Made what seems to be (almost) like the annual trek up to Anoka and Anoka High School for the Section 5AAAA Championship Game featuring Roseville out of the Suburban East Conference and perennial Northwest Suburban Conference powerhouse Maple Grove. The second-seeded Raiders arguably had a much tougher road to the section title game; having to stave off a strong challenge from Park Center in a tight 64-62 win in the opening round and then getting by always-tricky Spring Lake Park in the semifinals on Tuesday night. The top-seeded Crimson meanwhile breezed past Irondale in the first round and then earned a 52-40 win over conference rival Champlin Park on Tuesday night to get to this title game. This would be my first look at Roseville this season so I was arguably coming in a bit "cold" on them but having covered a Maple Grove game earlier in the season with my good buddy Mike Peden, I knew what the Crimson brought to the table.
Maple Grove Head Coach Mark Cook probably couldn't have asked for a better start to this contest as the Crimson built a 9-0 lead in a first half that saw the Raiders struggle mightily on the offensive end; missing opportunity after opportunity with turnovers galore. Crimson freshman guard Jordan Ode got this going with a three-point play the old-fashioned way - a drive and finish that drew a foul with the obligatory "and one" at the 17:02 mark and a lay-up by speedy junior guard/forward Kennedy Klick at the 16:09 mark made it a 5-0 game. Sophomore reserve guard Ava Cossette would build on that lead with a lay-up at the 10:12 mark and a bit later, Ode would make it a 9-0 game at the 9:41 mark with her short, one-handed jumper off the glass so while one could argue that perhaps the Crimson weren't exactly running away with this one just yet, you didn't exactly need an abacus to keep score in this one up to this juncture account the seeming futility of Roseville on the offensive end.
After what seemed like an eternity, the Raiders finally dusted off the cobwebs forming on their basket when senior forward Hannah Heffernan knocked down a jumper from the right wing area at the 9:19 mark and a lay-up in transition by sophomore guard Kendall Barnes with 8:50 left reduced the deficit to five but Roseville would still be fighting an uphill battle in this low-scoring affair as the Crimson kept a firm grip on things. Senior guard Kyla Overskei would drain a "3" from the left top area with 8:33 left and a drive and pretty reverse lay-up by senior reserve guard Kara Hoag with 6:57 left had Maple Grove's cushion at ten at 14-4. That lead would expand to thirteen when Ode buried a "3" of her own from the right wing area with 5:55 left to make it a 17-4 ballgame before the Raiders could get the deficit cut back to ten on a three-point bomb from the top of the key by senior guard Gabby Kopp with 5:46 left. The Crimson still had full control of things at a seemingly "safe" 19-7 lead when lanky junior forward Audrey Kormann snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 5:07 left but Roseville; which had seemed out of sorts for so much of this first half on the offensive end, finally was able to tighten things up a bit down the stretch before intermission. Senior forward Hattie DeVries would bang home a much-needed "3" from the right wing area with 4:50 left and one Barnes free throw after she was fouled with 3:31 left had the deficit down to eight at 19-11. Then junior guard Drew Johnston finally got untracked as she would bury a "3" from the right wing area with 2:23 left that cut into the deficit even more at 19-14. Perhaps a bit alarmed at this point, the Crimson were able to stretch out their lead again as Klick would connect on a lay-up with 2:05 left and a drive along the right baseline and finish by Cossette with 1:32 left had the lead back up to nine at 23-14. But the Raiders were able to show another sign of their sudden rejuvenation as sophomore reserve forward Lucia Sundberg drained a "3" from the left wing area with just :07.8 left that cut the deficit down to six at 23-17. It was arguably something of a glass half-full proposition for Maple Grove as they still had the lead and still had things going their way for the most part but at the same time they probably missed a golden opportunity to put Roseville behind the proverbial 8-ball early on and left the door open for them to close the gap.
And those nagging worries amongst the Crimson faithful only grew once the second half got underway as Maple Grove seemed to come out a bit flat while the Raiders seemed re-energized and ready to go. And two quick scores by Roseville only reinforced that notion. Heffernan would connect with a lay-up at the 17:29 mark and a score in the paint by DeVries at the 16:25 mark suddenly had the deficit down to two points at 23-21. The Crimson's Kormann would come to her team's rescue when she muscled into the paint for a score at the 16:07 mark but then Roseville would finally get this game evened up when Kopp not only buried a three-point bomb from the left top area at the 15:29 mark but was also fouled in the process and her ensuing "and one" had this contest knotted at 25-all with the Roseville contingent roaring in applause. A short jumper by Johnston at the 14:42 mark would get this contest tied again at 27 a piece and two free throws by Heffernan at the 14:09 mark after she was fouled would make it 29-all. Complicating things even more for Maple Grove was that senior guard/forward Ari Gordon had also collected her third foul of the evening and Cook; not wanting to take any chances with one of his top players, yanked her to the bench for preservation purposes. The Crimson's Ode would put her team ahead at 30-29 on one free throw after she was fouled at the 14:02 mark but the Raiders would finally take their first lead in this ballgame a bit later when DeVries connected with a lay-up at the 13:28 mark. DeVries would get fouled at the 11:46 mark and got one freebie to go down to make it 32-30 and that lead would grow to four at 34-30 when Barnes connected with a lay-up at the 11:25 mark. In full-alarm mode, Maple Grove had to turn on the switch. Ode would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled at the 10:17 mark and a lay-up in transition by Overskei at the 9:58 mark leveled the game at 34. Crimson fans may have breathed a bit of a sigh of relieft when Gordon got one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 9:30 mark to push her team back out in front 35-34 but the safety net that Maple Grove had earlier in this contest was now long gone and they had to know by now that they were in a fight for survival.
