Basketball teams in different divisions, Grace Christian and Bettye Davis East are on parallel missions

It was only fitting that Thursday night’s nonconference matchup between the Bettye Davis East and Grace Christian boys basketball teams went down to the wire, and was ultimately decided by two points on a buzzer beater.

That is exactly how the 2021-22 seasons ended for the two runner-up teams from the 3A and 4A state championship tournament. This time, the result was different for the Thunderbirds as they rallied back to defeat the Grizzlies 55-53 in their season opener in front of a lively home crowd.

“We didn’t want that to happen again,” East sophomore Muhammad Sabally said. “We just want to get back to the same spot we were at last year.”

The team only had 11 practices ahead of its season opener and six days off due to snow days. The Grizzlies had already played three games heading into this matchup and looked like the less rusty team out of the gate.

Grace Christian “really controlled that game for most of the game,” East coach Chuck Martin said. “I think our kids did a really good job in the second half of getting what we thought we could get, which we didn’t do a good job of offensively in the first half.”

He wasn’t surprised by the typical first-game jitters he saw from his team but was happy they were able to learn and adjust in a winning effort.

His team trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half but never let the game get out of reach.

“I’m proud of my guys from just hanging in there more than anything else,” Martin said.

Last year, East was able to combat size disadvantages when going up against bigger teams by being more athletic. This year’s team possesses more size, although Martin admits not as much as they have been in previous seasons.

This marked the fourth game of the new season for Grace Christian and reigning 3A Player of the Year Luke Lentfer, who scored 13 points against Bettye Davis East.

“We had a great opportunity to get in a few games early (and) had a few games at home so that was good,” Lentfer said. “That’s helped us out but also showed us what we need to work on.”

Even though his team came up just against the Thunderbirds, he thought getting a chance to play the perennial powerhouse program was an “awesome” experience.

“This was a big game on our schedule for us, one of those we knew we wanted to get,” Grace Christian coach Jason Boerger said. “We’ve played East and competed with East before and played really good teams, but this is one we wanted to bring home real bad.”

Last year, the Thunderbirds had their historic 52-game winning streak against Alaska opponents snapped by South High 37-35 in the 4A title game.

[Zachary Williamson’s buzzer-beater shocks East and secures Alaska 4A state basketball title for South]

Nome-Beltz topped Grace Christian 49-47 in the 3A championship.

The way these two programs finished the previous season isn’t the only parallel they have in common; they both are highly motivated to return to their respective state title games and emerge victorious.

Unlike the Thunderbirds, who have a new starting five this year, the Grizzlies brought back most of the team from last year, minus a pair of seniors who graduated.

“We’ve obviously been playing together for a while, and we’re definitely working well with each other,” Lentfer said. “That’s not to say we’re without mistakes, and that kind of showed tonight. We kind of fell apart but, it just proved what we need to work on.”

Boerger said that it’s “really nice” to be able to have such rare carryover from one year to the next that he sometimes takes a step back and lets his players make decisions for themselves on the court.

“They’re really maturing as players and growing right before our eyes, and I’m proud of their growth,” he said.

After coming up just short last year, both teams attacked the offseason vigorously and with a lot of intensity.

Martin said that his players were back in the gym working shortly after they lost the state title game, and Boerger said his players definitely have an “edge and a focus” this year.

After not playing as much as he would’ve liked last year as a freshman on varsity, Sabally relishes the opportunity to be not only a starter and key contributor on this year’s team, but, almost more importantly, a leader as well.

“We’re young but we’re learning,” Sabally said. “We have a lot of hype this year and a lot of people ready to play.”

Extra motivation from the bleachers

Among those in attendance for their season opener, the Thunderbirds had representation from several alumni from their 2020-21 state championship-winning team, including nearly the entire starting five from last year.

“The kids at East are close,” Martin said. “We just take care of our own here, and the kids take care of each other and our guys look up to them.”

His current players fed off the energy they provided during the game, especially Sabally and Akeem Sulaiman, who were on varsity last year and led the team in scoring against Grace Christian with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

“Muhammad was just fabulous tonight and Akeem was pretty good when he got back in there, but we got contributions from a bunch of kids,” Martin said.

Sabally made the shot and drew the key foul that allowed East to tie the game in the waning seconds of the game before senior Xyo Velez made the game-winning bucket.

“They pushed me a lot last year, helped me get better every day, and now it’s my time to shine,” Sabally said.