcome that run and fell in game two of the tournament losing by five points.  That loss set Grace up for a rematch with Alturas.  Once again the Lady Grizzlies had no trouble beating Alturas eliminating them from the tournament and sending Grace to the must win game against Butte County.  The Pirates held the advantage being well rested and suffering no losses in the tournament.  This meant that Grace not only needed to beat Butte Monday night but would then have to turn around and beat them again on Wednesday night in order to extend their season to the state tournament.

Monday night's game was one of those classic Grace vs Butte County games that have seemed to come up in various sports between the two teams in recent years.  Each team opened up with a three point basket then the momentum swings began.  Butte grabbed the first swing of the pendulum establishing the first substantial lead of the game.  Grace then roared right back into things and the first quarter ended with the Pirates leading by just a single point.  Early on in the game the Pirates were better at attacking the rim while Grace was settling for outside shooting.  The Pirates also made it a point to constantly harass Kallie Stoddard, the Grizzlies point guard and floor general.  In the second period both teams struggled to add to their score.  Halfway through the period each team had only scored two points.  The rest of the quarter was not a lot different and everyone went to the halftime break with Butte still maintaining their one point lead.  The third quarter saw more momentum shifts.  Grace was able to get a lead but a full court press by Butte forced some turnovers and the Pirates went on a run.  The lead changes continued through the first few minutes of the quarter.  The Lady Grizzlies finally put a little separation in the score building a six point lead then just like that it evaporated down to just a one point lead.  The third ended with Grace leading by three points.  The Grizzlies held the lead for most of the fourth quarter but any time they tried putting some distance between them the Pirates were able to answer with a three point shot.  With just forty seconds left Grace held a four point lead and had the ball.  While trying to run some time off the clock the Grizzlies turned the ball over on a traveling call.  The next thing you knew the Pirates only trailed by two with just three seconds left.  A quick inbound and three point shot by Butte missed but Grace gave up the rebound and the Pirates got the put back at the buzzer to tie the game and go to overtime.  In the overtime period the Grizzlies panicked after Butte took a quick five point lead.  Grace began to throw up desperation three point shots that missed and then proceeded to foul the Pirates trying to get the ball back.  Butte County shot an astonishing twenty foul shots just in the overtime period.  The Grizzlies were not able to keep pace with all of the foul shooting and lost the game by seven points ending their season.  Grace will graduate three senior players.  Evie Olenslager, Lilly Gilbert, and Karlie Christensen.  They will miss the length of Olenslager and Gilbert and the ball handling of Christensen.  However the Lady Grizzlies will retain a very solid group of girls many of which played significant varsity minutes to come back next season and compete again for a district title.

Grizzlies 4 15 14 9 42

Pirates 9 11 12 13 47

K.Stoddard 8, K.Christensen 7, K.Mansfeild 7, P.Steadman 8, C.Yost 4, T.Jorgensen 7

Grizzlies 10 6 16 12 10 54

Pirates 11 6 12 14 17 61

K.Stoddard 18, K.Christensen 10, K.Mansfeild 6, L.Gilbert 3, P.Steadman 10, C.Yost 3, T.Jorgensen 4