FIELD TWP- A North Woods boys basketball team that was sharp and tough as nails in rolling over their first opponents of the season was ragged and ineffective in consecutive losses to Moose Lake/Willow River and Northland this past week.
On Fri., Dec. 6, the Grizzlies walloped Carlton/Wrenshall 80-48. Six days later they got a taste of their own medicine with an 80-48 drubbing by the Rebels of ML/WR.
The Grizzlies were never in this one, falling behind 11-0 before Talen Jarshaw got North Woods on the board with a driving jumper. August Peltier scored the Grizzlies’ second bucket of the game on an assist from Louie Panichi, interrupting another Rebels run to make the score 19-4. The taller, more athletic Rebels completely dominated from beginning to end, leading 38-22 at the half and outscoring the Grizzlies 42-26 after the break.
ML/WR controlled the paint, notching a 44-20 scoring edge inside the lane and beating the Grizzlies on the boards 43-34. The previously sure-handed Grizzlies coughed up the ball 26 times, leading to 31 Rebels points. The Grizzlies made just 32 percent of the shots they hoisted up, and only 37.5 percent of their free throws. Panichi was the only North Woods player to score in double digits with 15.
Returning home to take on the Northland Eagles last Friday, it looked in the first half as if the Grizzlies had escaped the doldrums of Thursday’s loss. Shots by Panichi and Trajen Barto and a pair of hoops by Kalvyn Benner got the Grizzlies off to an 8-2 start, and consecutive treys by Panichi and Jarshaw put the Grizzlies comfortably ahead at 26-12. But chinks in the Grizzlies’ armor began to show as the Eagles played even through the rest of the half, going into the break trailing 45-33.
With a solid 12-point lead, few fans in the gym anticipated the Grizzlies’ collapse in the second half. Northland immediately scored on a deuce and a trey to trim the lead to 45-38, but a Panichi three-ball restored the 12-point advantage at 54-42 with about 14 minutes remaining.
Then suddenly, as quick as a hiccup, the Grizzlies’ mojo completely vanished. The Eagles stunned the home team with a 16-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 58-54 lead. A solitary free throw by Jarshaw at the 7:52 mark was an empty answer to an unrelenting Northland onslaught that shot them to a 69-55 lead with four minutes to go. Benner finally broke the Grizzlies’ astonishing 11-minute drought from the floor with a bucket at the 3:29 mark. But the bucket was too little, too late, as the confident Eagles kept the Grizzlies at bay, completing the 24-point turnaround for the 77-62 win.
Two big factors in the Eagles’ shocking turnaround were turnovers and free throws. North Woods turned the ball over 29 times, 11 more than Northland, and the Eagles turned those miscues into 24 points. Making a concerted effort to work the ball low and draw fouls, the Eagles went to the free throw line 34 times, making 22, while North Woods had only 10 charity shots, dropping seven.
If there was a bright spot to be found in the Grizzlies’ performance, it was in scoring distribution. The Grizzlies’ attack was more balanced this game, with Panichi leading the way with 17, Aidan Hartway scoring 12, and Peltier and Jarshaw notching 10 each.
Grizzlies Head Coach Andrew Jugovich was clearly frustrated after the team’s collapse against Northland.
“What happened from the first few games that we had?” Jugovich said. “This team is not the same. What they don’t do is communicate. We have to go back to the drawing board and figure it all out. These boys have proven that they’re capable. But in the end, they have to figure out what their identity is on the court. We need our senior leaders, all five of them who were on the court tonight, to step up. We’re 3-2, but we won’t be above .500 for long if this keeps up.”
Two Harbors
Getting out of town to Two Harbors on Tuesday appears to have been the recipe to get the Grizzlies back on track, as they crushed the Agates 78-47 to get back in the win column. North Woods did what good teams do – beat the teams they should beat, and Two Harbors was clearly undermanned from the start. North Woods bolted to an early 14-6 lead and kept on rolling into halftime, 38-22. More importantly, the Grizzlies didn’t let up with the 16-point lead, winning the second half 40-25.
Jarshaw topped the scoring chart with 22 points, Panichi popped in 18, Andrew Hartway came off the bench to score 11, and Benner had 10.