JUNIOR JUSTIN KINALELE LEAPS FOR THE LAY-UP AGAINST WATERFORD ON TUESDAY NIGHT. THE VARSITY GRIZZLIES CONTINUE TO ROLL THROUGH SOUTHERN ATHLETIC LEAGUE PLAY, AND WILL HOST DELHI FOR WINTER HOMECOMING ON FRIDAY NIGHT. GAZETTE PHOTO BY JILL BALLINGER Tuesday night Mariposa head coach Trace DeSandres chalked up his fifth straight 20-win season. But the celebration wasn’t all hugs and high-fives.

The Grizzlies blew a group from Waterford that won’t be confused with a good high school basketball team out of the Loyd Hobby Gymnasium, 71-37.

“To get to 20 wins again is nice,” DeSandres said, “but the way we played, even in winning big, was frustrating to me.”

Waterford could offer only token resistance to Mariposa’s offense as the Grizzlies reeled off 16 first quarter points, and the Wildcats could muster only a paltry 2. Junior forward Drake Long paced the Grizzlies, scoring in the paint easily in his 6’7” frame. Long bucketed Mariposa’s first 4 points on short range shots before Pierce Chaney snapped the net with a 3-point bomb for a 7-0 lead.

DeSandres substituted freely beginning in the second stanza, and Mariposa extended its advantage to 31-7 by the half.

The Wildcats warmed all the way up to 15 points in both the third and fourth quarters, but still couldn’t make it respectable.

Senior center Cody Wichmann led all Mariposa scorers with 18 points. He pulled down 9 rebounds, and rattled the glass with a pair of monster dunks in his 9-point third quarter.

Long finished the game with 12 points, all in the first half, and hauled in 5 caroms. Jarrett Miller added 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, and Brandon Kinalele pumped through 7 points and snatched 6 boards, all in the second half. Junior center Kevin Shenk added 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Although it was a lopsided win, Mariposa was far from impressive. The Grizzlies were just 9 for 26 at the charity stripe, and committed 20 turnovers.

“We had a total lack of focus,” DeSandres said. “You don’t shoot like that if you’re focused.” Even though the competition level was remarkably low, DeSandres thinks his team squandered an opportuity to sharpen its execution with the tough Division IV playoffs looming two weeks ahead.

Tuesday night’s win capped a marathon week for Mariposa. Last Thursday, the Grizzlies dispatched Denair, 66-55, in an SAL make-up match. Last Friday, Mariposa dumped Le Grand on the Bulldogs’ home court, 57-40, and on Saturday, it downed Delhi’s Hawks, 78-63, all league victories.

The most notable performance was Wichmann’s 25 points against Denair, and 30 points in the win over the Bulldogs.

Mariposa hosts Delhi on Friday evening in its traditional winter homecoming contest. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.