Battled traffic on I-94 from the northwest suburbs in the late afternoon to get over to the St. Paul side of town again and over to Macalester College to watch my first scrimmage of the year featuring host Macalester against visiting Anoka-Ramsey. I managed to get settled in with 7:10 left in the first ten minute scrimmage but, since there is typically no score kept on the scoreboard for scrimmages I was clueless as to what the situation was. But Anoka-Ramsey was struggling with turnovers and miscues on offense and this gave the Scots several opportunities to cash in. Sophomore guard Vivi Gregorich cashed in with a lay-up in transition at the 6:13 mark and, despite a three-point bomb by the Golden Rams with 2:03 left, savvy senior guard Erin Murray got two late scores for the Scots towards the end of the first scrimmage: one jumper in the lane with 1:16 left and another from the left corner just inside the arc with :19 left.
That strong finish by Murray towards the end of the first scrimmage seemed to be the cue for the rest of the squad to pick up their game as well once the second scrimmage got underway. Two quick scores in the first minute by lanky junior forward Park Masterson - a "3" from the right top area with 9:26 left and a lay-up after a steal with 9:10 left gave the Scots an early 5-0 lead and Anoka-Ramsey Head Coach David DeWitt called a quick timeout to give his team an earful. But the Scots were far from finished. Two more quick scores by willowy sophomore forward Leah Gray - a "3" from the right wing with 8:51 left and a rebound and putback with 8:02 left - put Macalester up 10-0 and a lay-up by junior point guard Grace Dickman who was wearing a protective mask over her face for this one now made it 12-0 before the Golden Rams finally settled down on offense and started to make things happen. One score in the paint by sophomore forward Daron Mainville with 7:08 left and a steal and lay-up the other way the Golden Rams with 6:50 left trimmed the deficit to eight points. Trailing 14-4, Golden Ram guard Laya Sath made a drive into the paint for a finish and got fouled in the process as well and the ensuing free throw cut the Macalester lead down to seven at 14-7. Anoka-Ramsey cut the Scot lead down to six at 15-9 with 4:45 left but a lay-up after a steal by senior guard Katelyn Kack pushed the Scot lead back to eight at 17-9. Still, Anoka-Ramsey had one last push left in them to draw tantalizingly close. A three-point shot off of an inbounds pass with 3:27 left and a lay-up with 2:52 left cut Macalester's lead down to four at 18-14. Scot sophomore reserve forward Emilie McGuire connected with a lay-up with 1:47 left that made it 20-14 but another Golden Ram score in the paint with 1:33 left and a lay-up with just :02 left had me counting the final in this one at 20-18 Macalester.
The last scrimmage of the evening featured running time to move things along. Anoka-Ramsey drew first blood in this one with a "3" from the left corner with 9:49 left but that was answered by a "3" from Scot junior reserve guard Lauren Clamage from the left corner as well with 8:57 left. Anoka-Ramsey; looking a bit more comfortable on offense in this third scrimmage, was able to score on a lay-up with 6:26 left to forge a 5-3 advantage. Macalester struggled a bit more offensively in this third scrimmage but was able to cut the deficit to one when Gregorich connected with one freebie after being fouled with 3:10 left. A score in the paint by Anoka-Ramsey with 1:41 left gave the Golden Rams a 7-4 lead and Macalester tried to answer when McGuire connected with a score in the paint as well with :25 left. The Scots Masterson looked to be going down for the winning lay-up with scant seconds remaining but she was fouled as time expired and no free throws were given making the final score 7-6 in favor of Anoka-Ramsey.
While the final scores aren't so important scrimmages, overall execution and improvement are and Macalester Head Coach Kelly Roysland seemed pleased with her squad's performance in this outing although she was quick to agree when I felt that they arguably left some points on the table with missed free throws. They're still awaiting one player to join the team yet - sophomore post Regan Fruh who is currently on the volleyball team at Macalester. Roysland feels very excited for the season to begin and I got the impression that she also thinks that her squad is primed to improve on last season's bumpy road. I also visited with Anoka-Ramsey Assistant Coach James Fassett afterward as well. He noted that the numerous turnovers committed by the Golden Rams on this day were not the result of Macalester doing anything special on defense but rather because players were simply trying to do too much at the wrong time; i.e., improvising when they really didn't need to improvise. With several new faces on the squad, it may take some time to get everyone on the same page. Fassett also pointed out that the team scrimmages at home against Augsburg tomorrow (Thursday) night and he wished that the scrimmages were a bit more "spaced out" so that they could have some extra time to work on the things he thinks that they need to work on.
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