Both Junior teams were at home over the weekend competing in the New Years Classic, co-hosted by North Peace and Bert Bowes. The girls started strong on Friday afternoon with a match up against the Dawson Creek Senior B team. With a final score of 98-10, the Grizzlies were ready to take on PGSS on Saturday morning. Having played the Polars in their first game of the season back in December, the girls were ready for a tough game and came out with a focus and intensity that PGSS couldn’t match. The final score was 63-32 North Peace, which set the teams up for a rematch in the gold medal game. PGSS came out strong in the final, but the Grizzlies played disciplined defense and slowly chipped away at the Polars. Sophia De Torres and Alyssa Gallant lead the offense, while Elanor Copes anchored the defense. The final score was 55-30 Grizzlies. Sophia, Alyssa and Karis were named tournament all-stars, while Elanor took home the “Hustle & Heart” award. Congrats girls!
With four teams entered in the round robin competition, the Junior Boys team went up against GP Comp in their first game on Friday and won handily. The next game was against a Dawson team which, again, the Grizzlies won with a score of 60-52. The team went up against a resilient GP Comp JV team on Saturday morning and again emerged victorious with a score of 52-45. After going undefeated in the round robin, the Grizzlies beat GP Comp in the semi final to set up a gold medal game against Dawson Creek. The championship game was tightly played with neither team up by more than 7 points at any given quarter. The Grizzlies were up by 1 point with 3 minutes to go but committed costly turnovers, defensive lapses and missed shots that the DCSS 10 capitalized on to win the tournament with a final score of 58-63. This is the second time the NPSS Grizzlies Junior Basketball team lost a championship game against DCSS 10, and with the same margin of 5 points. Cy and Temmy were named tournament all-stars, while Devon took home the “Hustle & Heart” award. The boys are excited for a rematch and redemption at the Dawson Creek tournament this weekend.
This weekend in Grande Prairie was a tough one for the senior boy’s basketball team. The team had a lot of unforced turnovers in all three games, combined with a lack of ferocity towards 50/50 balls. In addition, there was a new offensive system implemented this weekend, which had some setbacks. However, the team still managed to advance to the finals after beating Charles Spencer 87-81, followed by a 78-67 win against Peace Wapiti Academy. The boys showed a lot of determination in both games and were able to sneak by, due to the high skill level of all ten players. The win in the semi-finals, put the Grizzlies up against GP Comp in the finals. With the college atmosphere and announcers calling out their names they started the game down 13-2. The tone of the entire game was set in those first five minutes… However, basketball is a game of runs and the Grizzlies were able to claw back Comp’s lead to down 4, at the start of the third. But in the end, a few tactical coaching errors, compounded with 34% shooting on 10/29 from 2 and 36% on 13/36 shooting from deep, led the NPSS Grizzlies to their lowest scoring game this season. GP Comp came out on top with an 83-61 win. That puts the senior boys at 7-2 on the season while advancing to finals all three tournaments.
The wrestling team was in Grande Prairie on Saturday for the Northern Lights Wrestling Tournament. On the boys side, the Grizzlies faced some strong competition. Early losses were followed by a couple of wins and 4/5 boys went home with medals, with Jeffrey Wood taking gold. The girls had a tough go but learned a lot. Grade 12 Hailey Gillard had a strong showing, going undefeated in 4 matches and taking home a gold medal. The Grizzlies are excited to compete at the NCD Zone Championships in February!
Up next: Junior Girls, Senior Girls and Senior Boys are in Prince George this weekend, while the Junior Boys are in Dawson Creek. Good luck Grizzlies!
Athlete of the Week: Hailey Gillard (Gr. 12, Wrestling) – Hailey showed consistent improvement as the tournament progressed, earning her the top spot in her category. Congrats Hailey!
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IT’S GRIZZLY SEASON! All four North Peace Basketball teams were in action over the weekend.
The Junior Girls started 2020 off strong with a tournament win at the Chetwynd Winter Basketball Tournament. After a bit of a slow start, the Grizzlies opened the tournament on Friday night with big wins against Bert Bowes and Tumbler Ridge. Both games were huge team efforts, with scoring contributions from almost all of the girls. On Saturday morning, the Grizzlies took on the Chetwynd Senior Team. Having had time to work on a new defense and full court press, the girls started with an intensity and focus that Chetwynd couldn’t match. With a final score of 66-14, the Grizzlies advanced to the 1st/2nd place game, which ended up being a rematch against Chetwynd. The girls finished the tournament strong with a 77-14 win. Congrats girls!
