When the final buzzer sounded in the junior varsity portion of the Hilmar Christmas Classic basketball tournament last Saturday, Mariposa held a perfect 3-0 tournament mark and captured the crown in the round-robin competition.

The Grizzlies had no trouble winning their final tournament contest on Saturday when they clobbered Delhi, 49-9, in a lopsided runningclock finish.

Big Valley Christian’s junior varsity team didn’t show for the last game of the tournament, and Delhi was a lastminute substitute.

“We experimented with a couple of zone defenses, but they really had trouble scoring,” said head JV coach Mark Abney.

To open the tournament, Mariposa met Bret Harte, the team that claimed the tournament title at Bret Harte in a hard-fought championship contest against the Grizzlies the previous weekend.

Bret Harte held a narrow 22- 21 edge at the intermission, but pulled out in front by 5 points at 37-32 in the third quarter.

“I think they expected us to fold, but we just stayed patient, and broke their press to close the gap,” Abney said.

Sophomore Yussif Sulaiman sank a pair of critical free throws in the final seconds to preserve the win. His two charity tosses gave Mariposa a 4-point advantage with just 9 seconds left, and after a quick bucket by Bret Harte Mariposa easily ran out the clock.

Sulaiman finished with 10 points, and Jimmy Neri added 7. “It was our play inside that made the difference,” Abney said, noting the solid efforts in the paint by Neri, Raymond Epps, and Garhett Bauer.

In their second round match against the host Yellowjackets last Friday, Mariposa trailed 15-12 at the end of the first period, but exploded for 21 second-quarter points while holding Hilmar to just 3 to race off to a 33-18 lead at halftime.

The Grizzlies never looked back and rolled to a 58-38 win. Bower and Neri both poured in 14 points, while Epps and Quinn Chaney bucketed 11 points each. The easy buckets in the paint arrived via a flurry of assists from sophomore Wyatt Ellis, who finished the game with more than 10.

The JV Grizzlies are now 7- 2 on the season, and will against face Bret Harte on Jan. 2, however it will be on Mariposa’s home court.