Was over at Osseo High School on this Friday evening to take in the last regular season game that featured the visiting Centennial Cougars and the host Osseo Orioles. This would be the last home game for the seniors on the Osseo team so this was a very special evening, indeed. As I found out, not only is Osseo one of the top teams in the state, they can also sing pretty well, too, as the team sang the National Anthem at the beginning. I thought that was pretty cool.
But, for a good chunk of the first half, the visiting Cougars showed they were up for this contest. After strong senior post Olivia Antilla got the home team on the board first with her jumper along the baseline at the 17:20 mark, sophomore Destinee Williams knocked down a "3" from the right top at the 16:43 mark and then senior forward Kristen Nordby did the same at the 16:03 mark for a 6-4 Centennial lead. Seniors Mikayla Bailey and Anuli Okonkwo enabled Osseo to get the lead back at 8-6 but that was countered by Centennial's willowy junior forward Paige Waytashek (following in the footsteps of her older sisters Joelle and Megan who starred at Centennial as well) as she tied things up at 8-all with her score inside at the 12:32 mark. Osseo made a little push beginning at the 10:17 mark that featured "3's" by both junior forward Phyllis Webb and Bailey that got Osseo out to a 16-10 lead and the Orioles were able to maintain a cushion of 3-5 points over the next few minutes. After a pull-up jumper by Oriole junior Janay Morton at the 4:52 mark that pushed the Osseo lead to 22-17, Waytashek had her team right back on the fringe of getting even again as she drained a "3" at the 4:26 mark that cut the Oriole lead to 22-20. But this juncture is where Osseo made the decisive push that had Centennial on its heels the rest of the way. Oriole sophomore Ayo Porte made a drive along the baseline and finished inside at the 2:42 mark and then Morton made a drive and finish in transition at the 1:55 mark. Bailey; not necessarily known for her prowess behind the arc, nonetheless knocked one down at the 1:42 mark and then Antilla finished another transition opportunity for the Orioles as they were suddenly up 31-20 with 1:12 left in the first half. A "3" by the Cougars Nordby momentarily stopped the bleeding but Osseo's Porte was able to get another score with just :40 before the half as Osseo had a 33-23 lead at the halftime break.
Nordby again tried to get her team untracked as the second half began; knocking down a "3" at the 17:43 mark but the Orioles simply would not let their last home game slip away from them as they were able to build the lead up to 40-26 by the 15:58 mark. This relatively young Centennial squad would never quit, though, as sophomore post Jill Conrad suddenly came alive in the second half. She cashed in on one freebie attempt from the charity stripe at the 15:24 mark and then scored inside at the 14:54 mark. Osseo would never let Centennial sniff a chance to really get back into this one; Bailey finished in transition and was fouled in the process and made her obligatory freebie and then Webb made an unbelievably explosive drive inside and finish at the 11:11 mark but Centennial's Conrad was more than willing to put her team on her shoulders. Scores inside at the 10:42 and 7:49 marks helped keep the score respectable as did scores from Waytashek who hit a jumper at the 5:22 mark and then drained a "3" at the 5:07 mark. Conrad had two more scores at both the 3:50 and 3:23 marks but any hopes of catching Osseo on this night had long since vanished. Webb finished inside at the 2:21 mark and then made one freebie at the 1:37 mark. This is where there was a rather odd technical foul called on Osseo (and I never did find out exactly what happened; I can only surmise that someone must have said something that the officials didn't like). By this time, both Osseo Head Coach Joey Waters and Centennial Head Coach Greg Amundson decided to empty their benches and Osseo would close this one out by a final count of 67-52 as they looked primed and ready for sectional play that begins March 1st.
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