CHISHOLM- The North Woods Grizzlies girls basketball team hit the road to Chisholm for their season opener on Tuesday and squandered a promising early lead to fall to the Bluestreaks 86-56.
The Grizzlies were poised and confident at the outset, working the perimeter with crisp passes that set up their long-range shooters. Senior Helen Koch drained the team’s first trifecta of the season to give the Grizzlies a 3-2 lead, and a deuce and a triple by junior Dakota Schwarzenberger put North Woods up 8-4.
But after a Brynn Chosa charity gave the Grizzlies a 14-6 advantage, a four-minute scoring drought gave Chisholm the opening they needed to retake the lead 15-14. Koch drained a two and senior Talise Goodsky canned a pair of free throws to go back in front 18-15, and with 7:25 left in the half the score was knotted at 19-19.
North Woods again went cold from the field and committed multiple turnovers as the Bluestreaks went on a rampage, outscoring the Grizzlies 25-4 down the homestretch to halftime, taking a commanding 44-23 lead into the break.
North Woods Head Coach Liz Cheney pushed the reset button at halftime and the Grizzlies returned to a more even keel in the second half, but lacked the firepower and defense necessary to cut into the Bluestreaks’ big lead. A late Chisholm flurry pushed their winning margin to 30, 86-56.
Schwarzenberger had a strong outing for her first stint as a varsity player, draining four threes and chalking up a team-leading 14 points. Koch knocked down 11 as the only other Grizzly in double-figures.