FIELD TWP- Defense wins games. Free throws win games. Taking care of the ball wins games. Live by the three, die by the three.
All of those standard basketball maxims flashed through the minds of Grizzlies’ fans in a scant three seconds of North Woods’ thrilling 70-66 come-from-behind home win against Chisholm on Friday, with the mix playing out in the Grizzlies’ favor.
After a robust rally from 15 points down early in the second half, North Woods was clinging to a tenuous two-point advantage, 68-66, with 12 seconds to go. Free throws win games, and the Grizzlies’ Talen Jarshaw was at the line with a chance to seal the deal for North Woods. Making one would ensure a tie, making both would make a last-second Chisholm three-ball irrelevant.
But both of Jarshaw’s charities missed the mark, and as the second miss fell into the hands of the Bluestreaks’ Ethan Lauzen, the panic of death by a winning Chisholm three seized the crowd, and the threat was real – Chisholm had already hit 11 three-pointers, including one on their previous possession, and 12 seconds was more than enough time to get a good look.
But defense wins games and taking care of the ball wins games. In only a second, North Woods went on defense, and Chisholm didn’t take care of the ball. Aidan Hartway streaked across the lane and took the ball away from Lauzen, and while falling out of bounds flipped the ball underneath the basket to Jarshaw, who banked in the win-sealing two-pointer with nine seconds remaining.
It was a fitting end for a Grizzlies team that leaned on its defense to get back into the game after trailing 36-23 at the half. Trailing 40-25 with 14:39 to play, Louie Panichi poked the ball away from a Chisholm player and Hartway corralled the loose ball, passing it back to Panichi for a fast break layup. Panichi was fouled and made the charity, and the Grizzlies’ rally was on. North Woods held the Bluestreaks scoreless for the next four minutes as they mounted a huge 17-0 run on scores by Panichi, Andrew Hartway, August Peltier, and eight points including a pair of triples from Trajen Barto to take a 42-40 lead. It was a dogfight from there to the finish, with the lead changing hands multiple times until the Grizzlies went up for good with 2:53 remaining on a fast break bucket by Andrew Hartway.
The Grizzlies’ defense neutralized the Bluestreaks’ inside game, as Chisholm put up over half its shots from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies took three-fourths of their shots in close, collecting 38 points in the paint and 25 points off of 14 steals and a total of 25 Chisholm turnovers.
Jarshaw led the Grizzlies in scoring with 18, followed by Panichi with 16 and Aidan Hartway with 10.
North Woods Head Coach Andrew Jugovich gushed about the Grizzlies’ comeback after the game.
“That was one hell of a half,” Jugovich said. “Most of the year we’ve been a second half team, whether we’re up or down. The last few seconds were nerve wracking, but we came alive and the boys finally had that comeback that we’ve needed this year. I’m proud of them.”
Jugovich also had high praise for Barto, not only for his key scores during the Grizzlies big run, but for stepping up his play overall.
“I’m going to give a lot of props to Trajen Barto tonight,” he said. “He’s really led us in the past few games with his passing, he’s cut down on his turnovers and he’s really been coming alive, which is what we need come playoff time.”
The Grizzlies had one more home game on Tuesday against Ely before closing out the regular season on Friday with a road trip to Deer River, but North Woods honored its seniors last Friday, with Louie Panichi, Talen Jarshaw, Trajen Barto, Aiden Hartway, Kalvyn Benner, and John Carlson winding down their North Woods careers in the upcoming Section 7A tournament. The Grizzlies are in the hunt for an opening game at home, with a win in either of their two remaining games likely giving them the edge over Northland, which has a tough final road game against South Ridge.