Blaine vs Maple Grove 2-6-20

Was back out at Maple Grove High School on this Thursday night for an important Northwest Suburban Conference clash between visiting Blaine and host Maple Grove.  This would be my first look at the Bengals this season who have been something of a surprise this year coming into this game with a 17-4 overall record and 5-3 in conference play.  Maple Grove had polished off an easy win against Coon Rapids two nights before but the sledding on this night would be much, much tougher for the Crimson than it was on Tuesday night. 

This notion became evident early on in the first half as Blaine was able to build a 6-2 lead.  Two lay-ups by senior forward Kayla Bohr - one at the 17:08 mark and another one at the 16:03 mark - had the Bengals up 4-2 and a short jumper from the left side by fellow senior guard Anna Garfield at the 14:58 mark established the aforementioned lead.  Maple Grove reduced the deficit down to two points when senior guard Abby Schulte grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback at the 14:41 mark but Blaine's Bohr was already proving to be one tough commodity for the home team already.  Bohr would grab an offensive rebound for a putback at the 14:27 mark and then would knock down a short jumper from the left side at the 13:01 mark that not only gave the Bengals a 10-4 advantage but the game was momentarily halted as Bohr had notched her 1,000th-career point as well that got a standing ovation from the crowd.  Maple Grove had to get back to business, however, as Schulte drained a "3" from the left corner at the 12:33 mark to get the deficit back down to three at 10-7 but Blaine kept maintaining breathing space as Garfield would make a drive and finish at the 12:00 mark for a 12-7 Bengal lead and a short jumper in the lane by Bohr at the 11:14 mark maintained the five-point edge at 14-9.  Bohr would inflict further damage when she drained a "3" from the left top area with 8:52 left to establish a 17-11 lead for Blaine and there were many inside Maple Grove Gymnasium on this night suddenly worried about the fortunes of their team. 

Those fears turned to genuine concerns as the Bengals managed to widen their lead even more.  Sophomore reserve guard Lexi Imdieke connected with a lay-up with 7:51 left to make it 19-11 and with 5:39 left, Imdieke would bury a "3" from the left wing area to give Blaine their largest lead thus far at 22-13 and Crimson Head Coach Mark Cooke had seen more than enough to know that a stoppage in play was warranted to try and make some quick adjustments.  That stoppage in play started paying dividends as Maple Grove worked their way back into this contest.  Sophomore reserve forward Emma Kanz would connect with a lay-up with 5:21 left and Schulte would knock down a short jumper in the lane with 3:44 left to get the deficit back down to five points at 22-17.  Blaine junior guard Madison Hoehne would get her team back to a seven-point lead at 24-17 with her jumper from the left elbow with 2:23 left but the Crimson would keep the visitors from the north side of town in check down the home stretch of the first half and with just :01.8 left before the halftime buzzer, Maple Grove pulled back to five-point range again when junior forward Jordyn Lamker connected with a lay-up that probably had the Crimson feeling a lot better about themselves down by a 24-19 count as the teams headed to the locker room for the halftime break. 

Whatever adjustments that Maple Grove's Cook and his staff made in the locker room at the half certainly seemed to work as the Crimson was able to whittle away at the deficit in the early moments of the second half.  Schulte would connect with a lay-up at the 17:45 mark to pull Maple Grove back to within a single possession down 24-21 and then junior guard Kylie Baranick would drain a "3" from the right corner at the 15:07 mark that suddenly had this game tied at 24 a piece.  That got the attention of the Bengals who now had to go back to work themselves.  Garfield would get to the charity stripe twice in the span of two minutes to get free throws to go down - one at the 14:33 mark and another one at the 12:38 mark - to give Blaine a 26-24 advantage and then the Bengals would grow that lead to four when Bohr made a hard drive into the lane for a finish at the 12:10 mark.  That lead would expand to six again when Garfield connected with a lay-up at the 10:24 mark to make it 30-24 and a "3" from the left top area by sophomore guard Allison Terry at the 9:30 mark seemed to have the Bengals in good shape again as it maintained the six-point edge at 33-27. 

But with things on the line - especially at home in a big game - the Crimson hunkered down with some tough defense and timely scores to get control of this game once and for all.  Two scores by Schulte - one in the paint at the 9:17 mark and a lay-up in transition with 8:51 left - had the deficit down to two points and a Lamker lay-up with 7:29 left had this one tied at 33.  With 6:49 left, Lamker would make a hard drive into the lane and finish and draw a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" gave Maple Grove their first lead since the opening minutes of the game at 36-33.  The Bengals' Bohr would cut the deficit down to one with her short, one-handed shot in the lane with 5:45 left but then the Crimson would widen its lead as Baranick would connect with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass with 5:24 left.  Both teams would go into a bit of a scoring funk over the next three minutes but that would wind up hurting Blaine a lot more than it ever did Maple Grove.  With 2:38 left, the Crimson would widen its gap to five when sophomore guard Ari Gordon connected with a lay-up in transtiion to make it 40-35 and even though that was hardly an insurmountable lead, the defensive nature of this ballgame made that five-point lead loom larger than what it really was and that was perhaps what prompted Blaine Head Coach Chris Brustuen to call a timeout to get his troops reorganized.  Shortly thereafter, it appeared that the Bengals had a fighting chance when Hoehne drained a "3" from the top of the key with 2:22 left that had the deficit down to two at 40-38 with a ton of time left.  Alas, Blaine would never get that close again.  The Crimson responded as Baranick slyly picked off a Bengal inbounds pass and got a lay-up out of it with 1:40 left and two Schulte free throws with 1:08 left pushed the Maple Grove lead back to six points at 44-38.  Schulte would sink two more insurance free throws with :42.6 left and although Blaine's Hoehne would hit paydirt with her "3" from the right top area with :34.4 left, the Crimson lead was still at five at 56-41.  Maple Grove would close this one out as Baranick would sink one free throw with :18.1 left and slender junior guard Izzy Brant would add one more for good measure with :11 left as Maple Grove got a hard-earned 48-41 victory.

I couldn't help but resist ribbing Maple Grove's Cook afterward about all the missed lay-ups his team had in that first half but, all kidding aside, Cook emphasized that sometimes its not about looking pretty.  Sometimes its about finding ways when you're not necessarily playing your best and this was a good Blaine team they took down on this night.  Specifically, I had to ask about what adjustments he made on defense in the second half; primarily with Blaine's Bohr who had a terrific first half.  Cook had a lot of praise for Lamker and her defensive efforts that effectively limited the clean looks that Bohr was getting early on.  Indeed, Bohr was the only Blaine player to finish in double figures scoring-wise on this night for Blaine with her 17 points.  Interestingly, Maple Grove's scoring effort was a bit more balanced on this night compared to Tuesday night although Schulte was the only player in double figures with her 17 points.