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RUTLEDGE – There is still magic left in The Den.

Grainger had a strong push in the final three minutes of their game against 10th-ranked Northview Academy Monday night to down the Lady Cougars 50-44 in arguably the biggest win of the season for the Lady Grizzlies.

“There we times tonight when it felt like old times here,” Grainger head coach Rusty Bishop said. “The crowd was great and we used them down the stretch. Offensively, we lost our minds at times but we eventually took care of the basketball. In that fourth quarter, we got good looks but they wouldn’t go down but Natavia Alber affects everything at the rim and is a really special player for them. I’m glad we gutted this one out.”

The Lady Grizzlies led 14-11 at the end of the opening period as four of their five field goals were three-pointers.

Northview scored 11 straight points early in the second period that allowed them to take a 26-22 lead at the half. It was in third period when Grainger went to work, scoring from outside and then going inside to draw fouls to get to the free throw line. The Lady Grizzlies trailed 43-41 with 3:15 remaining in the contest and locked the Lady Cougars down defensively.

Most of the scoring down the stretch came at the free throw line as the home team shot 11 freebies, hitting eight of them. Grainger had three straight possessions where they stole the ball away from NVA.

A 9-1 advantage in the closing minutes gave the Lady Grizz the win over a team that will be very much in the hunt for a trip to the state tournament in March.

“We went to the press late in the third and that bothered them a little more than it did when we played at their place,” Bishop said of a different wrinkle he threw at the Lady Cougars late in the game. “We sped them up and were able to get some steals and that was the difference in the fourth quarter. We tried to limit them to one shot and, as most teams are, they were bigger than us but for the most part, we kept them off the offensive boards.

“It was a very physical game on both sides. We finished and made free throws late when we had to.”

Adison Hayes led Grainger with 17 points. The Lady Cougars were led by Alber who scored 16 points.

Grainger ends the regular season with a 19-12 overall record and now turns its attention to the district tournament which begins Thursday night with a game at The Den against Cherokee, a team the Lady Grizzlies beat twice in the regular season but wasn’t easy.

“I told our team before this game it was the last dress rehearsal before the real season starts,” Bishop said of the end of one part of the year with the most important part coming up. “This was a great win and we need to enjoy it today and build on it. We need two really good days of practice and it’s an advantage to have the district tournament on our home floor but we face a very good opponent in Cherokee. The two games we played against them in the regular season could have went either way and we will have to play really well to beat them.

“Our focus over the next few days is to give ourself a chance to win and host a region game.”