FIELD TWP- With sectional playoffs just weeks away, the North Woods boys basketball team appears to have adopted a mantra from the infamous Cobra Kai dojo of “Karate Kid” fame: No mercy.
Fond du Lac, Littlefork-Big Falls, and International Falls were the most recent trio of bottom-dwellers to wither under the wrath of the Grizzlies, who obliterated their foes by a combined total score of 290-124.
The Grizzlies scored home blowouts of 82-40 over Fond du Lac on Feb. 10 and 106-49 over I-Falls on Tuesday, and a 102-35 road beatdown of LBF on Friday. Their opponents had a combined total of eight wins among them coming into the contests, and no more after the Grizzlies were finished with them.
North Woods ran its current winning streak to five games by playing classic Grizzlies basketball – dominating end-to-end pressure defense to throttle opposition offenses and generate high-percentage shots, and quick ball movement in offensive sets to find open shooters inside and out.
That defensive dominance was in its highest gear during the second half of the LBF game. Already up 58-28 at the half, North Woods allowed only two Vikings field goals and seven points in the entire second stanza. The Grizzlies forced 34 turnovers in the game that they turned into 42 points.
In each game the Grizzlies took control from the opening tip and held halftime leads of 30 or more, providing ample opportunity for Head Coach Will Kleppe to test different lineup combinations.
Ten of the 15 players who got on the court against Fond du Lac scored, led by Sean Morrison’s 17 points. T.J. Chiabotti scored 16 and Jared Chiabotti added 10.
Eleven players tallied points against LBF, with six notching double figures. T.J. Chiabotti led the way with 19, followed by Jonah Burnett with 16, Morrison with 13, Brenden Chiabotti and Jared Chiabotti with 11 each, and Alex Hartway with 10.
The Grizzlies were particularly amped up for Tuesday’s Senior Night tilt against I-Falls. Senior players T.J. Chiabotti, Davis Kleppe, Eric Aune, Bryce Chosa, Jake Panichi, Alex Hartway, Ty Fabish, Sean Morrison and Ethan Byram and managers Abby Koch, Haley Bogdan, and Lillian Voges were all honored before the start of the game.
“A legendary coach told me one time that if you have more than three seniors on the roster you are doing something wrong,” Kleppe said. “Well, we have nine this season which is the largest number our team has maintained. They are great teammates, play their roles without complaint and support the underclassmen, so I’m proud to have them all. They are all great student-athletes and great representatives of our program and our school community. Their practice energy is unmatched and there are a couple of them that haven’t missed a practice in their career. That kind of dedication is what drives the program. On top of that we have the three best managers in the state of Minnesota and likely beyond. Abby, Lilly, and Haley are truly the most helpful and organized managers. They get compliments for their hard work wherever we go and the question always comes up, ‘How do you find such good managers?’ We are truly fortunate to have them and are going to miss them when they graduate.”
I-Falls answered T.J. Chiabotti’s opening trey with a basket of their own, and that’s the closest the Broncos would get all evening. By the time the Grizzlies held a 17-4 edge, all five starters had scored. Kleppe nailed a trey to put the Grizzlies up by 20, at 33-13, with less than eight minutes elapsed in the half. North Woods led by 36 at the break, 64-28. The only mercy available to the Broncos in the second half was the running clock, the one thing that slowed the Grizzlies’ scoring output.
Davis Kleppe stepped to the fore in this one, hitting for 20 points. Alex Hartway and Sean Morrison each scored 17, and T.J. Chiabotti scored 16.
Kleppe said he’s pleased with what he’s seen from his team in their current winning streak.
“We are really happy with the way we are moving the ball and pushing the tempo, albeit against some teams that are down this year,” Kleppe said. “Our positives are evident by having multiple players in double figures and lots of guys getting in the game, defending, and getting chances to score. I’m most impressed with some of our passing during this stretch. Brenden (Chiabotti) has had some of the nicest assists I’ve seen this season and his teammates are benefitting from it. As the section tournament picture starts to emerge we’ll start to clean up the little things and reinforce the principles we’ve been working on all season.”