The Crimson would at least be able to incrementally grow their lead as Ode would get one free throw to go down with 8:50 left after getting fouled and Cossette would do the same after getting fouled with 8:22 left to give Maple Grove a 37-34 lead. Klick would also connect on a pretty reverse lay-up with 7:05 left to maintain that three-point edge at 39-36 but then, inexplicably, the wheels started coming off for the Crimson ever...so...slowly. Roseville's Johnston would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 6:44 left that cut the deficit to two points and then a bit later, Barnes would find a gap in Maple Grove's defense that allowed her to connect on a lay-up with 6:28 left that had this one tied again at 39 a piece. The Crimson would grab the lead again when Ode slithered into the paint for a score with 6:13 left but it would disappear just as quickly when Roseville's Johnston unleashed a dagger "3" from the top of the key with 5:40 left as the Raiders claimed the lead at 42-41. Maple Grove's Klick would slither into the paint for a score with 5:17 left as the Crimson took the lead right back at 43-42 but the killer sequence would come shortly thereafter as Roseville unleashed a game-changing 7-0 burst that not only gave them the lead for good but also took the wind out of the sails for the Crimson as well. DeVries would strike twice for the Raiders - first with a lay-up with 4:30 left to push Roseville back out in front at 44-43 and then again with 3:18 left with a back-breaking "3" from the top of the key to make it a 47-43 ballgame. The Roseville lead would then increase to six when Barnes made a daring drive into traffic for a finish with 2:21 left that made it 49-43 before the Crimson could launch a late-game comeback bid. Ode would connect with a lay-up with 2:08 left and after getting a stop on the other end, Klick would use a burst of speed to connect on a lay-up of her own with 1:45 left that now had the deficit down to two at 49-47. The Raiders' DeVries would get into the paint for a score with 1:25 left and senior reserve guard Makayla Holton would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 1:05 left to give Roseville a 52-47 advantage. But Maple Grove still appeared to have life when Overskei was able to drain a "3" from the right corner with :43 left to bring the Crimson back to within a single possession down 52-50. Maple Grove's Cook would call a timeout to set up defensive strategy but the Crimson could never get the one takeaway or score that might have changed things toward the end. Roseville's Johnston would knock down a pair of free throws after getting fouled with :33.2 left and after a Maple Grove turnover on the other end, the Crimson were forced to foul the Raiders' Barnes who would respond with two more free throws that pushed Roseville's lead to 56-50. Another foiled Crimson possession led to Johnston getting fouled with :17.4 left and she would pour in two more free throws to make it 58-50. With :07.1 left, Johnston would respond again with two more insurance free throws after getting fouled as the Raiders pulled off a huge upset with a 60-50 victory to claim the Section 5AAAA title and advance to the State Tournament.
I was able to catch up with a distraught and disappointed Cook afterward and he could only offer that "We didn't do what we said we were going to do at halftime and we didn't make free throws." Assistant Coach Bob DuBois also offered that "We didn't defend either." During the game, I was sitting in the upper bleachers; not far from former Park Center standout and former UST player McKenna DuBois and I told her late in the game, "You've gotta make free throws!". She could only concur.....I know I've harped on it several times during this season but you definitely DO have to make free throws and that aspect cost Maple Grove on this night - no doubt about it. Going 9-17 from the charity stripe as the Crimson did on this night cost them. The other thing that stands out in my mind is that I really thought that Maple Grove was the "better" team on the floor on this night in purely talent terms. But Roseville was easily the tougher team when it counted and they came up with the big plays and shots when they needed to and didn't panic when they struggled early on. A balanced scoring attack really helped the Raiders' cause on this night and what a night it was for the youngster; Johnston, as her 15 points led the way for Roseville and DeVries was right behind with 14 points. Kopp had a solid night as well with her 10 points. Maple Grove relied heavily on Ode on this night as her 20 points to lead all scorers would suggest while Klick finished with 10 points.
No comments:
Post a Comment