REGIONAL- The North Woods boys lost an overtime thriller on the road to Northome-Kelliher on Friday when a buzzer-beating three-point attempt by Louie Panichi rattled in and then fell out of the basket, handing the Grizzlies their fifth consecutive loss.
With both teams riding losing streaks coming into the game, this match up was a toss up from the opening tip, but the Mustangs put the Grizzlies on notice early that they were in for a battle, streaking out to a 12-2 lead. But down 20-9, the Grizzlies got on a roll when Panichi connected on a pair of treys, followed by a Kalvyn Benner score on a fast break and an Aiden Hartway bucket. A Talen Jarshaw trifecta brought North Woods all the way back to take a 22-20 lead. The rest of the half was a slugfest as the teams trading the lead multiple times, with North Woods taking a 38-36 advantage in the final minute of the half on yet another Panichi three-ball. A three-quarter court length buzzer-beating heave by Jarshaw found the bottom of the basket and put the Grizzlies up 42-38 at the break.
Riding high, the Grizzlies got another trey from Panichi to open the second half, and quickly stretched their lead to nine on a pair of free throws by Andrew Hartway and a bucket by Aidan Hartway. But the Mustangs remained within striking distance, trailing 71-63 with seven minutes remaining, and cut into the Grizzlies lead from there, pulling into a 79-79 with two minutes left in the game. The Grizzlies went up by three with 40 seconds left after Panichi was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all of his charities, but the Mustangs came back with a trey in the waning seconds to force the contest to overtime.
North Woods went down by four before a Jarshaw trey and an Andrew Hartway scoop shot put them back in the lead, and another basket by Jarshaw appeared to put the Grizzlies in the driver’s seat at 94-91. But with only 17 seconds left, the Mustangs got a bucket and one on a tip in of a missed shot to go ahead 97-96. North Woods called time out, but the Grizzlies were unable to get a good shot, forcing Panichi to put up a desperation three that banked off the glass, hit the front of the rim, then bounced away as time expired.
Thanks to his earlier sharpshooting, Panichi lit up the board for the Grizzlies, scoring 33. Jarshaw hit for 21, and Benner and Andrew Hartway each had 14.
The loss dropped the Grizzlies to 7-7 on the season, and they were huge underdogs for a scheduled Thursday road trip to undefeated, top-ranked Cherry. Their best chances to get back in the win column are a pair of home contests, Friday against Duluth Marshall and next Tuesday against South Ridge.