GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - When league play opened up for the Gridley Bulldogs January 14, 2020, both varsity basketball teams took down Wheatland High School. The boys won 69-47. The girls won 59-52. A few days later on January 17th, both teams improved to 2-0 after beating Orland High School. The boys coasted to an 83-47 victory. The girls won marginally 63-40. It seemed as if both teams were really finding their chemistry and trust on the basketball court. 

Then January 21st came against Sutter High School. A huge challenge turned into losses for both teams, both losing by slim margins. The boys traveled to Sutter, getting bested 59-52. On their home court, the girls lost in a close thriller 67-64. Some teams oftentimes have a difficult time bouncing back from a loss. These resilient Bulldogs hit the practices even harder and came back with something to prove against Corning High School. 

The girls traveled to Corning on Thursday, January 23, 2020. Both teams started hot from the tip off, putting up a combined 56 points in the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs led after the first quarter 32-24. Things slowed down in the second quarter with each team scoring less than ten points each. At halftime, the Lady Bulldogs led by a score of 41-32. In the third and fourth quarters the Lady Bulldogs accomplished something unimaginable. They held the Lady Cardinals scoreless in the second half. The second half was a very low scoring half for the Lady Bulldogs as well, only scoring thirteen points to finish out the game. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 3-1 with a 54-32 victory over the Lady Cardinals. Ally Mardesich led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 20 points, hitting 5 out of 6 3-point shots in the game. Sierra Brady put up 17 points in the game.

The boys got to work on the court against Corning on Friday, January 24, 2020. The team chemistry really showed throughout the entire game. The Gridley boys were playing fast paced basketball and utilizing their speed for easy breakaway buckets. Late in the fourth quarter a sweet lob from Tony Murillo to Grant Tull for the dunk got the crowd roaring. And that wasn’t Tull’s first dunk of the game. That was his third dunk. The team continued to make the crowd go into a frenzy with quick dishes and dashes to the hoop for the score. By the end of the game, the Bulldogs cruised to a 70-31 victory over Corning for their third victory over the Cardinals this season.

Grant Tull led the Bulldogs with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Cameron Erickson scored 17 points with 4 rebounds. Murillo scored 11 points with 5 assists and 4 rebounds. With that win over Corning the Bulldogs improved to 14-7 overall (3-1 in league).