MOOSE LAKE- The North Woods girls scored a big overtime win on the road against 7AA Moose Lake/Willow River last Thursday, making the winning push with two of their senior leaders out of the game.
The Grizzlies came out strong, racking up a 16-8 lead over the Rebels, but a ML/WR rally brought the score even at 20-20. But a basket down low by senior Talise Goodsky and a jumper by junior Brynn Chosa gave North Woods the points they needed to carry a 24-23 lead into halftime.
The Grizzlies got the jump on the Rebels again early in the second half, going up 36-30, but ML/WR came back to tie and then take the lead 40-38 with 7:50 to play. North Woods was down three, 51-48, when junior Tatum Barto drove the baseline for a score with 1:36 left. The Grizzlies forced a turnover and senior River Cheney was fouled, stepping to the line with a chance to give North Woods the lead. Her first shot to tie the game was good, but the second kicked off the back of the rim, leaving the score 51-51. Neither team scored in the final 1:25, sending the game to overtime.
North Woods jumped out on top in the extra period when Chosa scored after recovering a loose ball, and Cheney and senior Helen Koch each hit a free throw to make the score 55-51. With 2:55 remaining, Cheney, the game’s leading scorer with 23, picked up her fifth foul and headed to the bench, replaced by Corra Brodeen. Thirty seconds later, Koch was whistled for her fifth foul. ML/WR hit a pair of free throws to pull within one, 55-54, as Dakota Schwarzenberger came in for Koch.
Barto hit the back end of a pair of charities to give North Woods a 56-54 edge, and then Brodeen rebounded her own miss and got the putback for a 58-54 lead. Barto upped the lead to five with another free throw, but the Rebels weren’t finished, scoring a basket and a pair of charities to pull within one, 59-58. A North Woods turnover gave the Rebels a shot at the lead, but they missed, and Barto was fouled on the rebound with 16 seconds remaining. Barto drained the first free throw, missed the second, and then got called for a blocking foul. The Rebels’ Madison Wasche had a chance to send the game to a second overtime with a pair of free throws, but she missed both, and North Woods ran out the clock for the 60-58 win.
It was a big night for Barto, who scored 15 to go with Cheney’s 23 for the Grizzlies. North Woods knocked down 35 percent of their shots from two-point range while connecting on only one three-pointer all night. The Grizzlies went to the charity stripe 39 times, connecting on 19. Their five-point edge in free throws was enough to pull out the win.
The win sends the Grizzlies into the winter break with a 4-2 record. They’ll play in a tournament at Aitkin on Dec. 27-28, and start the new year with a rivalry game at Ely on Thursday, Jan. 4.