Made it over to Macalester’s Leonard Center on this
Monday afternoon to catch the scheduled scrimmage between visiting Anoka-Ramsey
and host Macalester. Having seen both
teams practice back in mid-October, I was anxious to see how both squads have
come along since then and to see how close they really are to being ready to go
for the opening tip of the season.
Naturally, you had to expect both teams to be a bit rough around the
edges yet. In any event, this scrimmage
was broken into three different stanzas:
the first two were normal, 20-minute scrimmages and the third stanza was
20 minutes but with running time.
1st Scrimmage
The first eight minutes of the first scrimmage were
relatively tight as neither side could get any significant advantage. Anoka-Ramsey’s freshman post, Olivia Antilla,
got the Golden Rams on the board first with a score in the paint but that was
countered at the 17:54 mark by Macalester senior post Veronika Jakubovie. Fellow senior guard Emma Leyden would briefly
put the Scots up early with a jumper at the 16:33 mark but then Anoka-Ramsey
went on a 7-1 surge; highlighted by sophomore forward Nicole Schaub’s “3” from
the left wing that got the visitors up by a count of 9-5 by the 13:35
mark. Macalester, however, would come
right back and take control of this first scrimmage. Senior reserve guard Carmen Whitehead snared
an offensive rebound for a putback at the 13:18 mark and then sophomore reserve
guard Katelyn Kack connected with a medium-range jumper at the 12:36 mark that
tied things at 9-all. Freshman reserve
guard Grace Dickman put the Scots ahead for good in this first stanza with a steal and a lay-up at the 12:20 mark. Freshman reserve post Park Masterson out of
Poway, California snared an offensive rebound of her own at the 11:09 mark for
a putback that made it a 13-9 game.
Schaub would answer with another “3” at the 9:48 mark that drew the
Golden Rams to within one at 13-12 but here Macalester exploded with a decisive
12-0 run over the next four minutes to take firm control; highlighted by treys
from sophomore point guard Erin Murray and senior guard Taylor Pike. Leyden added a thief-like steal and lay-up
the other way as well and Anoka-Ramsey looked totally out of sorts; not only
from an offensive standpoint but, much to the chagrin of Head Coach David
DeWitt, they were getting beat defensively and on the boards as well. The Golden Rams would recover somewhat as the
willowy Schaub drained back-to-back treys that helped slice the deficit to five
points at 25-20 by the 3:27 mark but they could get no closer as Macalester
would wind up on top at the end of the first scrimmage by a count of 29-24.
2nd Scrimmage
Anoka-Ramsey would make some amends in the second
scrimmage by bolting out to a quick 7-0 lead that included two scores in the
paint by Antilla and yet another “3” by Schaub at the 16:07 mark. A score in the paint by Jakubovie and a foray
into the paint and finish by Leyden cut the Golden Rams lead to 7-4 at the
14:19 mark but then Antilla showed that she can do more than just bowl over
opponents in the paint as she confidently knocked down a “3” from the top of
the key at the 13:48 mark to make it 10-4 Anoka Ramsey. Macalester would come right back, however,
and make things tight again thanks to some tough work in the paint by Masterson
and sophomore reserve post Abby Purfeerst.
A jumper by Whitehead along the left baseline at the 9:55 mark drew the
Scots to within one at 11-10 and a lay-up in transition by the 5’8” senior from
Greeley, Colorado tied things up at 12-all with 6:41 left. The lead would then change hands four times
over the next three minutes and the Scots appeared to be in good shape when
Jakubovie connected with a jumper off the glass with 3:30 left for an 18-15
Macalester lead. But it would be Maria
Loughlin, the sophomore guard from Rogers, who would come to the rescue of the
Golden Rams in the home stretch. Out
last year with an ACL injury, Loughlin showed that she’s back in full form as
she calmly drained a “3” from the left corner with 2:28 left that tied things
at 18-all. A score in the paint by
Purfeerst with :56 remaining gave the Scots the lead again but on the last
possession it would by Loughlin taking control of the offense and, with time
running down, she made a sweet move and drive into the paint for a finish with
just :02.1 left on the clock to tie things up at 20-all and that’s how the
second stanza would finish.
3rd Scrimmage
As mentioned at the beginning, this third stanza featured
running time to help speed things along.
It also gave Macalester Head Coach Ellen Thompson an opportunity to give
some of her younger players a chance to show what they could do as well. In this stanza, it would be the Scots who
would take the lead early. Dickman would
get the Scots a 2-0 lead by the 19:35 mark with a jumper and, after
withstanding Anoka-Ramsey’s Schaub reigning terror from behind the arc, the
Scots would open up an 8-3 lead by the 13:50 mark thanks to senior reserve
guard Lindsey Anderson as she connected with her own “3” from the top of the
key at the 15:45 mark and then would connect with a jumper from the right
corner for that 8-3 advantage. However,
Anoka-Ramsey would not be daunted by this early Macalester surge and came right
back to seize control of this third stanza.
A pull-up jumper by freshman guard Mattie Racek at the 10:23 mark seemed
to give the Golden Rams some spark.
Antilla would then make good on a strong drive into the paint for a
finish that got her fouled as well and the ensuing freebie knotted things up at
8 a piece. Antilla again would show her
versatility as she banged home a “3” from the left wing at the 8:28 mark and a defensive
rebound and coast-to-coast lay-up by Racek with 5:23 left had Anoka-Ramsey up
13-8. Macalester, however, would get
back-to-back treys from freshman Lauren Clamage out of Lake Forest, Illinois
that had the Scots back in the lead at 14-13 with 4:15 left. Both teams went cold over the next few
minutes but, with under a minute remaining, things really got interesting. A jumper by Clamage with :51 left had
Macalester up 16-13 and Anoka-Ramsey appeared doomed. However, Antilla would help the Golden Rams
claw to within one at 16-15 when she connected with a lay-up. After a foiled Macalester possession, the
Golden Rams got the ball with precious few seconds left. And here, in the waning moments, Schaub was
able to get free and get the ball at the top of the key for a clean look. Like a cold-blooded assassin, Schaub let
loose with one of her patented three-pointers with just a tick left on the
clock and got the ball to bounce off the rim just right that gave the Golden
Rams the third and final stanza of the afternoon at 18-16.
Afterward, DeWitt admonished his team for the lack of
team defense and rebounding; stressing that his squad HAS to develop a
defensive-minded identity; something that he’s been seeking from his squad from
Day 1. They have the perimeter shooting
from Schaub and solid guard play from Loughlin who will likely settle in at the
point guard spot although she sometimes seems more comfortable at the shooting
guard position. Antilla is going to be
tough to stop down low and if sophomores Paris Finklea and Nicole Howard develop
the consistency that DeWitt seeks, the Golden Rams have the potential to be
very, very good. The one player who
stood out to me this day on the Anoka-Ramsey front was the freshman guard Racek
out of Parker, Colorado. I wouldn’t be
surprised if she inherits the point guard duties next year for the Golden
Rams. On the Macalester side, Thompson
indicated to me that one of the things her team needs to work on includes
transition defense. They may not be the
most athletic squad in the MIAC but one thing I couldn’t help but notice is how
they almost always seem to be in the right place at the right time; whether it’s
going for a rebound or zeroing in for a steal.
This is a team that plays very, very smart and will not beat itself with
dumb mistakes.
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