Do it again.
That’s what the Shas Ti Kelly Road Grizzlies will be thinking when they get to their home court Saturday morning to take on the Nechako Valley Vikings.
If the Grizzlies win that 10 a.m. rematch they will capture the North Central zone double-A girls basketball championship for the first time since 1991.
The Vikings lost Friday’s opening game of the best-of-three series 62-60 to the Grizzlies Friday night in Vanderhoof and would dearly love to extend the series to a third game Saturday at 3 p.m. at STKR.
They know how close they were to putting the Grizzlies into survival mode.
“We had to battle back from being down five at the half against a really gutsy effort from NVSS,” said Grizzlies head coach Randy Strybos.
“Breanna Skelly was a standout (for the Grizzlies) with her ball handling and defense. Several of our players including senior post Gloria Butcher weren't (100 per cent healthy) but battled through to make a real difference in the game.
“We took the game back in the fourth quarter with our team ball pressure and had to hold off a late rally by NVSS to hold onto the win.”
Saturday’s morning game will feature a rare commodity during these pandemic times – spectators.
The province has lifted restrictions on high school sports and Saturday will mark the first time since December that fans will be allowed in the gyms.
“Should be a fun one in the morning and we are excited to have our fans back in the stands to cheer us on,” said Strybos. “Hopefully we can close it out and not go to a third game, but NVSS won't make it easy on us. We will need to play a complete game to do it.
“I was told that KRSS/STKR hasn't sent a girl’s senior basketball team to provincials since 1991, so it would be an amazing thing for these hardworking girls to accomplish and an excellent way for our six graduating players to end their high school careers.”
