HILL CITY- The North Woods boys scored double road wins by double digits this week, downing Mesabi East on Friday and Hill City on Tuesday.
In the Grizzlies’ 86-61 win over the Hornets on Tuesday, defense was the driver in the big win. Two of the Grizzlies’ first three baskets came off steals, with Aidan Hartway leading the break for the scores. Trajen Barto hit the first triple of the night for North Woods, staking the Grizzlies to a 13-7 early lead. Barto came to the fore again when the Hornets pulled to within two at 20-18, scoring five points on a triple and a fast break deuce to give North Woods some breathing room. The Grizzlies built a 16-point halftime edge, 44-28, with steady play rather than flashy streaks, showing good ball movement when they weren’t running the floor with another Hill City turnover.
Andrew Hartway scored six points in a North Woods run to start the second half that bumped the lead to 53-32. Louie Panichi made sure the Grizzlies were never threatened, pouring in 26 of his team-leading 29 points in the second half, including five three-balls. But while Panichi had a standout half, North Woods did a good job of distributing the ball all night long, with three other players in double digits, including Talen Jarshaw with 18, Barto with 15, and Aidan Hartway with 12.
The Mesabi East Giants were indeed bigger than the Grizzlies, but not nearly as tough, nimble and clever.
The Grizzlies trailed early in the game, but a three-ball by Panichi ignited an 8-0 run to put North Woods up 16-11. The Grizzlies established some distance in the final five minutes of the half after the Giants pulled to within 18-11. Buckets by Jarshaw and Panichi were followed by two consecutive Kalvyn Benner treys, and a bucket by August Peltier gave North Woods a 30-19 lead. In the closing seconds, the Giants called a timeout to set up a play, but Aidan Hartway foiled their plans by stealing the ball in the backcourt and flipping it to Jarshaw, who cooly hit a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded for a 35-22 advantage at the break.
Lockdown defense kept the Giants off balance as the Grizzlies worked to solidify their lead, forginga 16-4 run that vaulted them to a 51-26 margin at the 11:50 mark. North Woods kept its foot on the gas, with the lead ballooning to 55-32 on another trey by Benner. TaySean Boshey-Wilkerson came into the game with under four minutes to play and left his mark, knocking down a rainbow three and converting a turnover for a basket on consecutive possessions. After Grizzlies’ Head Coach Andrew Jugovich sent in a platoon of reserves, a putback by John Carlson put the cap on the 39-point, 79-40 beatdown.
Panichi led the Grizzlies with 24 points, Benner tallied 11, and the rest of the scoring was evenly balanced across the North Woods regulars.
The two wins brought the Grizzlies’ season record back to the .500 mark at 11-11. The Grizzlies will have the opportunity to avenge two of those losses in their four-game stretch to close out the regular season. First up was a Thursday road game at Littlefork-Big Falls, who beat the Grizzlies 89-70 on Feb. 7. North Woods returns home for a Friday contest against Chisholm, and then hosts a rematch with Ely, who overwhelmed the Grizzlies 80-53 in January. A trip on Friday, Feb. 28 to Deer River will round out the remainder of the schedule.