Mac fifth-grade girls basketball team wins state championship

A team of fifth grade girls from the McMinnville Basketball Association teams placed first at state March 10. Coached by Nile Seibel and Mike Fetch, the girls won a rematch against the undefeated Shockwaves from Salem to win the state basketball championship game Sunday.

The McMinnville Grizzlies traveling basketball team captured the state championship title in Bend on March 10th.

Over a two-day tournament that took the team into a grueling double overtime in the final game, the Grizzlies were determined to win the final round. On Saturday, the team's first opponent was against Shockwave from Salem, who were undefeated.

The Grizzlies lost by two points at the buzzer. They won there second game against Summit from Bend 38-24 and moved onto the thirdgame on Sunday against the Native Storm from Madras and won 32-16. This win put them into the championship game in a rematch against the Shockwave.  The Grizzlies led for most of the game, but the Shockwave tied the game with one minute left in regulation. Both teams tightened their defense up in the first overtime and continued to be tied leading into the second overtime. As they tipped off in the second overtime Shockwaves leading player fouled out. Grizzlies took advantage of the situation leading them to victory of 44-39.

The team was led by head coach Nile Seibel and assistant coach Mike Fetch. The winning team are as follows: Emily Boggs, Roselyn Davis, Savina Fetch, Kristina Fornof-Gil, Hannah Galan, Katie Kuhn, Aliya Seibel, Emma Smith, Brooke Kinion and Anna Glawe and Natalie Turnbull.

The McMinnville fifth grade girls qualified for the state tournament by invite. They got invited bywinning first place at the Salem Amateur Tournament back in December.

Here's a link to the McMinnville Basketball Association's website.