If Jamaize McGriff keeps playing like this, watch out. Emerald Ridge’s 6-foot-7, ultra-athletic senior wing was dominant in a 69-54 home win over previously undefeated Bonney Lake on Thursday night, scoring a game-high 25 points and swatting away shots left and right on defense.
“Coming into these last couple seasons, I’ve just kind of laid back, get my team involved,” McGriff said. “Coming into this game, me individually, I just wanted to be myself, just go out here and play hard, knowing that my team is gonna have my back no matter what.”
There have been flashes over the years, plenty of ‘woah’ moments and games where McGriff has been the best player on the floor. But this version — this assertive, downhill-playing version? That suits him best, according to Emerald Ridge coach Pat Mullen.
“Since (Christmas) break … he’s starting to run the floor better,” Mullen said. “Our guys are starting to give him the ball in the open floor. He’s just doing everything that he’s supposed to do. He’s rebounding the ball, he’s playing good defense. He’s just letting his offense come to him.
“He’s finally getting down low and getting guys off the dribble, scoring the ball on the block, which we need him to do. He can shoot the three, but we need him down there sometimes to just settle us.”
Emerald Ridge and Bonney Lake aren’t the usual suspects in the list of 4A SPSL contenders. But the teams have been two of the league’s best this winter. Emerald Ridge moves to 14-2 with the win, while Bonney Lake drops to 14-1, its first loss of the season coming to the Jaguars.
It was close for a while. Emerald Ridge led 35-33 at half with the teams going back and forth. Mullen challenged his team to be better on defense in the second half and the group responded, holding Bonney Lake to 21 total second-half points.
“We knew they were getting their open shots and we were just being lazy on our rotations,” McGriff said. “So we just came out, ran hard, got to our guys and rotated well and communicated.”
Of course, it helped having the 6-foot-7 eraser McGriff patrolling the key.
“He did a great job on the back end when we got beat,” Mullen said.
McGriff dropped 25 and guard Jordan Bennetter added 20 for the Jags, 12 of those points coming in the second half. Bonney Lake junior 6-foot-7 wing Cole Seminara scored a team-high 18 for the Panthers, while sophomore guard Keenan Perry and senior forward Eli Davis added 14 apiece.
“We just gotta keep moving, one game at a time,” said Bennett.
