Coon Rapids vs Maple Grove Recap 2-4-20

Made the drive over to Maple Grove High School on this Tuesday evening to get my first (and long overdue) look at the highly-regarded Maple Grove Crimson as they prepared to host Coon Rapids in an early week Northwest Suburban Conference showdown.  This Maple Grove team was sporting a 7-1 record in conference play; 16-4 overall and in first place in the North Division.  The Coon Rapids Cardinals on the other hand were on the other side of the ledger in this North Division at 0-7 in conference play and 2-20 overall.  So while Maple Grove certainly appeared to be the heavy favorite coming into this game, the last thing they needed to have happen was to take this Coon Rapids team lightly and get shocked on their home floor.

The Crimson definitely got off to the kind of start they wanted; building a 6-0 lead by the 16:17 mark of the first half with senior guard Abby Schulte making her presence felt early.  Coon Rapids would cut that deficit in half on a "3" from the right top area by junior post Ella Giorgi at the 15:09 mark but Maple Grove would then embark on a 5-0 push; fueled by a "3" from the right corner by junior forward Jordyn Lamker at the 12:18 mark and a pretty spin move and lay-up by Lamker at the 11:03 mark to make it an 11-3 ballgame.  The Cardinals would again try to cut into this early deficit as junior reserve post Nicole Post connected with a lay-up at the 10:29 mark but then Maple Grove would open up more breathing room with a 9-2 run over the course of five minutes with Schulte, Lamker and sophomore guard Ari Gordon all contributing to make it a 20-7 game with 5:13 left and Coon Rapids Head Coach Tom Weko had no choice but to call a timeout in an effort to stop some of the bleeding.  The Crimson, however, had no intention of letting up off the gas pedal anytime soon and they continued to widen the gap.  Two scores by Lamker - a lay-up after a steal with 5:02 left and then a reverse lay-up that drew a foul and was capped by the obligatory "and one" - made it 25-9.  Schulte would unleash a "3" from the left wing area with 2:07 left to make it 30-10.  Coon Rapids would get a couple of scores before the end of the first half as sophomore post Jenny Ntambwe knocked down a jumper from the right elbow with 1:36 left and Giorgi would get into the paint for a score with just :01 left in the first half but the Cardinals were still on the wrong end of a 34-14 score as the two teams retreated to their locker rooms for the halftime break.   

Despite being down by twenty once the second half got underway, Coon Rapids actually made a bid to try and get back into this game.  One free throw by junior guard Beni Kalala at the 17:33 mark coupled with a Ntambwe lay-up at the 17:00 mark had the Crimson lead down to 36-17.  Ntambwe would strike again with a score in the paint at the 16:40 mark to reduce the deficit down to seventeen at 36-19 and Maple Grove Head Mark Cook; not pleased at all on how his squad was starting out this second half, called a timeout to get his troops reassembled - and perhaps a quick talking-to as well.  Whatever happened in that huddle during that timeout seemed to do the trick as the Crimson quickly went back to work.  Back-to-back- three-point bombs - one by Schulte from the right wing area at the 16:23 mark and another one by slender junior guard Izzy Brant from the right wing area at the 15:50 mark - doubled up Coon Rapids by a 42-21 count.  Schulte would strike again at the 15:28 mark with a short jumper in the lane to push the lead to 44-21.  The Cardinals would try and counter on a Kalala lay-up at the 15:13 mark but Coon Rapids could never put together a string of scores that might have kept them a bit closer.  As such, the Crimson embarked on a 12-0 run; fueled by three scores by Lamker and a three-point bomb by sophomore reserve guard Becca White that put this one out of reach for good with Maple Grove enjoying a 56-23 lead by the 12:37 mark.  And the Crimson would then ensure that this one would get into running time as a score in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Emma Kanz at the 9:51 mark and an eye-opening coast-to-coast lay-up by Schulte at the 9:10 mark had Maple Grove up safely at 60-25.  Despite the lopsided score, the Cardinals never gave up the fight as Giorgi would snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback with 8:08 left.  Ntambwe would drop one free throw after getting fouled with 6:47 left and junior reserve guard Kylie Hettwer would drain a "3" from the left wing area with 5:01 left.  The damage was done, however, as Maple Grove would have it in cruise control the rest of the way for an easy 68-32 victory. 

The final box score on this night shows that it was indeed the Abby Schulte/Jordyn Lamker show as both players finished with 21 points each.  Ntambwe was the only player in double-figures for Coon Rapids with her 11 points.