B

COSBY – Every time Grainger needed a big shot against Cosby in the final minutes of Friday’s contest, Drew Branson and Kade Williams delivered.

Cosby either pulled to within a point or tied the game on six straight possessions in the fourth but Branson and Williams had the answer all six times as they led their team to a 64-56 victory. Branson poured in 30 points, his second 30-point effort of the season, and Williams added 11 in the Grainger win.

Grainger led 40-34 going to the fourth period but then the Eagles became more aggressive around the rim, earning 16 trips to the free throw line in the final eight minutes of play. Jayston Fine went to the basket, drew the foul and connected on the free toss which was his third such play of the game. That made the score 41-40 and started Branson and Williams’ heroics down the stretch. Cosby kept hitting free throws and Grainger kept keeping the Eagles at bay with big shots from Branson and Williams. Cruz Coggins banked in a three for Cosby from NBA range with 2:37 to go to tie the game at 50-50 but Branson answered with a three of his own on the next possession. After two free throws by Cyler Davis pulled the Eagles to within a point again at 53-52, Williams drained a three the next time down the court for Grainger and then it was the Grizzlies turn to get to the charity stripe where they went a perfect 8-for-8 in the final 66 seconds.

“This is something Drew has done all year long,” Grainger head coach Adam Wolfenbarger said of his senior leader. “We talked about how we like coming up here because it’s always a big-time atmosphere. Cosby ties the ball game and it got really loud and Drew comes down the floor and makes a big shot. He’s a stone-cold killer on the court. The next possession, Kade hits one and hopefully we are starting to come on a little bit.” Williams is only a freshman but has played a key role in the success the Grizzlies have had this season, much to the delight of his head coach. “I can’t say enough about Kade. He has come out here as a freshman and is many times splitting time guarding the other team’s best player who is usually bigger and stronger than him but not always faster. Kade is fighting and battling and when he steps out here and makes jump shots like that, he can be pretty special.”

Cosby head coach Bryan Stewart used a boxing analogy in describing the classic battle between the two teams in the fourth period. “It’s kind of like you are in a fight and you hit someone with everything you have and they are still standing there. That was kind of the feeling when they came back and made another big shot. It was hard to rebound from and we never really did.”

The Eagles took control of the contest early as they jumped out to a 10-3 lead on a three from Fine. Grainger climbed back into the thick of things and took a 16-14 lead to the second period after Brody Wells hit a huge three with 20 seconds remaining in the opening period. It was all Cosby once again in the early stages of the second as the Eagles scored the first seven points. “We made some shots early and for us, sometimes when we make those shots early, we can fall in love with it and that happened tonight as we made some shots but as the first half went along, we cooled off, especially when Jayston Fine got into foul trouble. It became more important for us to find a way to get to the free throw line and being more aggressive to the rim was how we were going to do that,” Stewart said.

The home team went up 24-19 but then something clicked for the Grizzlies as they scored the next 12 points in a row. Logan Johnson’s two free throws gave Grainger the lead back and the Grizzlies built a 31-24 lead at the break. Branson scored five points in a row midway through the third but Cosby balanced things out and got their deficit down to 40-34 headed to the fourth. “We guarded pretty well in the first half and offensively were running our motion offense and navigating that pretty well,” Wolfenbarger said. “I just thought we had some lulls on shots even though we were getting the shots we wanted, they just didn’t go in. But I was really proud of our kids to keep fighting and keep grinding and that is something we have really worked hard on.

Coggins’ big three tied the game at 50-50 and Stewart said he was proud of the way his first-year player performed in Friday’s game. “Cruz played a great game tonight. He’s a freshman who has been thrust into that position with Hayden’s (Green) injury and I think he played his best game of the year. He hit that big three by banking it and I kind of felt myself take a breath and a sigh of relief but it was very quick as Grainger turned around and answered and we were playing catchup it after that.” The Eagles were led in scoring by Fine’s 17. Shayden O’Dell scored 12 and Peyton Raines added 10.

Grainger returns to The Den on Tuesday to host Claiborne and Cosby welcomes Washburn to The Hill.