FIELD TWP- The North Woods girls basketball team returned to the court this week after an 11-day layoff to mixed results, dropping Monday’s contest against Barnum but bouncing back for a win Tuesday over Red Lake.
Tuesday’s matchup against the Warriors was all about defense, as the Grizzlies’ full court press and swarming man-to-man kept Red Lake out of sync the entire game. Tatum Barto got the Grizzlies on the board first with a triple from the top of the key on a designed inbounds play, but both offenses were sluggish early on, with the Grizzlies up 13-3 after eight minutes of play. A pair of baskets and a free throw by River Cheney and a pair of treys from Barto got the Grizzlies on a roll as they took a 34-14 lead into the half.
The Grizzlies defense kept rocking and rolling in the second half, at one point holding the Warriors scoreless for seven minutes as they built a 52-23 advantage. A 12-4 run at the end of the half gave the Grizzlies the 64-27 win.
Brynn Chosa led North Woods in scoring with 13 points, and Cheney added 11 as the Grizzlies were productive throughout the lineup with 10 players notching scores.
Barnum
With extended practice time since their Jan. 18 win over Nashwauk-Keewatin, North Woods Head Coach Liz Cheney had time to install some new wrinkles in the Grizzlies’ offense, and they proved to be effective against Barnum on Monday. The teams matched up well against each other, with North Woods holding a 25-24 lead 12 minutes into the game. But a steal and score by Barto, a score by Talise Goodsky, and a triple by Helen Koch put North Woods up 32-24, and a strong defensive effort sent the Grizzlies into the locker room with a 42-28 halftime lead.
Barto and Goodsky scored to open the second half, giving North Woods an 18-point 46-28 lead, and the Grizzlies appeared to have the game well in hand. But the Grizzlies went stagnant on offense as the Bombers slowly crept back into the game with a 10-0 run. The Bombers were within five at 48-43 when Koch gave the Grizzlies a much-needed boost with a corner trey, and a second Koch triple minutes later kept North Woods in the lead 54-47. But the Bombers drained a triple of their own to tie the score at 57, and followed a Goodsky basket with another to take their first lead since early in the game at 60-59. Chosa put North Woods back up 66-62 with a layup, a pair of free throws and a trey, but the Bombers answered back with a trey by Alizondra Collelo and a deuce by Ella Heaton to go up 67-66 with 1:39 left. Cheney hit the back end of a pair of charities to tie the score at 67 at the 1:06 mark, but the Bombers regained the lead on a basket by Sophia Frank. This time the Grizzlies had no answer, turning the ball over twice and missing a potential game-tying layup in the final 30 seconds to seal their second-half collapse in the 69-67 loss.
Turnovers made the difference as the Grizzlies gave up the ball 31 times to Barnum’s 25, giving the Bombers a 31-24 edge in points scored off turnovers.
Chosa again led North Woods in scoring with 19 points, followed by Goodsky with 16 and Koch with 15.
Cheney zeroed right in on the reason for the loss.
“Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers,” she said. “Lots of turnovers tonight, and Barnum capitalized on all of our turnovers in the second half.”
Cheney was pleased, however, with how the Grizzlies executed their new offense.
“They did a great job,” she said. “That’s hopefully just the beginning of something new, something that multiple layers can be added onto. It was fun seeing them move the ball around in it.”
North Woods was scheduled for a one-day breather before a Thursday home game against Deer River followed by a Friday road trip to take on Hill City/Northland. The Grizzlies will be back home next Tuesday to take on Cherry.