2B state recap: Grizzlies upset in opening round

The No. 1-ranked Bear Creek boys' basketball team suffered some Grizzly-sized heartbreak Wednesday morning as the Pe Ell Trojans beat the Grizzlies, 65-59, in the opening round of the Class 2B state tournament at Spokane Arena.

By Tim Watanabe • March 3, 2010 6:48 pm
Bear Creek senior Jamie Meyer goes to the hoop during the Grizzlies' opening-round matchup at the 2B state tournament in Spokane on Wednesday morning while Pe Ell senior Joseph Vetter defends. The Grizzlies were upset 65-59 by the Trojans and play again on Thursday morning against Soap Lake in the consolation bracket semifinals.
Bear Creek senior Jamie Meyer goes to the hoop during the Grizzlies' opening-round matchup at the 2B state tournament in Spokane on Wednesday morning while Pe Ell senior Joseph Vetter defends. The Grizzlies were upset 65-59 by the Trojans and play again on Thursday morning against Soap Lake in the consolation bracket semifinals.

The No. 1-ranked Bear Creek boys’ basketball team suffered some Grizzly-sized heartbreak Wednesday morning as the Pe Ell Trojans beat the Grizzlies, 65-59, in the opening round of the Class 2B state tournament at Spokane Arena.

The Grizzlies (23-2) were simply not able to overcome the Trojans’ hot shooting, including a barrage of three-pointers. To make matters worse, Bear Creek missed key shots of their own down the stretch.

“We missed a lot of layins, and a lot of free throws,” lamented head coach Scott Moe. “It was just one of those games… it was a tough one.”

Playing aggressively in the paint, the Grizzlies unfortunately got into foul trouble as a team, enabling the Trojans to take 20 attempts from the charity stripe in the game to the Grizzlies’ five, which proved to be the difference.

Going in as one of the clear-cut favorites, the loss — and with it the hopes of a Bear Creek state title — stung hard.

“We had our eyes pretty much set on one goal,” Moe said. “We had some tears in the locker room for those guys, they had their eyes set on a gold ball, and it’s hard to recover from that.”

With the loss, Bear Creek will face off against Soap Lake (11-9) in the consolation bracket quarterfinals tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Soap Lake was routed by White Swan 74-51 in the opening game of the tournament, and if the Grizzlies win their next three games they can still place fifth in the state, with the top eight teams taking home a trophy.

“If we were a team that was just happy to be here, I think it’d be a lot easier to rebound or recover, but where our eyes were set it makes it a little tougher,” Moe said. “But our guys are resilient and they will come together, play well, and stay alive for another day.”