Lady Wolverines beat league rival Grizzlies

As the end of the regular basketball season nears its conclusion, the Lady Wolverines hosted two Snake River Valley league teams last week and worked hard to try and improve their standings in the conference heading into the SRV District tournament.

 Their first match-up was against league rivals the Fruitland Grizzlies at home.  The Lady Wolverines struggled in the first period to find their footing, shooting 2-for-7 from the field, and connecting for a mere five points.  

 The only points came from a shot in the paint from senior Sara Lundberg and a bucket from behind the arc from fellow senior Abbey Shirts. Andrea Bouvia added a pair of free throws to the tally, but the Grizzlies managed to best the Wolverines in the initial quarter with better success from the field with eight points and two free throws.

 Trailing 10-7, the Wolverines stepped up their offensive presence and sophomore Maddy Erickson canned three baskets, while Madison Phillips added two of her own.  Macy Moore, Andrea Bouvia and Shirts shot 80 percent from the line and added four points and the Wolverines were able to pull ahead of the Grizzlies 21-19.

 The Wolverines continued to surge into the second half, expanding their lead slightly in the third quarter by outscoring the Grizzlies 12-10.  

 Shirts and Phillips both found their mark from 3-point land, while Bouvia and Marissa Moyle had two points apiece.  Shirts also canned both of her free throws to keep the Lady Wolverines in the lead 33-29.

 As the Wolverines began to gradually pull away and expand their lead, the frustration of the Grizzlies was visible, as what had been a very clean game in the first half quickly became an exhibition of the Wolverine free throw shooting by the fourth quarter.  

 With the Grizzlies reaching the 10-foul mark and bonus shooting for the Wolverines two minutes into the half, the Wolverines stepped to the charity stripe 26 times. Although they struggled, shooting only 33 percent in the third quarter, they quickly seized the opportunity that they were given and shot 17 for 20 in the final period.  

 Meanwhile, the Wolverines continued to play a clean game with only 13 fouls for the entire game. Despite only scoring two points from Phillips in the final period, the 17 points from the line put the Wolverines over the top to take the game 52-37.

 Abbey Shirts led the Wolverines with 10 points and 4 rebounds, followed by the trio of Maddy Erickson, Madison Phillips and Andrea Bouvia, all with 9 points apiece. Sara Lundberg added 6 points and 5 rebounds, while Marissa Moyle had 5 points and 6 rebounds.  Macy Moore added an additional 4 points and 1 rebound.