GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Orland Trojans took first place in the Butte View League standings last Friday as they defeated the Gridley Lady Bulldogs in a physical 60-44 Butte League View victory.

Gridley and Orland are the two top teams in the BVL, and you felt the intensity once the game started from the jump.

The Trojans started defensively with a full-court-press on the Lady Bulldogs that turned the Gridley first quarter into the Brook Marr show.

The sophomore forward benefited off of the defensive effort of Orland because she was wide open in the paint, able to score all of Gridley’s 10 points in the first quarter.

Lady Bulldogs senior forward and captain Ella Sannar expressed to the Herald that Trojans defense was a double trap so they didn’t dribble as much as it was more a zig-zag pass game.

“When it came down to the other end, it’s a two-on-one and Brook was open,” Sannar said.

Gridley (15-6, 3-1 BVL) trailed 15-10 at the end of the first and it was mainly due to the outstanding effort of rebounding between Marr, Sannar and fellow senior forward Kennison Cota.

The Lady Bulldogs had 40 total rebounds throughout the game and Cota finished with 11 rebounds and two points in the game.

Gridley head coach Becca McCray exclaimed that the Lady Bulldogs are in synch with one another and locked in.

The Lady Bulldogs committed a lot of turnovers in the first half (15) that led to more offensive possessions for Orland and gave up a lot of rebounds which helped them build a comfortable 37-22 lead at the end of the first half.

Marr told the Herald the Trojans threw up a lot more jump shots in the second which made for longer rebounds that the wing players were able to snag them off the boards.

Marr had 14 of her 21 team-high points in the first half and had 16 rebounds throughout the game.

Gridley opened the second half in a cleared head space. McCray mentioned to the Herald they had a “good” chat during the half.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half with a 10-3 run and only allowed Orland two baskets total in the third.

Sannar had eight of her 19 points in the third and chipped in six rebounds throughout the game.

Gridley did a better job taking care of the ball in the second half with only 11 turnovers, but once they closed the Trojans lead to 10 with a little more than three minutes to go in the third, they couldn’t chop it down any further on the night.

After the final buzzer ended the game, it was clear that the Lady Bulldogs wiped the slate clean and were ready for another battle.

Gridley was ranked one spot ahead of Orland in every Northern Section poll in the MaxPreps rankings from last Friday.

With less than a couple weeks before the final BVL matchup with the Trojans on February 7, the Lady Bulldogs had a full week of practice to prepare for their lone game of the week this Friday night as they host Las Plumas.

Now that the league season is half of the way complete for Gridley, the final half of league games matter.

McCray told the Herald the game against Las Plumas is going to be physical comparatively like Orland.

Sannar added that during the rest of the league, she wants to see the continued high-energy the team has had throughout the entire season. Gridley beat Las Plumas 39-30 on January 10.