Elk River vs Champlin Park 1-15-19

Decided to do something a little different on this Wednesday evening and one Northwest Suburban Conference game that looked enticing was the one that pitted visiting Elk River against host Champlin Park.  While I had already been able to get a glimpse of the Elks last month when they beat Rogers at home, this would be my first look at the Rebels this season.  This was a solid team last year that made it to the Section 5AAAA semifinals where they fell to eventual champ Roseville.  This is also a team that lost a handful of great players to graduation from last season - Erica Hicks, Gabby Mocchi, Megan Munneke, Amanda Pollard and Sydney Fields - so I wasn't really sure what to expect from them.  Elk River had lost a tough game on the road to Centennial just a few short days ago as well and presumably life wasn't going to be any easier for them on this night either.

Things would be tight in the first four minutes of the first half.  Rebel junior guard Miyah Dubose got the home team on the board first with a lay-up at the 17:01 mark and a jumper from the left elbow area by strong sophomore guard Maya Fitzpatrick at the 16:24 mark had Champlin Park up 4-0.  The Elks came right back, however, as a lay-up by sophomore guard Ellie Maass at the 15:18 mark and two free throws by diminutive junior guard Lydia Haack at the 14:07 mark had this one knotted at 4-all.  The Rebels were able to gain the upper hand on a three-point bomb by freshman guard Mikaelah Counce at the 13:52 mark for a 7-4 lead and a Counce score in the paint at the 13:23 mark maintained the three-point edge at 9-6.  Elk River's Haack brought her team right back, however, as she sank one free throw at the 13:07 mark and then connected with a lay-up at the 12:52 mark to again tie the contest at 9 a piece.  Two free throws by Champlin Park freshman reserve post Izzy Quick got the home team up again at 11-9 at the 11:51 mark but then the Elks got their very first lead of the evening when sophomore reserve forward Sophia Tobin nailed a "3" from the left top area at the 11:17 mark that made it a 12-11 ballgame so even though it took Elk River a bit to get their first lead of the night they were, thus far anyway, hanging tough on the road.

Much to the dismay of Elk River Head Coach Jeremy Digiovanni, things soon started falling apart for his young Elk team as Champlin Park was able to make its first decisive move of the evening.  After sophomore reserve guard Amaya Doree knocked down two free throws to put the Rebels back out in front 13-12 at the 10:29 mark, Fitzpatrick would follow that up with a three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 10:03 mark that made it 16-12.  A Fitzpatrick score in the paint at the 9:14 mark maintained the four-point edge at 18-14.  A Dubose lay-up with 8:32 left increased the lead to 20-14 and although that wasn't an insurmountable lead from an Elk River standpoint, Digiovanni had every reason to break out the panic button with 7:55 left when Champlin Park's Fitzpatrick banged home another three-pointer - this one from the same right wing area with 7:55 left - that now pushed the Rebel lead to nine and the Elk's Digiovanni immediately called for a halt to the action to try and get his young team calmed down.  Champlin Park, however, had no plans to slow down this assault anytime soon and they were able to steadily grow their lead.  Dubose would sink two freebies after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 7:38 left and lanky senior post Makayla Johnson connected with a lay-up with 6:45 left that now had the Rebels up double digits at 27-15.  Counce would slither through for an easy lay-up with 5:12 left to make it 29-15 and then freshman reserve guard Amelia Valentino got into the act as she drained a "3" from the right wing area with 4:08 left to increase the lead to 32-15.  Elk River's Haack tried to counter with a "3" of her own from the top of the key with 3:53 left but that was bettered by a 7-0 Rebel burst.  Johnson was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback of her own miss with 3:27 left and then another Valentino three-point bomb from the right wing with 2:29 left now had Champlin Park up 37-18.  A Counce lay-up with 1:50 left made it 39-18 and yet another Fitzpatrick "3" - this one from the right corner with 1:13 left - gave the Rebels their biggest lead of the night at 42-19.  Elk River managed to cut into this sizable cushion before the halftime break as junior forward Alexa Engebretson drilled a "3" from the top of the key with :49 left and Haack was able to make a drive along the left baseline for a pretty finish with :24 left but down 42-24 when the halftime buzzer sounded, the Elks had a lot of making up to do.

