FIELD TWP- Brynn Chosa keyed a 42-point second-half explosion for the Grizzlies on Tuesday as the North Woods girls got back in the win column against Littlefork-Big Falls after a hearbreaking last-second loss to McGregor on Friday.
Holding a 34-25 halftime lead, Chosa rang up 22 of her game high 32 points in the second stanza, with nine of those points coming from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies needed that boost as the pesky Vikings refused to go down quietly, keeping the deficit around ten points or so throughout most of the half. The Grizzlies got a bit of breathing room when they went up by 15 with just under four minutes to play and held on for a 76-64 win.
In addition to Chosa’s big game, the Grizzlies got solid scoring performances from Corra Brodeen with 12 points and Tatum Barto with 11.
McGregor
In a disappointing 61-60 loss at McGregor, the Grizzlies still found a reason to celebrate, as senior guard Barto cracked the career 1,000-point plateau. North Woods Head Coach Liz Cheney said the Grizzlies tried to get Barto over the hump toward the end of the Ely game on Thursday in front of family and friends who made the trip in anticipation of the achievement, but the Wolves made shutting down Barto part of their late-game winning formula, delaying the celebration until Friday.
Barto has all the ability needed to put the team on her shoulders with scoring, but has always focused as much on distributing the ball to her teammates as she has on scoring points herself, Cheney said. Barto hasn’t been a flamboyant scorer, more inclined to find opportunities when she sees them as opposed to constantly calling for the ball. There have been games where Cheney said she’s been surprised when looking at the scorebook afterward to see just how many points Barto scored.
“She really does see the game as a whole,” Cheney said. “When she needs to score she does, when she needs to set up a teammate she does. She is a great leader and team player.”
Last-second heroics were part of the script for the Mercuries on Friday, with a buzzer-beating trey at the end of the first half for a 30-20 lead foreshadowing the game-winning tally.
McGregor carried that momentum into the second half, going up by 15 at 38-23 with 15 minutes remaining. But an 11-0 North Woods run over the next four minutes got the Grizzlies right back into it at 38-34. A Chosa scoop shot at the 6:39 mark tied the score at 46-46 and it was game on from there, with the score tied at 56 with just over a minute to play. A pair of Chosa charities gave North Woods the lead, and a free throw by Aneliese Brodeen put North Woods up by two at 59-57. McGregor scored with 27 seconds left to knot the game at 59-59, but five seconds later, Brodeen went one-for-two at the line for a one-point Grizzlies edge. North Woods nearly stole the ensuing inbound pass, but the Mercuries retained possession and called time out. McGregor scored the go-ahead basket with seven seconds left, and a final North Woods shot missed the mark, giving the Mercuries the 61-60 win.
Individual scoring was not available as of press time. The Grizzlies were scheduled to wrap up the regular season on Friday with a road trip to Hermantown.