|
 ORDER GAME PHOTOS
Written by: Zach White
The second game of Super Saturday belonged to the (#1) Grace Grizzlies, as they defeated the (#3) Lapwai Wildcats 47-40 to take the title of 1AD1 Girls’ Basketball State Champions.
Grace was the number one ranked team in the media poll throughout the season, going 21-3 and finishing first in the High Desert Conference. They proved their number one status by outsourcing Lapwai in almost every basketball category.
Lapwai started the game by jumping out to an early lead, holding the high-powered Grace offense to five points. The Grizzlies took over the second quarter, scoring 14 points to the Wildcats’ five, largely due to the 57.1% free throw percentage compared to just 25% for Lapwai.
The Wildcats also struggled from the 3 point line, only making one out of their ten attempts in the first half.
Coming out of the half, Lapwai started to heat up from the floor. However, they were too far behind the eight ball, and trailed throughout the third quarter. Going into the fourth, the score was 30-25 Grace.
A pivotal moment in the game for Grace occurred when senior Melodie Straatman left the game with a right arm injury with five minutes left in regulation; at the time of injury, she had played nearly the entire game for Grace, scoring five points and pulling down five rebounds. But Grace was able to withstand her loss and close out the win.
While Lawpwai head coach Josh Leighton Jr. and company did everything they could to get back in this game, the Grace offense was too much, scoring 17 points in the final quarter to secure the state championship title.
Lapwai’s Lois Oatman and Samara Powaukee were the team’s leading scorers with 10 points each. However they were no match for our IdahoSports.com Player of the Game, presented by the Idaho Office of Highway Safety, senior Sydnee Smith. Smith finished with 20 points, 14 total rebounds, two steals, and was 12-for-21 on free throws for her Grace Grizzlies.
“(I’m) really grateful for my teammates because they’ve been looking for me to get that seal and kept encouraging me to go hard to the hole even though I wasn’t making all of my shots, but it ended up working out,” said Smith on her success. “There are definitely some highs and lows throughout the season and in that game, but we kept pushing through.”
|
1ST
|
2ND
|
3RD
|
4TH
|
TOTAL
|
|
LAPWAI
|
8
|
5
|
12
|
15
|
40
|
|
GRACE
|
5
|
14
|
11
|
17
|
47
|
LAPWAI (20-6) - Samara Powaukee 10, Lois Oatman 10, Jayden Leighton 9, Qubilah Mitchell 3, Madden Bisbee 2, Amasone George 2, Skylin Picard 2, Taya Yearout 2, Andraeana Domebo 0
GRACE (22-3) - Sydnee Smith 20, Jacie Christensen 10, Tessica Jorgensen 9, Melodie Straatman 5, Karlie Christensen 2, Kallie Stoddard 1, Lydia Andersen 0, Tayler Yost 0, Kamryn Mansfield 0, Bryleigh Walker 0
|