Freshman Warriors hold off Grizzlies 47-41

On Friday, January 30, the Fallbrook freshman basketball team hosted the Mission Hills Grizzlies. The contest started very slowly, but the tempo soon picked up to become a very entertaining game. The Warriors came out as the victors 47-41.

In the first quarter, the shots were off and both teams committed several turnovers. However, it was clear the Warriors were the stronger team.

Fallbrook maintained possession for most of the first quarter. At the end of the first period, the Warriors led 9-5.

The second quarter got off to a much faster start than the first. Both teams found their comfort zone and defenses picked up their feet.

The Grizzlies outscored the Warriors 12-11 in the second period; however, Fallbrook still held on to a 3-point lead.

The second half became a nail-biter for Warrior fans. Fallbrook missed open looks and made silly mistakes.

The Grizzlies had two consecutive 3-point play opportunities in the third quarter. The first ended up as a 5-point play because of a missed box-out by the Warriors.

Mission Hills converted the 3-point play to erase Fallbrook’s lead. At the end of the third period, the score was tied at 33.

The final period called for clutch plays by key players. Holding on to a one-point lead, Warrior guard Robert Avalos hit both of his free throws with one minute left.

Then, Fallbrook point guard Seth Jorde took to the line and hit both of his free throws. He then made two more to seal the victory.

“I just had to knock those down to give my team the victory,” answered Jorde when asked about his clutch performance.

Jorde finished the game with 11 points with 7 of 9 from the line. As a team, the Warriors shot an exceptional 16 of 21.

Fallbrook also had an outstanding performance by Andrew Johnson. He flirted with a double-double all night as he came up one rebound short of the feat. However, he did score a team high of 13 points.

“We pulled it together as a team and we won and that’s all that matters to me,” said Johnson.

After the game, Fallbrook coach Chris Stanley said, “We are very good in spurts and then sometimes we look like we haven’t played basketball before, but tonight they pulled it together in the second half and we got another victory. So it was a good effort.”

Coach Stanley also mentioned they must now reduce the number of mistakes which let teams back in the game.

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