The late afternoon-evening had me up in Coon Rapids to take in the Section 13A Regional Tournmanet that was hosted by Anoka-Ramsey. The first match-up featured Western Tech out of La Crosse, Wisconsin which had made the trip up the River and the Canadian Pacific Railway's River Subdivision mainline to the Twin Cities to take on host Anoka-Ramsey. These teams split during the regular season with the Golden Rams winning at home but the Cavaliers prevailing in double overtime just last weekend down in La Crosse. As you could expect, Anoka-Ramsey Head Coach David DeWitt was fit to be tied at the beginning; sitting at one end of the bench; seemingly ready to explode at a moment's notice. I know the look all too well.
Anoka-Ramsey would never trail in this one but, much to the chagrin of DeWitt, they had a tough time shaking the Cavaliers early on as they managed to hang close despite struggling with their perimeter shooting. Willowy freshman sharpshooter Nicole Schaub had the Golden Rams up 3-0 when she connected with a "3" from the right wing at the 18:50 mark and then fellow freshman Kendra Norman made it a 5-2 game when she connected with a long jumper from the right corner at the 17:19 mark. Western Tech's Becca Meade did connect with a medium-range jumper along the baseline at the 17:05 mark and, after withstanding a "3" by Norman at the 16:46 mark, Amber Patterman drew the Cavaliers to within two at 10-8 when she got into the paint for a score at the 15:48 mark. The Cavaliers were also doing a good job early on disrupting the Anoka-Ramsey offense by getting into the passing lanes and getting after loose balls as well.
Gradually, however, Anoka-Ramsey began putting distance between themselves and their opponent which seems to happen on a regular basis (at least when I watch them anyway!). Schaub drained a rainbow-like "3" from the left wing at the 10:14 mark and then connected again from behind the arc from the left corner with 7:50 left that had Anoka-Ramsey up 20-12. While Meade temporarily removed the cobwebs from the Cavaliers basket with her jumper from the left corner at the 7:50 mark, the Golden Rams quickly got the lead up to double digits with treys from sophomore guard Cami Bauer and freshman Tasha Ambrose that had the Golden Rams up 28-14 with 4:10 left. The Golden Rams would hold this double-digit advantage until the very late stages of the first half. Patterman made good on one free throw after being fouled with 2:07 left and then forward Mickayla Verthein knocked down a short jumper with 1:04 left that whittled the Anoka-Ramsey lead down to 30-19. Finally, with just scant seconds remaining the Cavaliers had the ball one final time and that gave Patterman just enough time to let loose with a prayer and a heave from the half-court that found nothing but net (Wow! TWO of these in one day! Not too bad!) and not only cut the Anoka-Ramsey advantage back down to single digits at 30-22 but also added shock value to the home team as well that gave them something to think about in the locker room during the break.
But you can bet that DeWitt gave his squad a good "talking to" during the half as the Golden Rams wasted little time in putting in a cushion between themselves and their opponent. Two more scores by Patterman - a drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 18:55 mark and then a jumper at the 18:29 mark drew the Cavaliers to within six at 32-26 but from then on it was all Anoka-Ramsey. Schaub connected with a pretty high-arcing "3" from the right wing at the 18:08 mark and then it was Bauer doing the same from the left corner at the 17:51 mark. Sophomore guard Tacita Gonzalez also drained a "3" from the right wing at the 15:37 mark that had Anoka-Ramsey up 41-26. A drive along the left baseline for a finish at the 15:07 mark and then a pull-up jumper by the willowy blonde from Park Center put the Golden Rams up 45-27 and had Western Tech Head Coach Ron Latva pleading for a timeout.
But the Golden Rams kept right on attacking both in the paint and from the perimeter while the Cavaliers simply could not shake their perimeter shooting woes. Though Western Tech did briefly whittle the Anoka-Ramsey lead down to twelve by the 10:45 mark, freshman Nicole Howard was able to get into the paint for a score at the 10:31 mark and then sophomore Kelli Schramm, who had an outstanding second half from a scoring standpoint, also manuevered into the paint for a score at the 8:27 mark. With 7:28 left, Schramm knocked down two free throws after being fouled and then connected with a jumper from the left elbow area with 6:29 left for a 56-37 Anoka-Ramsey lead. Schaub would connect on another of her patented rainbow "3's" from the left top area with 5:37 left and then Gonzalez did the same from the left top area with 4:46 left that made it a 62-39 game that left little doubt in the outcome. A jumper in transition by Schaub with 3:19 left and a jumper by Schramm with 2:35 left plus a steal and a lay-up the other way by the wily Gonzalez paved the way to a 71-44 victory that put the Golden Rams into Sunday's Region 13A Championship Game against the winner of the Fergus Falls - Minnesota West winner.
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