BARNUM — Stand. Dribble. Aim. Shoot. Repeat.
Practicing free throw shooting is arguably one of the most boring aspects of basketball. There’s no movement across the floor, no defender to beat, no pretend last second jumper to win the game playing inside your head. But the practice can pay big dividends at game time, as North Woods senior Brynn Chosa found out at Barnum last week in opening round play for the Section 7A tournament.
Seeded 11th, the Grizzlies had put up a valiant effort against the No. 6 Bombers, including a team-leading scoring effort by Chosa, but with 28 seconds left and Barnum leading 67-53, the outcome had already been decided.
Chosa had 25 points, two shy of hitting the career 1,000-point mark, and with the Bombers in possession and the shot clock off, it looked as if the goal would elude her. But with 22 seconds left, fellow senior and 1,000-point club member Tatum Barto recovered a deflected pass and whipped it ahead to Chosa on a fast break. Chosa was fouled on her layup attempt, and with 17.4 seconds left in her high school career, she stepped up to the charity stripe with one last chance.
With her well-honed technique, Chosa’s first attempt rattled in. The second was nothing but net, and the Grizzlies’ bench emptied to celebrate Chosa’s 1,000th point. Chosa was eight-for-eight from the line on the night.
The mark wasn’t on the charts throughout much of the season, as the Grizzlies had three reliable scorers with Chosa, Barto, and Corra Brodeen, and with all three concerned more about winning than individual glory, they traded off top scoring honors across games. But with a 32-point game against Littlefork-Big Falls and two games left to play, the goal was in reach, and Chosa delivered.
The celebration took the edge off a season-ending loss to the Bombers, one in which the Grizzlies put a 23-point early season loss to Barnum out of their minds and played some of their best basketball of the season.
Chosa got things rolling for the Grizzlies with a pair of free throws, and while the Bombers quickly took the lead, North Woods refused to let them get away, with triples by Barto and Emarie Gibson keeping things close at 17-13. With just over two minutes left in the half, the Bombers extended their lead to ten at 30-20, but a triple and a double by Chosa down the stretch kept North Woods in touch at 33-25 at the half.
The pace of the game remained the same in the second stanza, with the Bombers finding spots here and there to add to their lead, but they never appeared comfortable until about the seven-minute mark when the lead was 57-38. The Grizzlies were able to trim the gap down the stretch, but not enough to avoid the 67-55 loss.
Chosa led the team in scoring with 27, while Barto scored 14.
The Grizzlies ended the season with a record of 9-18. They’ll lose Barto, Chosa, and Mya Goggleye to graduation, but will return a host of players with varsity experience for next season.