DEER RIVER — Fans of North Woods boys basketball got an 26-minute preview of what might be in store for next season during their first round Section 7A tournament game at Deer River last week on Mar. 5, as the No. 14 Grizzlies matched the powerful No. 3 Warriors shot for shot in well into the second half of a season-ending 73-52 loss.
Just five days earlier, Deer River crushed North Woods by 50 points, 93-43, on the Grizzlies’ home court, but on Wednesday, the Warriors found themselves in a fight for their basketball lives.
Elias Sheffer gave North Woods the early lead with a three-pointer, and a trey by Andrew Hartway gave the Grizzlies a 6-4 advantage. A Hartway deuce bumped the lead to four, but the Warriors came back to go ahead 12-11 at the 12:22 mark. A triple by TaySean Boshey-Wilkerson put North Woods back on top at 14-13. The Warriors led by six at 23-17 with six minutes remaining in the half, but a basket by Boshey-Wilkerson started a Grizzlies’ surge that includes scores by Sawyer Glass, Sheffer, and two more by Boshey-Wilkerson to regain the advantage, 27-25. The half ended with the Warriors clinging to a precarious two-point lead, 31-29. By contrast, Deer River led 55-20 at the break in the matchup at North Woods.
It didn’t take long for the Grizzlies to go back on top when Boshey-Wilkerson nailed a triple on their first possession of the second half, the last lead the Grizzlies would hold in the game. The contest remained tight through the first eight minutes of the period, with the Grizzlies trailing by only three at 41-38 with just over ten minutes left.
But the shooting touch that had kept North Woods in the game suddenly evaporated, and combined with multiple turnovers, the Warriors took full advantage, going on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to open up an insurmountable 59-40 lead. A triple by Jett Lambert got the Grizzlies off the skids, but the damage was done as the Warriors moved on to the next round of tourney play with a 73-52 win.
Turnovers proved to be a deciding factor in the game, with Deer River converting 30 North Woods turnovers into 28 points, holding an 18-point advantage in that category.
Boshey-Wilkerson had 21 points to lead North Woods, and Hartway notched a double-double with ten points and 13 rebounds.
North Woods ended the season with a record of 7-21. But for a team that entered the season with no varsity starting experience and no seniors, the finale, along with a late-season five-game winning streak, demonstrated the growth the young and inexperienced Grizzlies had during the campaign, and players, coaches, and fans are already anticipating better things to come next season.