Feel free to call them role players, second string or members of Metea Valley’s bench mob.
Senior Javion Grizzle and sophomore Dominic Smith do not mind at all.
Both players stand 6-foot-2, are listed on the Mustangs’ roster as a guard/forward and have found their comfort zone on a talented, deep and emerging team.
“I’ve played off the bench most of the time last year and this year,” Grizzle said. “Coach wants me to be like a spark plug because I bring a lot of energy, driving to the basket and doing stuff like that.”
Grizzle and Smith, who have similar talents, led a power surge in the fourth quarter Wednesday night that broke open a tight game at Oswego and led Metea to a 51-43 nonconference victory.
It didn’t start well for the visiting Mustangs (11-5), however. They have won six straight but struggled with the pesky Panthers (6-13), who continued to be up and down after a pre-Christmas upset of Yorkville (15-3) in the Southwest Prairie Conference.
“We got off to a sluggish start and didn’t play a good first half,” Metea coach Isaiah Davis said. “We didn’t come out with good energy and were pretty flat.”
His team was clinging to an 18-16 halftime lead but Oswego continued to hang around, the teams entering the fourth quarter tied at 28-28.
Enter Grizzle. Enter Smith.
“Coach thought we could have played more intense defense, so in the second half, we had to pick it up in our press and force more turnovers,” Smith said.
Still, the Panthers weathered the storm for a quarter. They were led by senior guard Max Niesman, who finished with a game-high 18 points, and senior forward Jeremiah Akin, who had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Grizzle said the halftime message from Davis finally hit home.
“We didn’t come out with too much enthusiasm,” Grizzle said. “But we really got whipped into shape, especially on the sidelines, with him telling us we had to bring that energy ourselves.
“We need that sometimes because (Davis) is really our motivation guy.”
A fired-up Grizzle attacked the basket on three straight possessions to open the fourth, sinking a reverse layup and twice drawing fouls.
“That’s my favorite play,” he said.
Smith then went to work, scoring seven straight points. Halfway through the quarter, Metea had reeled off a 12-1 run to seize control for good at 40-29.
“I’ve been trying to finish at the rim and work on my free throws when I get to the line,” Smith said. “That’s pretty much my strong suit.
“I have mostly a defensive role, but I’m trying to finish strong at the rim whenever I can. I think we struggled to hit shots from the perimeter in the first half.”
Grizzle agreed with his fellow bench mob member.
“We wanted to keep going off our plays where we got it on the wing and drove to the basket,” Grizzle said. “That’s where me and ‘Dom’ put our heads down, finished at the rim and hit our free throws at the end.”
Smith ended up with a team-high 14 points, Will Ashford added 10, Jahki Gray had seven and Grizzle, James Parker and Jackson Corbett each had five.
“They made some plays in the fourth and we really couldn’t recover,” Oswego coach Chad Pohlmann said. “I didn’t like our energy. We didn’t play with the ‘try hard’ effort we have been getting.”
The game marks the beginning of a stretch of six games in six days for the Mustangs, who will need that depth.
“Smith has never led us in scoring before and he gave us some good energy and spark,” Davis said. “He and Grizzle were really good, going to the basket.
“I tell them, good teams have different guys show up every night, and that’s what makes you a good team.”
