REGIONAL — The North Woods Grizzlies boys came on strong in the second half of Friday’s road game against Carlton/Wrenshall to pick up their first win of the season, 50-39.
Gage Aune got the Grizzlies off on the right foot with a long three-ball, and a Caleb Rutchasky fast break bucket gave North Woods an early 6-4 lead. The Raptors then forged into the lead, but the Grizzlies regained a 16-15 advantage on a driving score by Elias Sheffer. Elwood Spears banked in a long trey to give North Woods a 19-15 edge at the break in a low-scoring first half.
Andrew Hartway got things rolling in the second half for the Grizzlies with a trey from the top of the key, and a baseline drive by TaySean Boshey-Wilkerson put North Woods up by nine at 24-15. The Raptors would get as close as six, but a score by Cedar Holman at the 10:10 mark gave the Grizzlies their first double-digit lead at 36-26, and North Woods cruised from there for the 11-point win.
Unofficially, the Grizzlies didn’t have a double-digit scorer in the game, spreading the ball around to get ten players into the scoring column. Rutchasky topped the list with nine, followed by Hartway with eight.
North Woods was scheduled to make its home debut on Thursday against Moose Lake/Willow River, then hitting the road on Friday for a tilt at Hill City/Northland before returning home on Monday to host Stella Maris. The Grizzlies will head into the winter break by hosting Ely on Thursday.