Groves Academy Griffins Win First Game of Season

There will be no lumps of coal in the Groves Academy Griffins Christmas stockings as Malik Bodden scored 25 points to lead them to a 65-49 win over the Chesterton Academy Bulldogs Tuesday night in St. Louis Park.

The win snapped a four game losing streak for Groves Academy.

Max Bilcik began the scoring for the Griffins :24 into the game when he scored on a rebound.  Zach Halpin would even the game at two and would put the Bulldogs on a 6-0 run that would end when Bilcik scored four straight points.  Bodden would score to event the game at six and larry Mohamed would hit a free throw to put Groves Academy ahead.  Mohamed would also put the Griffins on a 4-0 run that would end on a pair of free throws from Chesterton Academy's Dundee Peterson.  Groves Academy would move ahead further and Patrick Quinn would hit the game's first three pointer with 6:20 left in the half.  Bodden would also hit from Highway 100 as foul trouble would plague the Bulldogs when Greg fink picked up his third foul with 1:31 left in the half.  The Griffins would lead 32-15 at halftime.

Chesterton Academy would begin the second half on a 5-0 run that included a three pointer from Pilon.  Kolbe Lahmis picked up his fourth foul with 16:07 to play and the Bulldogs would try to get back in the game as they went on a 6-0 run.  Zach Halpin would later hit a three point play that would cut the lead to seven but that would be as close as Chesterton Academy could get.  Bodden would use his speed and hot shooting to score eight of the Griffins next 10 points to put the game out of reach.  The Bulldogs would go on a 5-0 run but they couldn't drop the margin to under 10.  Groves Academy would lose Bilcik on fouls with 3:00 left but they would hold their lead to clinch the victory leading into the Christmas break.

Bilcik and Quinn were the only other Groves Academy players in double figures, scoring 10 points apiece.  Halpin led Chesterton Academy with 25 points.  Pilon piled in 10.

The Griffins improved their record to 1-4 and will participate in the North Lakes Academy Tournament December 28-29 in Forest Lake.  Their game on the 28th is against North Lakes Academy at 7 PM.  The Bulldogs fell to 0-1 and will play in the Calvin Christian Tournament December 27-29 in Fridley.