The last time the Golden Valley Grizzlies won a league opener was in 2009 and their 62-52 victory over the Saugus Centurians on Tuesday was a step in the right direction. After defeating the Centurians twice in league last season it was very important for the Grizzlies to continue that streak as their league season opened.
"It was important because people didn't think we were going to do well in league this year," said junior captain and forward Noah Heinzman.
Earlier in the year these two teams met in the Burbank Tournament where Saugus came out on top 61-59.
On Tuesday night the Grizzlies knew Saugus wouldn't be an easy win. Early in the first quarter Saugus jumped out to a 13-5 lead. Paced by Caleb Grisanti's 9 points in the quarter. The Grizzlies clawed their way back into the game by rattling off nine unanswered points to take a one point lead at the end of the quarter.
Leading the way for the Grizzlies was Isai Jimenez who poured in 21 points.
According to Heinzman it was important for Jiminez to score a lot of points because the majority of the scoring has come from Heinzman, Bryce Tyler-St. Clair and Derek Schlossman.
"If we can get scoring from other areas it makes us more difficult to defend and we have more weapons to attack anybody's defense," said Heinzman.
It seemed like the Grizzlies were going to be down a point at halftime but a bank shot three pointer from Jimenez gave the Grizzlies a two point lead and a lot of momentum going into halftime.
After halftime it was all Golden Valley as Derek Schlossman led the way in the third quarter with a pair of three pointers that gave the Grizzlies a thirteen point lead heading into the last 8 minutes.
We went around and asked some of the players what they think changed and helped them win. According to Noah Heinzman "Our defense helped us win. The pressure and intensity coming from them helped significantly." Isai accredited it to "just energy and being more positive. We weren't attacking, and that's what we're really good at."
With a win like this expectations are starting to build up for Golden Valley. There's plenty in store for their future as a team.
by Charisse B. Atherley
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