NORTH WOODS — The North Woods boys ended the regular season on a sour note Friday with a 93-43 home smackdown at the hands of Deer River.
The 20-5 Warriors simply had too much size, athleticism, and experience for the young rebuilding Grizzlies to handle. Deer River grabbed an 11-4 lead early and never let up, bulldozing to a 55-20 halftime lead. While North Woods put up almost as many shots as the Warriors did from two-point range, Deer River held a big edge in shooting percentage, 51 percent to 31 percent. That showed up in the final scoring line for the Grizzlies, with Andrew Hartway the only player to reach double digits with 11.
North Woods had double the number of turnovers at 20, with the Warriors converting those into 27 points. The Grizzlies battled hard on the boards, pulling down 35 rebounds to Deer River’s 44.
Deer River owned the lane and the three-point line, scoring 46 points in the paint and going 14-of-36 from behind the arc.
The Grizzlies drew the 14th seed in the Section 7A tournament starting Wednesday, and they were scheduled for a rematch with the No. 3 Warriors at Deer River.