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Unfortunately, the whole game did not go as the Grizzlies would have liked it to.

The Grizzlies started off very slow, allowing the Tigers to gain a 7 point lead after the first 2 minutes of play. The Delano offense seemed too fast for the Grizzlies to handle.

It wasn’t until Grizzlies varsity coach, Bud Luther, took a timeout that the Grizzlies really started to get into the game. They managed to score some points and slow down the speedy Delano offense.

Both teams played very tight defense, not allowing the other team to get ahead by very many points. But Dante Cunningham was able to get around the Delano center easily to score for Granite. That still wasn’t enough for the lead. The first half ended with a 5 point Delano lead.

Cunningham, last year’s leading scorer, continued reeking havoc in the second half, scoring lay-up after lay-up against the smaller Delano defense. Cunningham accounted for most of the Grizzles’ points.

However, foul problems hurt the Grizzlies a lot throughout the game, allowing for the Delano Tigers to get more scoring opportunities and free throw shots.

The Grizzlies great scoring ability and tight defense helped them keep the score tied going into the fourth quarter, which made for a very exciting last quarter.

With the score tied, the fans were getting angry with some of the calls the refs made. The suspense built up as the clocked ticked down with both teams hoping to make the basket to take the lead and win.

The Grizzlies once again allowed for the speedy Delano offense to take the ball down the court and score points to give them the lead. That put more pressure on the Grizzlies to score some points of their own to keep them in the game.

The three point shot drilled by Francisco Lopez brought the Grizzlies within two points of the tie. The Grizzlies could almost taste victory after they saw that 3-poniter go in.

“I wasn’t nervous when I took the shot, those are the kinds of things we practice everyday.” said Francisco Lopez.

The refs did not seem to favor Granite very much, allowing the Tigers to commit many fouls against the Grizzlies late in the fourth quarter. Fouls which were seen by the crowd, but the refs seemed to ignore.

The game came down to the very last seconds of the game, but the fouls committed late in the fourth quarter hurt the Grizzlies and allowed the Tigers to get a slim 4 point victory.

Clay Congdon said, “It felt really bad because we had home court advantage and we couldn’t take advantage of that.”

The Grizzlies seemed to fall apart in the fourth quarter with many turnovers, giving Delano the ball and a chance to score. The final score was Granite Hills 58 Delano 62.

Granite is looking forward to playing Tulare Union, a key match-up, in their next home game on Dec. 15. The cost to get in is three dollars with a student ID card, and six without. Come out and support our Grizzlies.