David Colburn
FIELD TWP – By halftime of the Grizzlies boys home basketball game against Bigfork on Friday, North Woods fans had just three questions deserving of serious consideration: when would the Grizzlies hit 100 points, who would score the century bucket, and what would the final scoring margin be?
Comfortably in control 58-32 at the break, the Grizzlies opened the second half with a devastating 26-2 haymaker, hit the century mark on a Sean Morrison basket with 4:13 left on a running clock, and closed out with a dominating 108-57 win.
Head Coach Will Kleppe was satisfied with the outcome, but he wasn’t happy at all when Bigfork’s Bradley Haley scored the Huskies’ first basket on a wide-open shot underneath the basket on a play the Grizzlies had practiced preventing. Kleppe immediately called time out.
David Colburn
FIELD TWP- With three games in six days to open the 2021 high school boys basketball season, the North Woods Grizzlies have experienced both feast and famine, scoring blowout wins at Carlton and Cherry with a lackluster loss at home against Northland sandwiched between them.
North Woods came roaring out of the gate last Thursday at Carlton, with their pressure defense, running game, and offensive sets clicking about as well as Head Coach Will Kleppe could ask for in a season-opening 110-46 thrashing of the Bulldogs.
Led by lights-out shooting and 34 points by Jared Chiabotti, the Grizzlies could have gone scoreless in the second half and still won the game by 20, piling up 66 points by halftime while holding Carlton to 22.