Tuesday night was Teacher Appreciation Night for the Groves Academy Griffins and the teachers who stayed for the game after the pregame ceremony would be impressed with Malik Bodden's game high 26 pints that led the Griffins to a 72-57 win over the Calvin Christian Cougars in St. Louis Park.
It looked like the Cougars were going to dominate the game as they would score the first 14 points that started with Joey Ritzema scoring :57 into the game. There would also be three pointers from Ritzema and Josiah Schaap. But lo and behold, the Griffins, playing without Nick Maiers and Max Greseth who missed the game due to illness, would finally get on the board with Larry Mohamed ending the early shutout with 12:18 left in the first half. Bodden would be the engine who put the Groves Academy offense into overdrive, scoring 15 straight points, including a 9-0 Griffin run. Calvin Christian would widen the lead with a 10-0 run. Groves Academy would slice Calvin Christian's lead to one late in the first half as Max Bilcik hit a pair of three pointers and Robert Hall scored on a jumper that wrapped up the first half with the Cougars ahead 32-31.
The second half would begin just like the first with Ritzema scoring the first basket :31 seconds into the half. The Griffins would forge ahead as Mohamed and Bodden would score as well as Donovan Bradshaw, inserted into the starting lineup due to Maiers' absence. It would be an 8-0 Groves Academy run. But Calvin Christian was not done yet as Even Olstad hit a three pointer and a pair of free throws from Josaih Schaap cut the lead to two. Josh Koreze would score to tie the game at 50 and Bradshaw would counter to put the Griffins back in front. They would begin to pull away from the Cougars as they went on a 7-0 run. The one bright spot for Calvin Christian would be Olstad heading to the free throw line for three shots since he was fouled on a three pointer attempt. He would hit his free throws, thought wouldn't be enough as Bodden would convert a three point play and Hall would wrap up the game to help a 5-0 Groves Academy run.
Other players in double figures for the Griffins were Bilcik with 15 points and Mohamed with 15. The Cougars were led by Jace Shields and Hans Dykstra with 10 points apiece.
The Griffins improved their record to 8-11 and head to northeast Minneapolis on Thursday, February 15 for a rematch with the Learning for Leadership Mustangs at 7 PM. The Cougars fell to 11-8 and host the Shattuck-St. Mary's Sabers on Friday, February 16 at 7 PM.
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