FLOODWOOD- The North Woods girls battled furiously to overcome a big first-half deficit at Floodwood last Friday, coming almost all the way back in the second half before fading at the end for a 75-64 loss.
A fast Floodwood five took command early, converting turnovers into points as they bolted to a 26-8 lead. When the Polar Bears went up by 25 at 38-13, it looked as though they would walk away with the rout, but the Grizzlies had other things in mind. North Woods ended the half on a 13-3 run to cut the deficit to 41-26.
Riding the hot hand of Helen Koch, who led North Woods with 28 points, the Grizzlies kept up the heat in the second half and closed the gap to just one, 49-48. Floodwood had a bit more gas left in the tank down the stretch to come away with the 75-64 win.
Talise Goodsky was the other Grizzly in double figures with 14.
The Grizzlies finished the regular season at 14-12. North Woods got a boost in the Section 7A tournament seedings by virtue of their Feb. 7 overtime win at Cherry, locking in a Wednesday tourney home opener against the Tigers. The winner of that game was scheduled to move on to the tournament quarterfinals in Hibbing on Saturday.