MATC vs Anoka-Ramsey 11-17-16

Made my way up to Coon Rapids on this Thursday evening of Beat SC week to take in this non-conference game between Milwaukee Area Technical College and host Anoka-Ramsey.  I definitely wanted to see where the Golden Rams were at in this early part of the season from my visit to their practice a month ago and how they would fare against an unfamiliar opponent.

The visiting Stormers came out in a 2-3 zone defense right off the bat but that didn't seems to bother Anoka-Ramsey; much less speedy sophomore point guard Rashonna Thomas - at least early on anyway as she drained two three-point bombs - one from the right wing at the 9:05 mark and another from the left top area at the 8:08 mark - that gave the Golden Rams an early 6-2 advantage.  You can defeat a 2-3 zone defense IF you can consistently drop those "3's" but if you can't and if you're unable to penetrate the 2-3 zone inside, you've got big trouble on your hands and that's precisely what happened to Anoka-Ramsey on this night.  MATC responded with a 10-0 run over the course of nearly two minutes; fueled by offensive rebounds and putbacks by sophomore forward Nwoye Green and two free throws from fellow sophomore point guard Brittany Kattenberg and a Kattenberg lay-up in transition at the 6:26 mark that had the Stormers up 10-6.  Worse yet for the Golden Rams, MATC was forcing several Anoka-Ramsey miscues and turnovers which are very uncharacteristic for a David DeWitt-coached team and a steal and pull-up jumper the other way by slender sophomore guard Kurstyn Gordon at the 6:04 mark completed this 10-0 surge for a 12-6 Stormer lead.  The Golden Rams were able to close the gap when freshman guard Alyssa Correll drained a "3" from the left wing area that made it a 12-9 ballgame and the immediate thought was that Anoka-Ramsey would recover and gradually begin to take control of things.  MATC, however, had different ideas and they closed out the period on a 13-0 run that was aided by more Golden Ram turnovers and uncharacteristic fouls.  One freebie by sophomore guard Jerimisha Booker with 4:53 left started this run and a Booker offensive rebound and putback with 4:28 left made it a 15-9 game.  Two Gordon free throws with 3:00 left and one more by Green with 2:41 left increased the lead to 18-9 and a score in the paint by freshman reserve post Mickaiah Jones-Cogwell got the lead to 20-9.  Two scores by sophomore guard/forward Tara Jefferson - one in the paint with 1:14 left and a short jumper with :50 left along with one free throw by freshman reserve guard Mahalia London with :16.2 left had Anoka-Ramsey staring at a 25-9 deficit.

DeWitt took a "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach once the second period got underway; having his team switch from a man-to-man defense into a 2-3 zone defense; something of a rarity for the Golden Rams.  Nonetheless, it appeared to pay dividends in the early going of the second stanza as Anoka-Ramsey plugged up the middle that prevented some of the big Stormer bodies from getting inside as they did in the first period and allowed the Golden Rams to chip away at the deficit. Sophomore guard Laya Sath connected with a jumper from the left elbow area at the 9:38 mark and a "3" by freshman guard Amanda Lindsey from the left wing area at the 8:16 mark cut the MATC lead down to 25-14.  A jumper from the right corner at the 5:53 mark by freshman forward Dariel Lipscomb and a "3" from the right wing area by Sath with 4:37 left had Anoka-Ramsey back within single digits trailing 27-19 and the Golden Rams appeared to have a much-needed injection of life pumped back into them.  But the Stormers were able to hold off this first comeback attempt going down the stretch before the half.  Freshman reserve guard Adaijah Johnson uncorked a "3" from the right wing area with 4:15 left that got the lead back up to double-digits at 30-19 and a short jumper off the glass by Green with 2:48 left increased the lead to 32-19.  Anoka Ramsey would get the deficit back into single-digit range briefly when sophomore reserve forward Kierra Hunter got into the paint for one score with 2:36 left and a Rashonna Thomas lay-up with 2:11 left cut the MATC lead down to 32-23 but Johnson would give the Stormers a 35-23 halftime lead with her "3" from the right wing area with 1:30 left.  A manageable deficit for the Golden Rams but DeWitt knew that his squad would have its work cut out for it.

