I'm glad you've enjoyed it!
The elevation gain at the end of the day would have been less, but the overall distance would have been greater, If we went North to South we would need to ascend via the longer Bright Angel Trail, as opposed to the South Kaibab, the SK is waterless.
Also the South Kaibab is more scenic than the Bright Angel, the thought of seeing the SK at dawn was too much to resist.
Ultimately, if I was in the business of doing easier things I'd have probably settled on avoiding hiking entirely
