GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley girls basketball team stayed perfect on Friday night as they beat the Edison Hornets 46-38 in their third game of the 2022 Lady Bulldog Holiday Classic at home.

Gridley’s original schedule of the classic changed due to teams not being able to make it, Lady Bulldogs head coach Becca McCray and the school’s administrators did a great job filling in the blanks.

With the new schedule, Gridley competed and won a game early on Friday afternoon against Franklin of Stockton 60-39 and competed an hour and a half later against Enterprise.

McCray told the Herald that their match against Franklin was physical so the main goal for her team to do in between games was to rest and hydrate.

The Lady Bulldogs came out strong against the Hornets by crashing the offensive glass that led to multiple second chance opportunities to put points on the board.

Gridley (4-0) had a 16-6 lead at the end of the first where team captain and senior forward Ella Sannar contributed four points in the opening quarter.

The second quarter consisted of low scoring, but it was due to outstanding defense by both teams.

Lady Bulldogs sophomore center Brook Marr was a blocking machine throughout the night.

Enterprise tried multiple times to get the ball inside the paint and get easy lay-ups, but Marr was there to deny the points.

Marr ended the game with a team-high 17 points and was part of the all-tournament team after it concluded.

Sannar was also a part of the all-tournament team as she contributed 10 points throughout the game against the Hornets.

Gridley took a 22-10 lead at the half.

Enterprise made adjustments at the half and made the Lady Bulldogs struggle offensively in the second half.

“They pressed us a lot more in the second half,” Marr exclaimed to the Herald.

Sannar added that the adjustments that Gridley made in the second half consisted of not dribbling to the corner and getting stuck with the ball to where they would have been trapped with the ball.

With tournament season full force as like many teams, the Lady Bulldogs will play in a tournament every weekend until Butte View League play begins in the second week of January 2023 with the exclusion of Christmas weekend.

“The tournament schedule will get us in shape for league and it will help build the chemistry stronger,” Sannar explained to the Herald.

Gridley led the Hornets 33-22 at the end of the third.

In the fourth quarter, Enterprise closed the deficit four with 3:45 to go in the game.

When the lead dwindled down to four points, the Lady Bulldogs went to their bread and butter where they were able to drive the ball to the inside with Marr and senior forward Kennison Cota.

Cota had 10 points in the game and was a huge help in the rebounding department with Marr.

McCray mentioned to the Herald her team was tired in the game against Enterprise as it was their second game that was completed within a four and a half hour time period.

“We are clicking well as a team overall,” McCray told the Herald.

Gridley will compete in the Oroville tournament that begins on December 7 and will conclude Saturday, December 10.

The Lady Bulldogs went 3-1 in the tournament overall as they suffered their first loss of the season to Central Valley of Shasta Lake on Saturday evening.

Gridley will travel and play at Live Oak in a non-league contest on December 13.