‘Fearless’ Grizzlies earn 1st 3A boys state title in 16 years over previously unbeaten Rams

The words "fearless joy" are printed across the warm-up jerseys of the Grace Christian basketball team — two words that embodied its first boys state championship in 16 years.

"Fearless" for how the Grizzlies played against unbeaten juggernaut, Monroe Catholic, and "joy" for the emotions that erupted in front of their bench when the final buzzer sounded Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

A year after losing in the title game, Grace Christian defeated Monroe Catholic 34-33 to wear its first state crown since 2001.

"Our mindset going in to this game was 'fearless joy,' " said Grace Christian senior Brogan Nieder, who finished with nine points. "We weren't afraid. We played our hearts out, we played for our God and in the end we got the win."

In a game with five second-half lead changes and no lead greater than four points, it came down to the final couple of possessions.

Grace's Tobin Karlberg took the ball to the rim for the go-ahead layup with less than three minutes to play. Then, Grace turned up its defense.

The Grizzlies' relentless zone kept Monroe out of the paint for the final 2 ½ minutes from the game, so the Rams resorted to shooting 3s. Monroe Catholic missed four contested shots from long range in the final 30 seconds, and the Grizzlies held on for the win by holding the Rams to three points in the fourth quarter.

"The last 30 seconds just felt like an eternity," said Karlberg, who finished with a game-high 17 points. "I'm just thankful that our defense was able to get it done."

Karlberg and Nieder were the workhorses for the Grizzlies, combining for 26 of Grace's 34 points. Nieder played the entire game and Karlberg, the Class 3A Player of the Year, sat only 25 seconds.

Karlberg was a perfect 7 of 7 from inside the arc.

[Photos from the 3A and 4A state championship games]

Ryan Brantley (14 points), Isaac Garcia (9 points, 3 of 5 from 3) and Divon Davis (8 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) propelled the Rams.

Surprisingly, neither team attempted a single free-throw. Neither team ever made it into the bonus and of the combined 17 fouls, none were committed in the act of shooting.

"We honestly did a terrible job getting to the line," Karlberg said. "We kind of had to work through that, but I'm just proud of these guys down the stretch getting stop after stop."

Monroe Catholic led for most of the first half, but never by much. Every time one team scored, the other answered.

The Rams led 23-19 at the half, which was largest lead of the game for either team.

The Grizzlies took their first lead of the game early in the second half on a steal and score by Karlberg that made it 24-23. But the Rams retook the lead minutes later on a Davis' score that gave them a 30-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Monroe Catholic's only field goal in the fourth quarter was a trey from Brantley that gave the Rams' their final lead at 33-32 with 3:47 to go before the Grizzlies took the lead for good.

"We just had to make one more play," Monroe Catholic coach Frank Ostanik said. "You hurt for your kids because they do everything you ask and they're wonderful."

Ostanik coached the Rams to three consecutive 3A state titles from 2012-14 and an undefeated 30-0 record heading into the championship.

"They just made one more play," he said. "I think Karlberg is the best player in the state. He dominated the game."

When the final buzzer sounded, the Grace players swarmed each other in front of their bench. Then, they lifted their manager/statistician Gergor Limstrom high in the air.

Once the celebration settled down, Boerger went down his line of players, addressing each one and shaking their hand.

"I was just telling them how proud I am, how they played with fearless joy, they played with full hearts and that I'm just so proud of the effort and the buy-in and how much they let me coach them," Boerger said.

The championship win was a long time coming for Grace's third-year head coach. Boerger was an assistant with the Grizzlies during their '01 title.

"That was a long time ago," Boerger said. "I'm so proud of this — it's kind of surreal actually.

"It's not really sinking in yet."

Barrow 57, Valdez 56

Four players reached double figures to help defending champion Barrow survive a late rally by Valdez and earn third place with a 57-56 win.

The Whalers outscored Valdez 21-9 from 3-point range, an effort led by Trevor Thomas, who hit four triples and finished with a game-high 17 points.

Travis Adams provided 11 points, seven assists and four rebounds to make up for nine turnovers and Anthony Fruean and Royhenry Snow each scored 10 points for Barrow.

Valdez, which outscored Barrow 20-11 in the fourth quarter to make things close, was led by Logan Heckathorn's 15 points and Seth Auble's 14.

ACS 52, Bethel 50

Collin Smallwood drained five 3-pointers to lift Anchorage Christian to a 52-50 win over Bethel in the fourth-place game.

ACS used a big fourth quarter to rally past the Warriors, who led 38-32 after three quarters.

Smallwood scored a team-high 19 points, Orlando Lozano chipped in 12 points and Frederick Onochie grabbed nine rebounds for the Lions.

Jayvin Williams led Bethel with 19 points and five rebounds.

ASAA March Madness all-tournament team