State Hopes Still Alive
<p>District Tourneys continue to wrap up but not without a little drama. Many teams facing elimination have played their best basketball and that’s what everyone wants. Let’s keep the quality of play at an all-time high with a bid to the big dance on the line. It does not get any better than that. </p>
<p><strong>Grace Win Forces Rematch with Butte County</strong></p>
<p>On a neutral floor at Snake River, Grace kept its season alive with a 61-49 over Butte County, setting up a rematch between the Grizzlies and Pirates on Thursday. Winner will earn a bid to state.</p>
<p>Grace jumped on Butte County early and probably would have won by 20-plus points but threw its reserves in late. Guard [player_tooltip player_id="919679" first="Gage" last="Stoddard"] led the way with 32 points putting the team on his back scoring over half of the teams points. Stoddard was nothing short of sensational the other night scoring in a multitude of ways as well as working hard on the defensive effort. It was a complete performance. Grey Gibbs added 11 points and 14 rebounds.</p>
<p>Originally, the entire 1A DI District 5-6 Tournament was supposed to be played at Butte County despite Grace being the No. 1 seed. However due to an incident in the stands during the last their last matchup, the final two games got moved to Snake River.</p>
<p>And that sets up well for Grace as it looks to repeat as district champs.</p>
<p>Last year, the Grizzlies advanced all the way the state title game but suffered a 22-point loss to Ambrose in that matchup. The squad lost four seniors off last year’s team graduated, which explained Grace’s start this season but the team has found their groove and it sets up a great winner-take-all matchup.</p>
<p>Grace (9-12) plays Butte County on Thursday at 7 p.m at Snake River HS. Winner earns a spot in the 1A DI State Tournament.</p>
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