Grant propels Bulldogs past Vikings, 53-46
<p>Mission's Nikko Alexander loses the ball as he's fouled by Charlo's Tristan Santee in traffic under the basket. </p>
ST. IGNATIUS — The Bulldogs battled their way to a third consecutive victory Thursday night, as a resilient Mission team, led by junior Stuart Grant, outlasted Lake County rival Charlo 53-46 in St. Ignatius.
Grant poured in 22 points and added eight rebounds and four assists in the win, a performance that demanded praise from his head coach. “He’s an all-conference performer. I haven’t seen a better all-around player all year,” said Coach Steve Pelletier of his star forward. “There are some good players out there, but I’d take Stuart over any of them.”
After a seven point second quarter, the Bulldogs went into the locker room trailing 24-20. The Vikings were seemingly containing Grant – only four points in the first half – as well as the Bulldog offense. The second half proved to be a different ball game, as the Bulldogs clamped down defensively, holding Charlo to just eight third quarter points. The Bulldogs offense responded, scoring 33 second half points, punctuated by Grant’s 18 points coming in the final 16 minutes. The Bulldogs 15 point second half turnaround was sparked on the defensive end, an aspect Coach Pelletier stressed at halftime. “Defensively, we needed to get on the same page,” said Pelletier. “We primarily play man-to-man, full-court and half-court, so rotations, recognizing breakdowns and trusting one another are key.” Coach Pelletier’s man defense puts a lot of pressure on individual players defensively. Defensive breakdowns are bound to happen. Abandoning your own defensive assignment in order to help with breakdowns hinges on trust. Trust that another teammate will help and guard the man you deserted. This trust is something Coach Pelletier says his Mission Bulldogs are finally starting to develop and the results are showing up in the win column.
As for Charlo, the dismal third-quarter offensive production, accompanied with the inability to limit Grant’s scoring explosion, proved to be too much for the Vikings to overcome. Senior Webb O’Neil led the scoring charge for the Vikings with 15 points and junior Tristan Santee added 11 in the loss. Charlo’s two leading scorers produced 56 percent of Charlo’s 46 points and the Vikings struggled all game to find others to put the ball in the hole. The Vikings would recover however, over the weekend, posting two decisive wins over St. Regis on Friday 70-31 and Victor on Saturday 54-45. At St. Regis, the Vikings were led by junior Kail Pope’s 19 points and O’Neil chipped in with 17. The Vikings also saw two others score in double-digits as Charlo beat up on the winless Tigers. The next night, O’Neil dominated at home scoring 27 points while pulling down 12 rebounds against the Victor Pirates. The three games in three nights stretch pushed the Vikings record to 5-3 in league 6-6 overall. In Charlo’s last three games (2-1), Webb O’Neil is averaging 19.6 points per game.
St. Ignatius took its Vikings victory and a modest three-game win streak into a Saturday night showdown against Deer Lodge. The Bulldogs recent play had Coach Pelletier singing high praise. “Our Mission boys are resilient and tough,” Pelletier said.
But the Bulldogs resilience and toughness fell just short Saturday as a game-winning layup with four seconds to play gave the Wardens a 74-72 win. Stuart Grant led the way for the Bulldogs scoring 24 – 10 in the fourth - and Jarred Brown added 23 in the loss, which ended Mission’s three-game win streak. A tight game throughout, St. Ignatius took a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. With 40 seconds left to play and the score knotted up at 72, the Wardens executed a play that led to the uncontested Rodney Hunter lay-up.
“We got lost in rotation and left a guy open in the lane,” said Coach Pelletier. “We’re playing in a new system and there was a lack of communication [on that last play]. We just fell a step behind.”
The Bulldogs, now 1-4, 4-8, still have to be encouraged by Grant’s dynamic dominance. In his last four games, Grant is averaging 21.75 points per game while leading his Bulldogs to a 3-1 record.