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RUTLEDGE – Grainger had been playing very good basketball ever since Christmas break but all of that came to a screeching halt Tuesday night at The Den.

The Grizzlies just could not get anything going on offense or defense and saw their three game winning streak snapped as they lost to Union County 71-61.

Grainger came into the game winners of three in a row, five of their last six and six of their last eight but Grizzlies head coach Adam Wolfenbarger said his team had a different mentality against a club they had beaten on the road earlier in the season. “We just were not good defensively and that is something we have talked about several times. Since we got into 2023, we had been good on defense but I felt we weren’t tonight. Union County is a really good team and they have some really nice pieces on their team but we couldn’t keep them out of the lane and our help-side defense was terrible.”

Drew Branson continued his offensive onslaught as he scored 25 points in the Grizzlies win. Carter Williams added 14 points. Grainger had a hard time defending Max Richardson as he finished the contest with 29 points with Bryson Merrill added 14 on top of that. “For two or three years now, we have known he’s a really good player,” Wolfenbarger said of Richardson. “Hats off to him and I just think they wanted to win this game more than we did tonight.”

Things were close to start the contest as Branson scored eight points in Grainger’s 22-17 lead in the first period but the Patriots controlled the tempo of the second eight minutes of play and took a 32-31 lead to the break. The Grizzlies gained the lead at 37-34 on a shot from deep by Kade Williams but the Patriots answered with a 12-4 run to retake the advantage and led by five going to the fourth period. Grainger was able to cut the lead down to six on a steal and layup by Ryland Burchett but Merrill sealed the win with four free throws in the final minutes in the 71-61 Union County triumph.

Grainger returns to district action on Friday as Cocke County comes to town.