FIELD TWP- It’s been a busy week for the North Woods girls basketball team, with games on Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday, but the grind was worth it as the Grizzlies added two games to their win total for the season.
Tuesday night’s contest against Class AA Greenway was the most competitive and entertaining of the four. Often at a disadvantage against larger schools, North Woods caught the Raiders in a rebuilding year, just like they are, and the two teams were evenly matched.
Greenway took the early lead at 11-9 in the contest, and used a hot streak to push the lead out to 26-13 with nine minutes left in the first half. But the never-say-die Grizzlies responded with a late run of their own, closing the gap to 34-32 at intermission.
A pair of buckets by Sierra Schuster early in the second half vaulted the Grizzlies to a 36-24 lead, setting up a hotly contested final stanza with multiple lead changes. The Raiders took a 62-61 lead with 3:40 left on the clock, then Tatum Barto hit a bucket to get the lead back, but Greenway came right back down the floor to go ahead again 63-62. Emarie Gibson tied the game for the Grizzlies, 65-65, with a pair of free throws at the 2:06 mark, and Zoey Burckhardt put North Woods on top for good with a score down low on a slick dish from Brynn Chosa. Addison Burckhardt increased the lead to 69-65 on a pair of charities, but the drama wasn’t over yet. Greenway got back to within two at 71-69 with 27 seconds left, and had the opportunity to tie on what looked to be a wide open fast break with under 10 seconds remaining, but Chosa intercepted a long pass and was fouled, sealing a 72-69 win with a final free throw.
Chosa hit four treys in the game and led North Woods in scoring with 23 points. Barto had another strong performance with 18 points, and for one of the few times this season the Grizzlies had a third player in double digits as Schuster connected for ten.
North Woods picked up its other win in the four-game marathon on the front end of the string with a 63-39 road win against the Fond du Lac Ojibwe. With only one win this season, Fond du Lac was a team ripe for the picking, and to their credit, the Grizzlies played their game in the blowout win.
“There was a couple times we were a little bit slow, but we executed the press and I was able to get lots of different groups playing, which was kind of nice,” Head Coach Liz Cheney said. “Everyone played, so that was a good game. A little confidence booster.”
The Grizzlies took a big hit on the road at Chisholm on Friday, losing 77-40, and suffered another setback at home on Monday, losing to Mesabi East 75-44. On a positive note, the Grizzlies lit it up from long distances against the Giants, getting nine treys from four different players. Barto led the scoring against Mesabi East with 13 and Chosa hit for 12.
The Grizzlies were scheduled to renew their cross-county rivalry with Ely in the North Woods gym on Thursday, and will finish the regular season at home by hosting Littlefork-Big Falls on Tuesday and Hermantown on Thursday.