Bantams defend Avista title against Bulldogs

The second consecutive Avista Holiday Tournament girls basketball final between the Clarkston Bantams and Grangeville Bulldogs proved a much tighter contest than the teams’ encounter last year — but in the end, the same winner emerged.

Clarkston successfully defended its title, topping Grangeville 55-47 to close out the three-day event on Saturday at Lewis-Clark State’s P1FCU Activity Center.

Early defensive battle

“We lost, but we played a good game,” said Grangeville coach Michelle Barger, whose team had fallen to the Bantams 72-32 in the Avista title round a year prior. “We just played within ourselves. Our defense was really what kept us in it; our defense is really on-point right now, and we are just really getting after it defensively. I think that is what’s changed since last year.”

Both teams came out committed to playing an aggressive full-court press, and they had success flustering each other in the early going. The game sat in a scoreless deadlock through more than a minute-and-a-half of play before the first points appeared on the board courtesy of an inside hook shot from Clarkston’s Jaelyn McCormack-Marks.

Caryss Barger notched the first four points for Grangeville (7-4) with a free throw and 3-pointer. The Bulldogs were up 6-2 before a run of five points from Reese de Groot flipped things back in the Bantams’ favor. On the whole, both teams remained cold from the field and sat in single digits until late in the first quarter.

McCormack-Marks smacked her hands together in visible frustration after a 3-point attempt fell short with just over two minutes remaining in the frame. She gunned for the 3 again on the Bantams’ next possession 30 seconds later, and this one climbed over the front of the rim to put them up 12-6. That seemed to mark a tipping point for both teams, for the game saw an offensive upswing through the rest of the half.

Leading 16-13 to start the second, Clarkston (8-2) quickly pulled ahead 22-13 off baskets from de Groot and McCormack-Marks, only for a tenacious Grangeville to rally all the way back to a 26-25 lead clinched on a Madalyn Green free throw with a little over two minutes remaining.

That kicked off a series of rapid-succession lead changes on fast-break plays before the buzzer sounded with Clarkston up 32-30.

Bantams seal the deal

The pattern of the Bantams threatening to pull away, only for the Bulldogs to hang in and keep threatening, continued almost to the end of the game. Having trailed by as many as 10 in the third quarter, Grangeville pulled back within a possession as late as the halfway point of the final frame, only for a de Groot free throw and layup to stretch the Clarkston lead from 46-44 to 49-44.

The Bulldogs, who fielded a total of seven players on the day, faded slightly down the stretch, committing more turnovers and struggling with foul trouble for their starters, while Clarkston slowed the pace and judiciously ran down the clock.

“I put some rules out to them that only layins (should be attempted) until we’re down in the shot clock,” Clarkston coach Debbie Sobotta said. “We still had one instance where we shot too early, but for the most part, they got disciplined with using the clock.”

Grangeville still had hope trailing 51-47 entering the last minute of regulation, but could not get shots to fall in crunch time before a series of timely made free throws from Lexi Villavicencio, de Groot and Joslyn McCormack-Marks in the closing stages put the Bulldog prospects’ of victory firmly to bed.

In the end, Clarkston’s 16-for-24 (66.7%) showing from the free-throw line provided a critical edge over Grangeville’s 11-for-22 (50%) mark.

Honorees and stars

In a ceremony following the game, Grangeville’s Siena Wagner and Clarkston’s Aneysa Judy were named to the all-tournament team, while Jaelyn McCormack-Marks was crowned tournament MVP.

Grangeville was characteristically balanced in the final, with Barger (12 points, six assists, six rebounds), Green (12 points, five rebounds), Autumn Long (11 points, eight rebounds) and Addisyn Vanderwall (11 points, six rebounds) all making double-digit offensive contributions.

McCormack-Marks, who scored in double figures for the Bantams in all three games to total 42 points for the week, had 14 before fouling out late against Grangeville. Judy led Clarkston with 12 points in their opener against Moscow, hit double figures again with 10 in the semifinals against Colfax and added nine in Saturday’s title game.

De Groot, who transferred from Lewiston to Clarkston for her senior season in the belief that the Bantam experience will better prepare her for college hoops, came through clutch to score six of the team’s nine in the decisive fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 21 points for the day.

“Doing anything back-to-back — it’s not easy to do,” Sobotta said. “Just lots of respect for the teams they brought in here. It feels good, of course, but at the same time, I see we have a lot more to work on. We are taking this win, we are proud of the back-to-back championships, and now it’s time to get to work for league.”

CLARKSTON (8-2)

Jaelyn McCormack-Marks 5 1-2 14, Preslee Dempsey 0 2-2 2, Reese de Groot 6 7-12 21, Aneysa Judy 4 1-2 9, Joslyn McCormack-Marks 0 3-4 3, Ryann Combs 0 0-0 0, Tatum Sevy 0 0-0 0, Ella Leavitt 1 0-0 2, Laney Augir 0 0-0 0, Lexi Villavicencio 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 16-24 55.

GRANGEVILLE (7-4)

Caryss Barger 4 3-4 12, Siena Wagner 0 1-2 1, Autumn Long 4 1-2 11, Kinsley Adams 0 0-2 0, Madalyn Green 5 2-4 12, Addisyn Vanderwall 3 4-8 11, Ila Wilkinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-22 47.

Clarkston 16 16 14 9—55

Grangeville 13 17 9 8—47

3-point goals — Ja. McCormack-Marks 3, de Groot 2, Long 2, Barger, Vanderwall.