On this Friday evening, I decided to venture out of my normal comfort zone which is the Northwest Suburban Conference and make the trek over to Waconia to take in the highly-anticipated matchup between host Waconia and visiting #2-ranked Orono in this huge Wright County Conference showdown. I had watched Waconia play twice earlier this season so I had a pretty good idea what I might be getting from them but Orono was a team I was not familiar with at all and I was anxious to get a look at them. It only took a few minutes of watching to understand why the Spartans are currently ranked second in the state in Class AAA.
Orono seized momentum right off the bat when willowy sophomore guard Tori Andrew was able to snare the opening tip and race to the rack for an easy lay-up at the 17:58 mark and that lead quickly grew to 4-0 when 6'4" junior post Meghan Mandel got into the paint for a score at the 17:44 mark. The host Wildcats got on the board at the 17:35 mark when senior guard Kelsey Eder connected with a short shot at the 17:35 mark but Orono extended their lead to 8-2 by the 16:45 mark on scores in the paint by both junior guard Danielle Jorgenson and Mandel. Waconia was able to cut the deficit to 8-4 when super senior guard Anna Schmitt maneuvered into the paint for a score at the 16:32 mark but it became readily apparent that the Wildcats had no answers - at least for the moment anyway - with Orono's Mandel as one offensive rebound of her own miss and putback at the 15:56 mark and a rebound and putback of a teammates' miss at the 14:47 mark made it a 12-4 game and Waconia Head Coach Carl Pierson had no choice but to at least call a thirty-second timeout to try and find some answers. The Wildcats momentarily looked re-energized as Schmitt was able to put on a show and go coast-to-coast for a lay-up at the 13:59 mark but Orono senior point guard Kiera Nelson helped spark a push that had the Spartans up 19-8 by the 11:49 mark and by this point it looked as if Waconia would have a long night ahead of themselves trying to play catch-up.
The purple-clad Wildcats, however, showed signs of resourcefulness as they were able to go back to work and cut into the deficit. Senior guard Kendall Eder was snare an offensive rebound of her own miss and get a lay-up out of it at the 10:56 mark and two free throws by junior guard Madelin Dammann at the 10:10 mark brought Waconia back to within five trailing 19-14. Then it was the explosive and acrobatic Schmitt wowing the home crowd with a reverse lay-up with 9:39 left and snaring an offensive rebound for a putback with 8:35 mark that cut Orono's lead down to 21-18. The
Spartans would find a way to navigate these momentary rough waters and steady the ship. Free throws by Mandel and Nelson upped the Spartan lead to six at 26-20 with 5:14 left and a drive and finish by senior guard Rachel Heussner with 4:50 left made it an eight-point 28-20 advantage. A score in the paint by junior reserve post Hannah Striggow with 4:14 left maintained the eight-point margin at 30-22. Sophomore guard Tori Andrew helped the Spartans extend the lead back to double-digits as two free throws with 2:31 left and a lay-up with 2:00 left made it a 35-24 ballgame. But Waconia would once again find a way to muster a late push and get the deficit back into more manageable means. Junior reserve guard Megan Kirsch was sent to the line after getting fouled with 1:50 left and knocked down two freebies. Schmitt added one free throw with 1:26 left and then an unusual call and foul against Orono that left many of the Spartan faithful up in arms allowed Schmitt to sink three more freebies that brought the Wildcats back to within five trailing 35-30. After Andrew score in the paint for Orono with just under a minute left, Schmitt dazzled the home crowd one last time before the half with another coast-to-coat dash and lay-up with just :13 left on the clock as the Spartans took an uncertain and small 37-32 lead into the locker room at the half.
Schmitt left a blazing mark at the end of the first half and she started off the second half in the same fashion when she drained a "3" from the top of the key - the first one for the Wildcats on this night - at the 17:00 mark that cut Orono's lead down to a scant two points at 37-35 and had the Waconia faithful full of hope. But once again the Spartans were able to brace the rough seas and keep the ship on track. Mandel snared yet another offensive rebound for a putback at the 16:24 mark for 39-35 advantage but the lanky junior; who had picked up two fouls in the first half that forced her to sit a spell, picked up her third foul at the 15:44 mark and Orono Head Coach Ellen Wiese was forced to sit her star post player. Still, the Spartans refused to be fazed from that turn of events and they steadily built the lead back up. A score in the paint by Jorgensen at the 15:09 mark made it a two-possession game at 41-37. Then Nelson; a future University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldog, took over. One free throw at the 14:31 mark and a short jumper off the glass at the 14:09 mark upped the lead to 44-37. Two more Nelson freebies at the 13:44 mark made it a 46-37 game. One score in the paint by Striggow at the 12:16 mark and two Nelson scores in the paint gave the Spartans a 52-40 lead at the 11:20 mark and then a one-handed floater in the lane by Nelson at the 11:14 mark expanded the lead to 54-40 and it looked as if Waconia would have to go back to the drawing board if they were somehow going to get close again in this one.
Somehow, Waconia would again mount a comeback and, not surprisingly, it would be Schmitt who would at least make life uncomfortable for the visitors down the stretch. Schmitt would get into the paint for a score at the 11:04 mark and get fouled in the process and the obligatory free throw would cut the deficit back to eleven at 54-43. Two pairs of free throws by Dammann helped the Wildcats get back to within single digits trailing 56-47 with 9:31 left. Two more charity stripe shots by Schmitt after she was fouled making a steal drew Waconia even closer trailing 56-49 and had the Wildcats in the bonus as well with 9:06 left. Orono had even more reason for concern when Mandel got nabbed with her fourth foul with 8:02 left with the Wildcats seemingly within striking distance. Just as they had earlier in the contest, though, the Spartans navigated the rough waters with skill. A jumper by Heussner along the left baseline with 7:37 left and a free throw from Striggow pushed the lead back to double-digits at 61-50 with 6:09 left. Scores in the paint by Jorgenson with 5:29 left and by Nelson with 4:03 left helped offset consecutive scores by Waconia's Schmitt and allowed Orono to maintain the double-digit advantage at 65-55 and Pierson; with time becoming a factor, had no choice but to call a timeout. This time there would be no push for the Wildcats to offer up to try and put one last scare into the Spartans. Nelson put down one free throw after getting fouled with 3:01 left that put Orono in the bonus as well. Mandrel; riding those four fouls in the last few minutes of the contest, helped put the finishing touches on this Spartan win with two late lay-ups and a score in the paint with 1:26 left for a 74-62 Orono lead. Two more Mandrell scores with 1:07 and :48.6 left bloated the final count a bit for the Spartans as they took this important road win 82-66.
A disappointed Pierson afterward admitted that his team got off to a horrible start with turnovers that allowed Orono to put them in an early hole. Even more disconcerting from his standpoint was the miserable night of shooting from behind the arc (8%) and getting out-rebounded 36-20. "We didn't come into this game thinking we had to win the rebounding aspect necessarily but we ideally had to keep it under ten that would have given us a chance." Pierson also spoke of the meat-grinder schedule his squad has been playing lately and will run into again this next week. Still, when sections roll around, this team should be battle-tested and will be a tough one to beat.
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