The Junior Boys opened the Condor Classic at Duchess Park against the home team with a decisive 57-41 win. The win put the boys up against the top team in the tournament – Charles Hays Rainmakers. The Grizzlies put forth their best effort but the eventual champions were too much to handle and the boys suffered their worst loss yet: 50-22. The next game was a match up against a surprisingly strong DP Todd team, who lead the Grizzlies the whole game. A change in defensive strategy with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter helped the Grizzlies chip away at the opponents lead, but they were still down 40-52 at the end of the third. A huge defensive effort from the team led by Temmy, Devon, Cy and Zack brought the team to a lead of 1 point with 17 seconds left in the fourth. A good free throw from DP Todd tied the game at 61 with 9 seconds left. Again, the team relied on tight individual and team defense to force overtime. In overtime, a big 3 point shot from captain Cy Bellamy and a lay up from co-captain Devon Lee sealed the win for the team with a final score of 66-61 and a 3rd place finish.
The Senior Boys were at Prince George Secondary School at a tournament that ended up being their biggest challenge yet. The Grizzlies started with a bye, as Caledonia couldn’t make it due to weather, so the boys automatically advanced to the 2nd round. Their first official game was against DP Todd, the number 3rd ranked AA team in BC. It was a close game the entire time, but Grade 12 Liam Peterson led the way to a 84-79 victory with 35 points. Up next was the final against the number 1 AA team in the province, Charles Hays. The Grizzlies kept it close the whole first half, only trailing by 5 in the 2nd. However, foul trouble and injuries cost them the game. The Rainmakers were too big, strong and fast for the Grizzlies to handle and the game finished with a final score of 95-68. Overall, the team played amazing and the loss against Charles Hays showed the boys what they really need to work on.
The Senior Girls started the new year in Grande Prairie with a close back and forth battle against PWA. They fell just short of a win, with a final score of 52-47. Saturday morning started with a strong win against Peace River High. The girls stepped up again to win against High Level in the consolation final game. All-star of the tournament was Jordynn Mcpherson, who demonstrated hard work, energy on the court, teamwork and averaged 20 points a game. Special shout out to Isabella Ziebart who stepped up to demonstrate her creative instincts and help lead the team to Saturdays two wins.
Athlete of the Week: Nathan Narciso (Gr. 12, Sr Boys Basketball). Nathan was the 6th man who came off the bench and played with an incredible amount of heart.
Up Next: The Junior teams are playing at home this weekend in the New Years Classic, co-hosted by North Peace and Bert Bowes. The Senior Boys are in Grande Prairie at GPRC. The wrestling team is at their first tournament of the season at Alexander Forbes School in Grande Prairie.
The student counsel will be putting on a turkey-on-a-bun luncheon today to send our students off for the winter break. The lunch is sponsored by the pantry program and we are suggesting students pay $2 donation for lunch.
The Junior Girls Basketball team opened their season this past weekend at the Condor Classic hosted by Duchess Park in Prince George. The Grizzlies started strong on Friday night with a 61-49 win over Prince George Secondary. Sophia De Torres lead the team in points with 15, followed by Karis Paracuelles and Alyssa Gallant with 11 a piece. It was an overall great team effort, with significant contributions from each member of the team. Saturday was a bit of a different story, with a morning matchup against perennial powerhouse College Heights. A fantastic defensive effort from Elanor Copes, Brenna Carlstad and Meghan Stobbe kept the Grizzlies in the game, but despite their best efforts, the Grizzlies were unable to pull off a win. The girls learned a lot from this game in particular, and used the loss as an opportunity to work on their mental game and achieve smaller goals in each quarter. The loss to College Heights set them up to play for 3rd place against host team Duchess Park. After some time to regroup, the girls brought early intensity against the Condors. Again with a great team effort, the Grizzlies took the win with a score of 43-30. Congrats Grizzlies!
The wrestling team was in Grande Prairie on Saturday for a clinic with athletes and coaches from the Grande Prairie Wrestling Club. It was a great opportunity for the Grizzlies to learn new skills and compete against wrestlers from another club. From Grade 12 wrestler Tristan Hynes: “It was a lot of fun to train with another group of wrestlers. The North Peace athletes were able to learn from people who had some great experiences to share. Every week we are all getting better and everyone is looking forward to the first tournament so that we can demonstrate everything that we have learned”.
Up Next: The Junior Girls will take on the Senior Girls on Thursday afternoon at 4:30PM, and the Senior Boys are set to play an Alumni game on Friday night at 6:00PM.
Athlete of the Week: Elanor Copes (Gr 10, Junior Girls Basketball) Elanor was the heart and soul of the Grizzlies’ defense in Prince George over the weekend. She gave 100% effort in every game, lead the team in steals, and put some points on the board off of fast breaks. Congrats Elanor!
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