Sports

Grizzlies Boys Basketball Opens Up The Season With a Win

Brooke Baughman, Staff Editor • December 3, 2023

(From left to right) Maxx Bosley, Grady Hughes, Finn Schmitt, and Callaghan Corell huddling up before a free throw in the fourth quarter. Hughes is a sophomore and was the third leading scorer for the Grizzlies with 7 points. Photo by Brooke Baughman.

The Wadsworth High School varsity boys basketball team defeated the Wooster Generals 66-56 in the season opener on Friday night. The team has a new coach this year, Dennis Schrock, and is fairly young as they graduated five varsity seniors from last season. Although they are young, nothing stopped them from putting on the pressure and defeating Wooster in a non-league match-up.

**Coach Schrock makes his varsity head coach debut. Aside from coaching, Schrock is also a history teacher at WHS.** *Photo by Brooke Baughman.*

The game started with a lot of back-and-forth play between the two teams. Maxx Bosley, Senior captain for the Grizzlies, started the game off strong with 6 quick points in the first quarter. Around the two-minute mark of the first quarter, the Generals started to pull ahead with a 12-18 lead and the tempo began to change.

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Bosley said. “They went on their run and it was our turn to make our run. I tried to settle down with my teammates because I know that we have a lot of new players.”

The Grizzlies did just that, starting the quarter with a 5-0 run making the score 17-18. The last minutes of the half consisted of persistent back-and-forth play as the Grizzlies and Generals were tied at 20-20 and at half were tied 30-30.

The tempo shifted for the Grizzlies as they entered the third quarter. Gavin Madigan, sophomore, and Bosley made back-to-back threes giving the Grizzlies some cushion as they went ahead 46-39.

Approaching the end of the third quarter, Bosley got his third foul and had to sit to make sure that he would be able to play in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies continued to fight and pushed their lead to 51-42 to end the quarter.

Although the Grizzlies had led for most of the second half, the Generals cut the lead to within 4 points with three minutes left to go in the game. Finn Schmitt, senior center, had several big-time blocks that helped the Grizzlies gain momentum and finish out the quarter.

**Senior Captain Callaghan Corell playing defense against the Generals. Corell made a 3-pointer early in the first quarter to help the Grizzlies gain a lead.** *Photo by Brooke Baughman.*

“It was a close game and we needed stops,” Schmitt said. “I broke my nose at the beginning of the game so I was determined to get the win. My adrenaline went through the roof when I got that last block and we got the board and took it down to score.”

Schmitt sealed the Grizzlies’ win by hitting both his free throws with only seconds left to go in the game. Bosley scored a game-high of 32 points and Schmitt was the second-leading scorer for the Grizzlies with 12 points. The Grizzlies will travel to Brunswick (1-0) on Tuesday, Dec 5 in another non-league matchup.

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About the Contributor

Brooke Baughman, Opinion Editor

Brooke Baughman is a senior and has been on the Bruin staff for two years. She is the Opinion Editor and loves to write sports stories. She is the beat writer for the WHS volleyball, girls' soccer, and boys' basketball teams. Outside of Bruin, Brooke is a varsity basketball player and is involved in numerous clubs at WHS, including being a peer mentor for the freshman class and teaching 3rd graders about the dangerous effects of peer pressure through a group called HUDDLE. Brooke enjoys spending time with her three dogs, Charlie, Baker, and Dallas, and her grandparents. Brooke plans to attend college and major in a Pre-Physician Assistant program.