GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Although the local area schools were on winter break, that did not stop the high school teams from hooping it up in another basketball tournament. The Lady Bulldogs of Gridley High School competed in the 2020 Lady Thunderbirds Challenge at Las Plumas High School from January 2nd to January 4th. Varsity girls basketball players from Oroville High School, Hamilton High School, Fortuna High School, Marysville High School, Orland High School, Lindhurst High School, Gridley High School, and host, Las Plumas High School competed in the basketball tournament.

To start the tournament on Thursday, January 2nd, the Lady Bulldogs faced a tough opponent in the Fortuna Huskies. The Lady Bulldogs kept the pressure on the offense with stellar defensive press, forcing turnovers and scoring opportunities early in the game. But the Lady Huskies kept pace and the Lady Bulldogs fell behind by a few buckets at halftime. A strong third quarter put the Lady Bulldogs up ten points over the Lady Huskies. A resilient Fortuna team fought back to tie the game up at 39-39 to force overtime. The Lady Bulldogs fought hard, but fell to the Lady Huskies by a score of 51-46. Kennedy Tull led the Lady Bulldogs scoring with 13 points. Sierra Brady scored 12 points, Ally Mardesich scored 10 points, Haley Gustavsen scored 9 points, and Isabelle Hernandez scored 2 points.

On Friday, January 3rd, the Lady Bulldogs, now playing in the consolation bracket, tipped off against the Hamilton Braves. Once again, Hernandez and the Lady Bulldogs put the pressure on the Lady Braves offense, forcing turnovers and quick baskets. Tull and the offense jumped out to an early lead in the first half. The strength and quickness was too much for the Lady Braves and the Lady Bulldogs cruised to a 65-32 victory. Tull again led the team in scoring with 31 points in the game. Brady scored 16 points, Gustavsen scored 7 points, Hernandez scored 5 points, Ciah Moran scored 4 points, and Mardesich scored 2 points in the game.

In the consolation championship on Saturday, January 4th, the Lady Bulldogs hit the court against the Lindhurst Blazers. The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a huge lead with 22 points in the first quarter. By halftime, Gridley had scored 37 points and was cruising to an easy victory. The Lady Bulldogs got every player in on the scoring action and beat the Lady Blazers by a score of 61-18 to win the consolation bracket. Tull led the team in scoring with 17 points. Hernandez and Mardesich each scored 10 points in the game. Brady put up 8 points to Gustavsen’s 4 points. Moran, Kirstin Rafferty, Harjot Gakhal, Briana Luquin, Lupita Soria, and Marysa Taylor each scored 2 points in the game. Kennedy Tull took home All-Tourney honors, leading all scorers in the tournament with 61 points.

This tournament marks the last before league begins in mid-January. Coach Becca McCray says shes “looking forward to our defensive play [during league]. Since we don’t have a big we have been putting in different defenses for different teams. We have been working on them during preseason and trying to fine tune them before league starts up. My team is becoming a more shooting team. We don’t just have one or two shooters. We have five to six shooters and play makers that make things happen.”

League begins January 14th for the Lady Bulldogs at Wheatland High School. Game time for the varsity team starts at 7:00 PM.