Basketball Recap: Granite Bay Falls Despite Big Games from Madeline Benedyuk and Kati Powell

Granite Bay lost against Whitney back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Tuesday. The Granite Bay Grizzlies fell to the Whitney Wildcats 36-32. While losing is never fun, the Grizzlies can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 455th, while the Wildcats are ranked 155th).

Madeline Benedyuk

Field Goal Percentage (Career)

02/11/25 @ Whitney	63%
12/13/24 vs Pioneer	62%
12/27/24 vs Calaveras	60%
01/18/25 @ Nevada Union	58%
01/08/25 @ St. Francis	50%

Kati Powell and Madeline Benedyuk certainly did their best on Tuesday to avoid the loss. Powell posted 12 points and three blocks, while Benedyuk went 5-for-8 on her way to 16 points and six rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Benedyuk a new career-high in shooting accuracy (63%).

Whitney's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Tylie Kitchen, who had seven points and 12 boards. Kitchen has become a key player for Whitney: the team is 5-2 when she posts at least ten rebounds, but 9-11 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Natalia Benavidez, who put up four points and six steals.

Granite Bay has traveled a rocky road recently having lost 14 of their last 17 matchups, which has put a noticeable dent in their 9-18 record this season. As for Whitney, they now have a winning record of 14-13.

Granite Bay didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 50-22 loss against Del Oro on the 14th. As for Whitney, they have also already played their next game, a 58-36 victory against Rocklin on the 14th.