FIELD TWP — The North Woods girls dropped their second consecutive home game last Thursday to Carlton/Wrenshall, 50-37, after their shooting touch evaporated in the second half.
Tatum Barto got the Grizzlies off to a good start with a trey, and everyone got in on the scoring action as baskets by Ella Kruse, Brynn Chosa, Corra Brodeen, and Evalyn Thiel had the game tied at 13-13. The Raptors took advantage of a short Grizzlies shooting slump and forged a 23-16 lead, but a pair of free throws by Kruse and a turnaround baseline jumper by Brodeen narrowed the gap to 23-20 at the half.
C/W pushed the lead to 27-20 to open the second stanza, but another Barto three-ball kept the Grizzlies close at 27-23. Emarie Gibson scored for North Woods at the 14:21 mark to make the score 32-25, and then the big chill rolled in.
For the next ten minutes, the Grizzlies failed to score from the floor. One free throw from Barto and two from Brodeen was all the scoring the Grizzlies could muster as the Raptors took advantage and pushed out to a 43-28 lead. Barto finally broke the ice with a short jumper with 3:56 remaining, but they had neither the firepower nor the time for a comeback as the Raptors closed out the 50-37 win.
Barto led North Woods in scoring with 12, and Brodeen had nine. Neither team shot well for the game, with the Grizzlies hitting just 20 percent of their shots and the Raptors making 24 percent. But while C/W was consistent throughout, North Woods canned just 12.5 percent of their second-half shots. The Raptors held a 62-43 edge in rebounding.
The Grizzlies dropped to 1-3 on the season. A Tuesday matchup against Floodwood was postponed due to weather, making their next contest a road trip to Two Harbors on Friday.
North Woods would like to get another win before the Ely Timberwolves come calling on Thursday, Dec. 8.