DeWitt decided to stay with the 2-3 zone going into the third period but he didn't get the immediate results he was hoping for.  Instead, the Stormers proceeded to go on a 12-2 run over the course of nearly four minutes that appeared to have Anoka-Ramsey buried in an avalanche.  One score by Booker at the 9:49 started the MATC blitz and a Booker free throw at the 9:06 mark got the lead up to 38-25.  A short jumper off the glass by Kattenberg at the 8:48 mark and a short turn-around jumper by Jones-Cogwell at the 8:03 mark made it 42-25.  Kattenberg unleashed a "3" from the right corner at the 7:11 mark and when Jefferson connected with a lay-up in transition at the 6:33 mark that made it a 47-25 ballgame, the Golden Rams indeed appeared to be past the point of no return and DeWitt wasted no time in calling a halt to the action to try and rally the troops.  It took a bit, but Anoka-Ramsey finally found some life again thanks to Rashonna Thomas.  She dropped another trey - this one from the left wing area at the 5:12 mark and a Correll jumper from the left top area with 2:58 left trimmed the Stormer lead down to 49-30.  Two more Anoka-Ramsey scores; including yet another Rashonna Thomas "3" - this one from the left wing area with 1:51 left in the period allowed the Golden Rams to cut further into the deficit trailing 51-35 and with 1:11 Rashonna Thomas struck again with an offensive rebound and short jumper.  When Lipscomb snared an offensive rebound for a putback and was fouled in the process, her ensuing free throw with :37 left capped an unlikely period-ending 9-0 spurt that sliced the MATC lead down to 51-40 going into the fourth and final period.

The Stormers tried to gather themselves at the start of the fourth period but momentum was clearly now on the side of Anoka-Ramsey and they went on another 9-0 run that brought them tantalizingly close.  One score in the paint by Lipscomb at the 9:13 mark and yet another Rashonna Thomas trey - this one from the right corner at the 8:54 mark cut the MATC lead down to 51-45.  Then it was Correll striking from three-point land - this one from the right wing area at the 8:25 mark that had the Golden Rams within a single possession trailing 51-48 and when Rashonna Thomas connected with a lay-up in transition at the 8:01 mark that had the Stormer lead down to a scant point at 51-50, MATC Head Coach Randy Casey had no choice but to take a match to a timeout.  The Stormers appeared to recover somewhat after that stoppage in play as two scores in the paint by Green - one at the 7:17 mark and another at the 6:06 mark - gave MATC a bit more breathing room with a 55-50 lead and one Jefferson freebie at the 5:26 mark made it a 56-50 game.  But Anoka-Ramsey was far from finished.  Freshman reserve guard Lateah Turmon connected with a jumper from the right corner with 4:59 left that cut the Stormer lead down to 56-52 and then Turmon knocked down a jumper from the left elbow area with 4:06 left that once again brought the Golden Rams back to a single-possession trailing 56-54.  Facing disaster, the Stormers tried to step on the gas pedal again as Green got into the paint for one score with 3:41 left and when Jefferson got into the paint for another score with 2:59 left MATC looked to be in decent shape again with a 60-54 advantage.  But Anoka-Ramsey would still manage to throw one last scare into Casey's team.  Correll unleashed a three-point bomb from the left wing area with 2:44 left and then Turmon would connect with a lay-up in transition with 2:27 left that - once again - had the Golden Rams breathtakingly close trailing by one at 60-59 with a ton of time left.  Alas, that's as close as they would get.  Kattenberg connected with a dagger "3" from the left top area with 1:14 left for a 63-59 lead and Anoka-Ramsey never could find that one shot or three-point attempt when they needed it most.  Lipscomb would connect with a lay-up in transition that cut the Stormer lead down to a single-possession again at 63-61with :27.8 left but, after a Golden Ram timeout, MATC calmly responded.  Kattenberg got fouled with :23 left and she stepped to the line to drop two freebies for a 65-61 lead and after a failed Anoka-Ramsey possession, Jefferson was fouled with :13 left and she was able to get one free throw to go down for the winning 66-61 margin.

In looking back, this had to have been a tough loss to swallow for this young Anoka-Ramsey team and the faces and the mood of the squad showed that afterward.  I felt a twinge of guilt when I interrupted an impromptu Jimmy John's meal that DeWitt was enjoying with his wife in the conference room afterward.  It was tough to get much out of DeWitt other than "We're not very good."  Some of that might have been tongue-in-cheek, some of that might have been part truth.  A glance at the box score shows eight first period Golden Ram turnovers and a total of 17 turnovers for the game so while they managed to clean things up after that disastrous first period, they also put themselves into a hole and they spent a lot of energy trying to battle back from that.  Even more frustrating had to be getting to within one point twice in that fourth and final period with plenty of time left and not being able to get over the hump.  A pair of missed free throws here.  An easy lay-up or "bunny" missed there.  In close games, those things add up and the fact that Anoka-Ramsey got outrebounded 41-32 didn't help matters either.  At the same time, I think this young Golden Ram team can take a lot of positives going forward knowing that they do have the ability to bounce back from adversity.  We've seen teams in the past under DeWitt recover after a slow start and I'd be willing to bet that they'll be able to do it again.  You can be sure that he'll have his squad back hard at it on the practice floor working on the mistakes that plagued them on this night and I'd be willing to bet that they'll be fine in the long-haul.  Rashonna Thomas led the way for Anoka-Ramsey on this night with her 21 points and Correll followed up with her 13 points.  Jefferson led a balanced MATC attack on this night with her 18 points and 11 rebounds while Green had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Kattenberg had 14 points and five rebounds.