Was over at Anoka-Ramsey Community College on this Friday
night to take in their first regular season game of the year as the Golden Rams
were host to visiting Milwaukee Area Technical College. This game was part of the “Border Battle
Classic” with Madison Area College and Gogebic Community College playing
earlier in the day. While the Golden
Rams have always been contenders for the national championship in NJCAA
Division III and currently sport a #3 national ranking, Head Coach David DeWitt
knew his squad would have a lot to prove in these first early games but little
could they have known they would be in for a real battle on this evening.
Despite an early trey from willowy sophomore forward
Nicole Schaub that had the Golden Rams up early 3-0, Anoka-Ramsey looked
sluggish and tentative on offense and it didn’t take DeWitt long to call for a
timeout so he could voice his displeasure as the Golden Rams committed some uncharacteristic
turnovers in the early going. Still,
freshman guard Mattie Racek propelled the Golden Rams to a 6-0 lead after she
sunk a “3” from the top of the key at the 16:36 mark before Milwaukee Area Technical
College gradually drew closer. Sophomore
guard Ashley McHenry; enroute to a 31 point performance on this night, got the
Stormers going at the 15:58 mark with a drive and finish and a drive and finish
along the right baseline by freshman guard Benetta Jones helped pull Milwaukee
Area Technical College to within one by the 15:12 mark. However, Anoka-Ramsey would then proceed to
go on a 9-0 burst highlighted by a “3” from sophomore guard Maria Loughlin at
the 14:54 mark and jumpers from freshman forward/post Olivia Antilla and Schaub
plus a drive into the paint for a finish by Racek and the Golden Rams appeared
to be ready to put things into cruise control and ready to sail for a
relatively easy win.
But Milwaukee Area Technical College had vastly different
ideas and Head Coach Jeff Lorenz’ squad, which won only seven games last year,
refused to be fazed. A jumper by McHenry
along the left baseline at the 9:32 mark along with a “3” from Jones from the
left corner at the 7:45 mark plus a McHenry lay-up in transition with 7:02 left
capped a nice 7-0 run by the Stormers and whittled the deficit to only three
points at 15-12. Anoka-Ramsey would
stretch the lead back out to as many as nine points when sophomore reserve post
Paris Finklea snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 1:10 left and a
27-18 but they never could quite put the Stormers away early on the way DeWitt
and Assistant Coach James Fassett had hoped.
Freshman reserve forward Tisawn Briscoe-Rimmer maneuvered into the paint
for a Stormer score with :30 left and two freebies from the charity stripe by
freshman reserve guard Takita Williams helped Milwaukee Area Technical College
pull to within five at 27-22 by the halftime break and, for whatever reason,
things just didn’t seem right for Anoka-Ramsey going into the intermission.
The Golden Rams began the second half on the same note
that they had started the game on – a “3” by Schaub; this one from the right
top area at the 19:47 mark and you had to think that Anoka-Ramsey was perhaps
on the cusp of going on a big run and putting this thing away once and for all. But, for whatever reason, the Golden Rams
just could never find that one big decisive burst that could have put them up
big early on in the second half.
Instead, they curiously struggled with cohesiveness on offense and, even
more alarming, were not getting the best of the Stormers on the boards either
as Milwaukee Area Technical College kept finding a way to hang around. The Stormers were now also applying full- and
half-court pressure on the Golden Rams which further increased Anoka-Ramsey’s
troubles on this night. The Golden Rams
did build an eleven point lead at the 13:23 mark thanks to tough work down low
by strong freshman Ashley Carter that made it a 38-27 game but even that ray of
reassurance seemed hollow as the Golden Rams were tagged for their 5th
team foul by the 16:21 mark and, by the 13:09 mark Milwaukee Area Technical
College was in the bonus as seven team fouls had piled up on the Golden Rams.
Somehow, Anoka-Ramsey was able to build a somewhat deceiving
42-29 lead by the 12:24 mark after Loughlin made good on two charity stripe
shots but this is where things started to slowly fall apart for the Golden
Rams. After two freebies by Jones at the
12:02 mark, sophomore forward Emerald Kidd connected with a jumper just inside
the top of the key at the 11:37 mark.
Then it was McHenry knocking down a “3” from the left wing after a steal
at the 11:09 mark and then it was McHenry again at the 9:05 mark with an
offensive rebound and putback that pulled the Stormers to within four at
42-38. Then it was freshman reserve
guard Niki Johnson draining a “3” from the right wing with 8:12 left that
whittled the Anoka-Ramsey lead down to a scant single point at 42-41. But just when you thought that Milwaukee Area
Technical College was suddenly ready to seize the moment (and the lead as
well), they just……couldn’t……quite…..find the will to do it. And the culprit? Missed free throws. Williams missed a pair after being fouled at
the 7:57 mark and Briscoe-Rimmer couldn’t get two freebies to drop after she
was fouled by Anoka-Ramsey’s Carter – the fifth foul on her that sent her to
the bench. Jones missed two more at the
6:42 mark but got some redemption when she was able to get into the paint for a
score with 6:18 left that tied the issue at 43-all.
And maybe this was the wake-up call that the Golden Rams
needed on this night as they found a way – some way – to weather this
storm. Antilla connected on an unlikely “3”
from the top of the key at the 5:30 mark that kissed off the glass and into the
cylinder for a 46-43 lead and another score in the paint by the former Osseo
standout made it a five-point game at 48-43 with 4:53 left. And then it was the former Rogers standout
Loughlin, who would have some huge moments in the home stretch when things
could have gone kablooey for Anoka-Ramsey.
She connected with a jumper in the lane with 4:31 left to make it a
seven-point game at 50-43. The Stormers,
though, would have one last little run in them and three times they got to
within three points thanks to some strong work in the paint by McHenry and with
1:09 left trailed only 54-51; plenty of time to pull off this improbable
upset. But Loughlin, the team leader,
refused to let her team lose and took over things when she nailed a cold-blooded
“3” from the left wing for a six-point lead at 57-51 with just :36 left on the
clock and now Milwaukee Area Technical College had to foul and you knew DeWitt
would want the ball in Loughlin’s hands in these last few critical
moments. She would knock down two more
pairs of freebies that gave Anoka-Ramsey just enough breathing room and allowed
them to get a hard-earned win on this night by a final count of 64-57.
Afterward, Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Lorenz was
disappointed in the final result but remained upbeat about the long-term
prospects for his team. “We really had
missed opportunities in the first half and we woke up in the second half
defensively…..We wanted to press and put pressure on them.” I mentioned those missed free throws they
suffered when they made their big run.
Lorenz: “13/29 from the free
throw line for 44.8% - not good….Our team had seven wins last season so this is
a big step forward for us going up against a quality program like Anoka-Ramsey. Now we just have to clean the little things
up and finish.” Despite the win, DeWitt
seemed somewhat subdued and just acknowledged that his team has a lot of work
in front of them – particularly in developing that defensive mentality he has
so passionately sought from this squad from Day 1. This team clearly has a leader in Loughlin
but they will be tested on Saturday (11-9) when they take on Madison Area
College.
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