March 19, 2024

Griglione earns all-state first-team honors

Interstate 35 sophomore Gracey Griglione improved her offensive game this year and remained one of the state’s premier defensive post players.

That combination earned Griglione a first-team all-state nod in Class 2A from the Iowa Newspaper Association.

Griglione received second-team honors in Class 3A as a freshman.

“I believe everything she’s accomplished, she’s earned,” Interstate 35 head coach Jamie Smith said. “But it is a special honor for her, for our program and for her teammates. We talk about individual awards are actually team awards. I’m sure that’s the way Gracey will look at it, also. She’s very appreciative of her teammates.”

Griglione led the 19-5 Roadrunners in scoring at 19.3 points per game, which was also good enough to lead the Pride of Iowa Conference.

The 6-1 left-handed sophomore also led the conference in blocked shots (115) and rebounds (262), averaging a double-double with a 10.9 rebound per game average.

Her 115 blocked shots led Class 2A and ranked third overall in the state.

“She’s a hard worker,” Smith said. “She’s always looking to improve. She’s a gym rat. And she listens. I think she takes to heart what her coaches tell her. She’s went out and got better.”

One of the biggest areas of her game she improved in was her shooting.

As a freshman, Griglione shot 42.4 percent from the floor, 25.0 percent from 3-point and just 52.0 percent from the free throw line.

She improved in all three areas this year, shooting 55.3 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc and 74.8 percent from the foul line.

She also went from averaging 8.7 rebounds per game to 10.9 boards per game.

“I think she improved her rebounding,” Smith said. “She got a little more physical. She’s obviously improved her shooting. She’s pretty tough to guard now. She can step out and hit the three. And her ball-handling has improved.”

Griglione provides a tough matchup for opposing teams, being able to stretch the defense with her 3-point shooting and also being able to take opponents off the dribble.

“I feel she was maybe the toughest player to guard in our conference because of that,” Smith said. “She can go inside, outside, can bring the ball up the court. I think from that standpoint, she’s one of the top players, as far as I’m concerned, in the whole state.”

In the second game of the season, Griglione scored 34 points with 16 rebounds against Earlham. On Dec. 12 against Wayne, she broke the school’s single-game rebounding record with 18 boards to go with 19 points and eight blocked shots.

Jan. 2 at West Central Valley, she scored 17 points with 16 rebounds. Jan. 15 against Nodaway Valley, she scored 23 points with 17 rebounds and six blocked shots. She broke the school’s single-game scoring record on Jan. 27 against Wayne, scoring 40 points on 16-of-23 shooting. Feb. 3 against Pleasantville, Griglione scored 24 points with 17 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Griglione also received first-team all-state honors from the Des Moines Register and from the Iowa Girls Coaches Assocation.

And the best part for Smith is that he still has two more years with Griglione.

“I’m obviously excited when you’ve got a player of that caliber and of the kids we have coming back,” he said. “We’ve got a good nucleus and obviously Gracey is one of the focal points. But we’ve got a lot of other players that we can throw out there, also.”

The Iowa Newspaper Association announced its 2015 All-State Girls Basketball teams for Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A Tuesday naming North Linn’s Nicole Miller as Miss Basketball. A 5-foot-8 senior guard, Miller averaged 26.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 4.5 steals per game this season as the Lynx (25-2) advanced to the Class 2A state final. Miller finished her career with 2,207 points, which ranks No. 10 all-time among five-on-five players in Iowa. North Linn compiled a 93-10 record with two state-tournament appearances during Miller’s career. A three-time 2A first-team all-stater, Miller will play for Drake University next year.