The second battle of the "War on the Southside" was as many expected, a physical, close, and exciting battle. There was increased hype and rhetoric leading up to the second matchup between the Grizzlies and the Falcons and there was another big crowd on Friday night, this time at G.W. Graham on Thomas Road.
The game started out with the Grizzlies playing their new trademark 3-2 zone defense and looking to push the ball whenever they could. Both teams traded opening shots in the first quarter and Graham led 14-10 after the first period. It should be noted that the Grizzlies were 2 for 6 (33%) from the free throw line in the first, not the greatest way to start an important game.
As usual, the Falcons were overloading defensively on whichever side Micah Cockrill was on and successful contained him in the first half and held him to 6 first-half points. Max Chadsey and Colton Vandop were the Falcons that were counted on most for the defensive front against Cockrill. However, Cockrill was doing a good job of finding his teammates in the right spots and Chris Thomson and Lucas Mannes were converting their scoring opportunities. Elyas Forstbauer had another strong showing, finishing with 22 points, and this was helped by the fact that Michael Covey and Josiah Alleckna for the Falcons were getting into the paint a lot more than they were able to in the first matchup of these two teams. The first half ended with an interesting situation as Coach Kyle Graves, of the Sardis Falcons, felt that Covey had been fouled on a last-second shot that he had missed. Graves walked on the floor within a couple of feet of the referees and berated them for nearly a minute. After Graves left the floor to cool down, Sardis Athletic Director Ken Heise also let the officials know where he stood but to no avail.
The Falcons started the second half with a bang and outscored the Grizzlies 22-14 in the third quarter. The Grizzlies were not shooting well during the third and lost themselves mentally for stretches of the quarter. However, the real hand-to-hand combat began in the fourth quarter as Micah Cockrill turned his game around with 13 points in the final period. His three three-pointers in the fourth came in exciting fashion. Once, he fooled Colton Vandop with a behind-the-back dribble proceeded to hit a beautiful three pointer. Not to be outdueled, Josiah Alleckna also had 13 points in the final frame and helped the Falcons hold off the final charge from the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies came within five in the final minutes but the Falcons prevailed 71 to 63.
NOTES:
- Only 11 players from both teams scored in the entire game, 6 from the Falcons and 5 from the Grizzlies
- Jordan Lam of the Falcons had a strong performance off the bench, finishing with six points and an offensive rebound
- Elyas Forstbauer has had a strong season so far but will need to get better at creating his own opportunities for his performances to translate into a tough Fraser Valley East AAA league
- The younger players on the Grizzlies will need to get better at dealing with pressure in high-intensity games (this should come with further experience and game time)
- The Grizzlies badly need bench contributions to help out their starting five
- Jake Mouritzen's sweater vest is no longer a winning factor for the Grizzlies. On Saturday he switched to a sweater with a zipper on the shoulder and found more success with this wardrobe choice.
- James Rendall did shave his facial hair and looked like a stud sitting on the bench, we anticipate his return in January
- Colin Currie for the Falcons is still wearing a sleeve on his arm to protect himself from worsening a previous injury. This blog plans to find out more about this young man and his courageous story.
- Josiah Cockrill did not make it onto the floor on Friday but he spent much of Saturday morning practicing shooting from a chair so he can continue to hit three-pointers while sitting on the bench. He might be the best in Chilliwack at doing so.
Watch the highlight package here.
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