Undoubtedly, the Elks indeed faced a daunting task in attempting to whittle this big cushion down but they slyly began the arduous task of picking away once the second half got underway.  After Champlin Park's Quick got the lead to twenty at 44-24 with her lay-up at the 17:44 mark, Elk River's lanky 6'2" sophomore post Johanna Langbehn dropped two free throws after getting fouled at the 16:58 mark and then junior guard Mikayla Kanenwisher provided a big spark when she snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" had the deficit down to fifteen points at 44-29.  The Rebels would answer this dent as Counce connected with a lay-up at the 15:58 mark and one Fitzpatrick freebie at the 13:33 mark got the lead back to 47-29.  A Dubose "3" from the left wing area at the 12:06 mark got the lead to nineteen at 50-31 and it seemed as if Elk River was simply treading water at this point.  But a 10-0 Elk run really helped change the complexion of this contest.  Langbehn got into the paint for one score at the 11:45 mark and then the Elks started going bombs away from behind the arc.  Haack unleashed a "3" from the right wing area at the 11:11 mark and Mikayla Kanenwisher drained a "3" from the left top area at the 10:08 mark that suddenly had the deficit down to eleven points at 50-39.  Elk River started turning up the heat on defense as well and Haack was able to connect on an incredibly pretty reverse lay-up after a steal in the backcourt at the 9:51 mark and now the Elks had the deficit back into single-digit range again for the first time since the midway point of the first half.   

Champlin Park senior reserve post Ally Crymble's two free throws with 8:14 left got the Rebels lead back to double digits briefly again at 52-41 but Elk River refused to go away.  Junior reserve guard Abby Barschdorf came up huge for the Elks in this unlikely comeback bid.  She unleashed her first trey of the evening with 7:45 left from the top of the key that cut the deficit down to eight points at 52-44 and a short time later she would drain another three-point bomb - this one from the right corner with 7:22 left that suddenly had the deficit whittled down to six points at 53-47.  Somewhat alarmed by these developments, Champlin Park tried to curb this comeback attempt.  Two Doree free throws with 7:07 left and a drive and lay-up by Quick with 6:06 left got the Rebels significantly more breathing room up by ten again at 57-47 but again the Elks were able to find some more magic.  Langbehn was able to muscle into the paint for one score with 5:50 left and would connect with a lay-up as well with 4:58 left that had the deficit down to seven points at 58-51.  Digiovanni would call a timeout to set up strategy for the home stretch and Elk River would manage to get tantalizingly close.  Barschdorf unleashed her third trey of the ballgame with 4:22 left from the right that had the deficit down to six points again at 60-54 and a rare offensive rebound and putback by Haack with 3:10 left kept the Elks in that six-point range down 62-56.  After a foiled Champlin Park possession, Elk River's Langbehn snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:36 left that now had the deficit down to four points at 62-58 with plenty of time left.  Curiously, however, the Elks' dreams of bringing this one all the way back died at this juncture.  And what made it all more frustrating is that they had opportunities to get back to within a single possession as Champlin Park's Counce was unable to sink a free throw attempt with 2:21 left and Rebel Head Coach Josh Steck could hardly feel good went down with an apparent ankle injury with 1:47 left.  But Elk River was unable to cash in on their ensuing possession and the Rebels; nursing that four-point, went into a stall game to try and eat up as much clock as possible.  Steck would call a timeout with :55.3 left and after the ensuing in-bounds pass, Fitzpatrick would get fouled with :53.5 left that put Champlin Park in the double-bonus.  Fitzpatrick was only able to get one of the two attempts to go down, however, and that did leave the door open for the Elks to try and get this down to one-possession but they were unable to capitalize when they needed a score desperately.  Champlin Park's Johnson would get fouled with :36.8 left but she too was unable to get any of the obligatory free throws to go down that should have still left Elk River with a sliver of a chance.  But the Elks failed to box out and Johnson would get sent to the line again with :36.1 left and she got one free throw to go down this time that upped Champlin Park's lead to 64-58.  Elk River's Digiovanni would call a timeout although by now the Elks' best chance had already come and gone.  Champlin Park would snuff out Elk River's last possession and Johnson would get one more insurance free throw to go down with :22.2 left and Crymble would connect with a lay-up in transition with just :05 left for good measure and the Rebels got an important home court win by a 67-58 count.

I caught up with Elk River's Digiovanni afterward and I had to congratulate him on his team's marvelous comeback attempt when things looked all but hopeless at the halftime break.  The thing that struck me about Champlin Park was the size down low that they have with Quick and Fitzpatrick and I asked him (Digiovanni) if the Rebels' overall size advantage bothered his team.  He downplayed that aspect and replied that his squad simply has to do a better job of protecting the ball.  He made mention of the fact that the Elks were in a similar situation against Centennial where they got down big and fought their way back only to come up short.  Such I think is the life for this young Elk team that is still learning and growing and I think they're likely a year away from becoming legitimate contenders in the conference and Section 8AAAA again.  Champlin Park had an incredibly balanced scoring attack on this night as Fitzpatrick was the only player in double figures with her 12 points but both Dubose and Valentino had nine points while Quick, Doree, Johnson and Counce all finished with eight points.  Elk River was paced by three players on this night as Haack's 19 points led all scorers while Barschdorf; thanks to her three-point prowess, finished with 13 points and Langbehn had 12 points.