Vikings Eliminate Tigers

Story and photos by Mike Gesler

Tri-County 54  Grant 48
The Grant Tigers have been steadily improving throughout this shortened and weird Coronavirus influenced season. At the start of the season, even the Grant faithful had to wonder what their chances would be come District time. Having only three seniors, and a total of five with varsity experience, this young squad had a gigantic learning curve ahead of them. Yet these never-give-up cagers, under the coaching of Josh Delamater, stuck through with grit and determination. So much so that after last week’s impressive win over Chippewa Hills, they had the Grant Nation wondering if maybe, just maybe, these young ladies may be on track to make a District run.

To make that run, the Tigers would first need to get through the Vikings of Tri-County who came into this first round of Districts with a 10-5 record, and beating the Tigers twice during the regular season by fifteen each time. And from the start of tonight’s game, it appeared that the Tigers would be no match for the Vikings. Tri-County jumped out to a six point lead before sending Julie Ashbaugh to the line. Ashbaugh hit both shots as Sami Wolff came off the bench giving Grant the spark they needed by draining a three and bringing the Tigers within one. Ashbaugh then took over, putting up another five points as the Tigers frustrated the Vikings at the board and closed the first quarter with a two point lead.

The Tigers had settled in and found their groove dominating play in the second. They shut down the driving lanes forcing Tri-County to shoot from distance. They played aggressive under the boards. They out hustled the Vikings full court press which led to multiple scoring opportunities, and put the Vikings on their heels. By the time the half buzzer sounded, Grant went into the locker room with an impressive first half leading Tri-County 30-19.

Tri-County came out of the locker room dead set on making sure this was not going to be the game that ended their season. They cleaned up the mistakes of the first half now forcing Grant to shoot from outside and blocking out the inside. They outscored Grant in the first five minutes thirteen to two tying up the score at thirty-two a piece. Tri-County had clearly retaken control of this game, but Grant was not about to simply let them have it without a fight. By the time the third quarter ended, thanks largely to a three point bucket by Jaycee Rider with less than a minute remaining, Grant held a slim one point margin before the final eight minutes would be played out.

If there is one thing the Tigers can be proud of tonight is the fact that they left everything on the court. With four minutes remaining in the game, these two teams were locked up at forty apiece. Tri-County managed to go up by six with a minute nineteen left on the clock, but even that did not stop the Tigers. They forced the Vikings to the line, and with only thirty-two ticks left brought the game within two. However, within those last thirty-two ticks, Tri-County went six for six from the line while the Tigers only picked up two. Thus ending a season full of growth for Grant 54-48.

“I told them at halftime, they’re going to come out, and they’re going to be ready to play. They are going to throw something different at us. They’re going to come out with a fire. We have got to be ready for that, and our youthfulness and inexperience really showed in that third quarter,” stated Coach Delamater. “We kind of got things back under control, and battled at the end. We just didn’t have the experience at the end to get over that. But definitely in the right direction of stuff that we want to see. That was a team that beat us twice by fifteen points, and to battle them, and to put them in that position to have to finish that game off was really great for our girls.”

So while this may not have been the Cinderella season the Grant faithful may have hoped for, tonight was definitely a wakeup call to their opponents and a sign of better days yet to come. This young Tiger squad roared mightily tonight letting the Tiger Nation know that in the coming years, it is they who are going to be the force to be reckoned with.

Two Tigers saw double digits tonight; Sara Arends with twelve, followed by Trinity Swanson with eleven. Julie Ashbaugh put up nine, Sami Wolff downed eight, Jaycee Rider saw six, and Chloee Chase finished with two.