The Junior Girls were in Prince George over the weekend at the Prince George Secondary Jr A Invitational. Their first game on Friday night was a match up against Westside. After a long day of travel, the girls came out strong with a focus and intensity that couldn’t be matched and took the game 55-16. They took on Kelly Road Secondary on Saturday morning. The girls were excited to play a team that they hadn’t seen yet this season. Kelly Road came out fighting, and the Grizzlies finished the first quarter only up by two. Elanor Copes opened the scoring with the first 6 points for the Grizzlies, all off of steals. The girls have been able to dig in and play patient, disciplined team defense all season, and this game was no exception. Kelly Road began to tire out in the second quarter, only scoring 2 points to the Grizzlies 10. The Grizzlies took off in the second half, finishing the game out with a score of 50-15. The gold medal game was another match up against PGSS, the 4th time this season that the Grizzlies have taken on the Polars. Building on their earlier win, the Grizzlies came out firing and won with a score of 60-19, their biggest point spread against the Polars all season. Sophia De Torres lead the scoring with 29 points, followed by Alyssa Gallant with 20. 

The Junior Boys were in Dawson Creek for the 2020 DCSS/MCS Basketball Showcase. The boys went up against a much younger team from Dr Kearney in their first game-winning, with a score of 66-30. The win placed the team in the semifinals against a much improved GP Comp JV team. A 66-46 win put the Grizzlies in the finals for another showdown with perennial rivals Dawson Creek, who have won two championship games against the Grizzlies. The boys again started slow, down 8-0 in the first 5 minutes of the game. A timeout was called which inspired the boys to work harder in defense and move the ball for open shots. The Grizzlies were only ahead by a point at the end of the first quarter after wrestling the lead from Dawson Creek. The beginning of the second was a see-saw battle with the teams contesting for every possession and the Grizzlies were able to maintain the lead to 3 points at the end of the half. The third and fourth quarter was the same with Dawson mounting several comebacks but the Grizzlies maintained their poise and stuck with the game plan, leading to the teams first 1st place finish!

The Senior girls started the weekend off Friday night with a battle against Kelly Road Secondary School. The girls were down 20 points at the half and fought back to tie the game by the end of the 3rd quarter. The final score was 62-58. Saturday morning the girls stepped up to play Caledonia winning 58-52. The final game of the weekend was against PGSS, with a final score of 71-61. 

This weekend the Senior Boys were in Prince George playing in the DP Todd tournament. Despite their third-place finish, this was their best tournament yet: they went into their first game confident expecting a win, however, that confidence led to a fast-paced game with minimal defense, in which they gave up 97 points to Kelly Road. Regardless, the boys’ offense was clicking and the final score was 106-97. Up next was their biggest challenge yet, against #1 AAA and #4 in the entire province, Duchess Park. This was the moment in which the Grizzlies would know whether or not they could compete at the highest level…and they rose to the occasion. The initial pace and efficient offense of the Condors led them to a 20 point lead going into the 2nd quarter. However, after a change in defense and with the boys finally hitting shots, the Grizzlies fought back to a 2 point game with 3 minutes left in the 4th. The battle continued, but with some costly turnovers and missed layups down the stretch, the boys couldn’t finish the job and lost with grace. The final score was 90-83. This game alone put the boys on the map, as they are now hoping to fight for a higher rank going into provincials. Lastly, the 3rd/4th place game was against their rivals Dawson Creek. The game started off even, but Dawson Creek was eventually no match, as the Grizzlies ended up with a 25 point victory. It was a great team weekend for the boys, and they proved that they could compete with the best of them. After this tournament, their record sits at 9-3 as they look forward to heading back down to Prince George in two weeks. 

Up Next: The Senior Girls are back to Prince George this weekend, while the rest of the teams have the weekend off. Both Junior teams will be at Regionals (hosted by Bert Bowes and North Peace) Feb 7/8 and the Senior Boys will be at College Heights. 

Athlete of the week: Komal Kaur (Gr. 12, Senior Girls Basketball) Komal played an integral role in the team’s success this weekend, demonstrating continuous defensive strategy, and mental toughness. Congrats Komal!