Marysville junior guard Demi Boykin (3) drives towards the basket in the Lady Indians’ 66-32 victory over Gridley on Wednesday, December 20. Photo by Steven Bryla

Boys’ Basketball

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Marysville Indians ended the 2023 portion of their schedule with a sweep of wins over Franklin of Stockton and Gridley in double overtime.

The first quarter of the game versus Franklin was close before Marysville erupted and ran off with the game in the second quarter as they led by 27 at the end of the first half.

Junior guards Jackson Love and Dennis Syders led the Indians in scoring against Franklin.  

Indians assistant coach Danny Lewis told the Dispatch it was going to be a big thing to go into the break with momentum heading into Pioneer Valley League play when they open up on the road at Sutter on January 3.

Syders had a big night offensively against Gridley as he scored 37 points, with six rebounds and five assists. Syders was effective on driving the ball to the basket as he had 14 free-throw attempts on the night and made 12.

Marysville trailed by 10 at the end of the first half, and made a big comeback in the fourth quarter to eventually tie the game and take it to overtime where they needed a second overtime to pull out the win.

Senior forward Anthony Walker contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks to help seal the victory for the Indians over Gridley.

Lewis expressed to the Dispatch that they are bigger and stronger than last season as a team overall, but they also lost a lot of players from last season, unlike a lot of their PVL competition.

Marysville Head Coach Stan Easter has always told the Dispatch the Indians are the “hunted” with winning three consecutive PVL titles and will get everyone’s best efforts every night.

Girls Basketball 
MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - The Marysville girls’ basketball team won its only game from last week on Wednesday, December 20, in dominant fashion over the Gridley Lady Bulldogs in a 66-32 win.

Marysville had a controllable 27-point lead at the end of the first half, and used their speed, strong defensive mentality and spacing on the floor to cruise to the easy victory over Gridley.

Lady Indians Head Coach Ike Prince told the Dispatch that getting up and down the court is one of the team’s biggest strengths of the year. 

Marysville’s quick hands and stepping into passing lanes caused havoc for the Lady Bulldogs, as the Lady Indians had 36 steals in the game.

Marysville junior guard Demi Boykin led the way with 10 steals and 24 points.

Boykin expressed to the Dispatch that she wants to continue building and working together as a team for the remainder of the season.

The Lady Indians are a selfless team, as they average 15 assists per game as a team, and Prince expressed to the Dispatch that he wants to see his team improve on establishing Marysville basketball as a brand. 

“We want to show people we aren’t just a fast break team, that we can execute in the half court etc.,” Prince said.