FIELD TWP- Coming into a new season, North Woods boys basketball Head Coach Andrew Jugovich had a big question looming – how was he going to replace the 50 points per game his graduated seniors, including standout Jonah Burnett, took with them when they left?
The answer in Tuesday’s inaugural 84-60 home win against Bigfork appeared simple – play hard-nosed, swarming, unselfish Grizzlies basketball.
“I told the boys before the game, this is a year that we don’t have to have somebody shoot 25, 30 times a game to compete,” Jugovich said. “We look different than last year. We’re smaller, we may not be as fast and as athletic. If you look at tonight we had guys moving the ball. There’s a lot of guys with several assists.”
It was Bigfork who moved and shot the ball well early on, racing out to a 12-4 lead. But North Woods senior Trajen Barto canned the Grizzlies’ first trey of the season and junior August Peltier scored a double to get a rally going. A trey by senior Louie Panichi and a trey and an deuce by senior Talen Jarshaw brought the Grizzlies all the way back, taking a 19-18 lead with 9:45 left in the half. A fast break bucket by Peltier forced the Huskies to take a time out with the Grizzlies up 27-22, but the break didn’t slow North Woods’ attack. Senior Aidan Hartway dropped in a pair of charities to up the lead to 42-26, and the Grizzlies carried a 44-35 advantage into the halftime break.
The Huskies’ early shooting edge withered in the face of the Grizzlies’ stifling man-to-man defense that allowed few uncontested shots in the second half. Meanwhile, North Woods players did a good job of distributing the basketball to open shooters, with Peltier being a big beneficiary as he racked up 13 of his team-leading 22 points in the second half. The Huskies never threatened as the Grizzlies continued to build their lead, with another Jarshaw three-ball putting North Woods up 66-44 with just under nine minutes remaining. The Grizzlies led by as many as 26 points before claiming the 84-60 win.
In addition to Peltier, three other Grizzlies scored in double digits. Panichi hit for 15, Jarshaw connected for 14, and senior Kalvyn Benner dropped in 10. In all, ten Grizzlies got into the scoring column, reflecting Jugovich’s emphasis on spreading the ball around.
“Bigfork started out of the gate really hot, but our boys responded well,” Jugovich said.
Jugovich was particularly pleased with what he saw the Grizzlies do down low with a trio of players with only minimal prior varisty experience.
“We’ve been working with August and Kal, getting our bigs to be able to use their bodies down low, getting the right positioning,” Jugovich said. “If you look at our four guards, Talen, Aiden, Trajen and Louie, they’re all going to be able to slash through defenders. Having that guy consistently down low, whether it’s Kal or Auggie or (junior) Scott (Morrison) to be able to catch it and finish it, that really set us over because we’re not a big team. It worked out great tonight.”
Jugovich was also pleased with the patience the Grizzlies showed against Bigfork’s defense.
“There were times you could see we rushed it right in the beginning, but once we let the game come to us and we played at our own pace, it showed that we are capable of breaking down a zone, which is something that we’ve struggled with the past two years,” Jugovich said.
The Grizzlies had another home contest scheduled for Friday against Carlton before going on the road for the first time next Tuesday against Nashwauk-Keewatin.