Made the trek up to Coon Rapids on this clear but cold December day with fresh snow on the ground - just in time for Christmas - to take in the 5:00 PM game up at Anoka-Ramsey's annual Holiday Classic - this one featuring visiting Bismarck St out of the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference taking on host Anoka-Ramsey of the newly-renamed Minnesota College Athletic Conference. The Mystics were coming into this contest with a rather impressive 10-2 record with the only blemishes coming against Williston St and Northwest College. The Golden Rams meanwhile were trying to steady the ship so to speak as they were sporting a 6-4 record into this young season and were definitely hoping to grease the skids for some bigger numbers on the correct side of the ledger. I got settled into the Anoka-Ramsey Gymnasium early enough at the half of the men's game between Joliet Community College and RCTC.
To be completely honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from either side even though I had visited one of Anoka-Ramsey's early practices back in mid-October. The Golden Rams would finally find some solid footing beginning at the 8:45 mark of the opening period when strong sophomore combo forward/post Bella Kanz muscled into the paint for a score which would be followed up less than a minute later at the 7:58 mark when lanky freshman post Mariam Alowonie connected with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass to make it 4-0. Anoka-Ramsey would get its lead to 6-0 when Alowonie used her 6'0" frame to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback at the 7:04 mark before the Mystics were finally able to shake off the early cobwebs on a three-point bomb by freshman guard Aleah McPherson at the 6:50 mark. Bismarck St closed the gap to one point at 6-5 when sophomore guard Jaiden Baker connected with a lay-up at the 6:30 mark and pushed ahead by one at 7-6 when Baker made a daring drive into traffic for a finish at the 5:42 mark. The Golden Rams struck right back on a drive and finish by Kanz at the 5:25 mark that also drew a foul and Kanz made good on the "and one" to put Anoka-Ramsey back up to a 9-7 count. Bismarck St would answer in this instance, however, as freshman guard Kali Dauenhauer would bury a "3" from the left top area at the 5:19 mark for a 10-9 Mystic lead and Bismarck St would increase its lead to two points when Baker unleashed a three-point bomb from the right corner with 3:16 left to make it 13-11. Anoka-Ramsey would end this first period with a 4-0 push as one free throw by freshman reserve guard Tereya Vaughn after she was fouled with 2:59 left and one more by Alowonie after she was fouled with 1:37 left leveled the contest at 13 a piece and the Golden Rams would nudge ahead by a 15-13 count when sophomore point guard Sydney Hazuga connected with a pretty lay-up with just :02.4 as Anoka-Ramsey appeared to gain a head of steam.
The above-referenced head of steam was no mirage once the second period got underway as Anoka-Ramsey unleashed a 16-4 burst that really changed the outlook of this contest. One free throw by Alowonie after she was fouled at the 9:50 mark and a lay-up in transition by slender freshman combo forward/post O'Ciana Johnson at the 8:51 mark gave the Golden Rams an 18-13 lead. Johnson would strike again for Anoka-Ramsey at the 7:21 mark with a short jumper in the lane and a three-point bomb by freshman guard Jade Lussier from the right wing area at the 6:47 mark upped the Golden Ram lead to 23-15. Then Hazuga; the former Eau Claire Memorial (WI) standout, unleashed back-to-back three-point daggers from the top of the key - one at the 5:45 mark and the other at the 5:12 mark - that now had Anoka-Ramsey up 29-17 and Mystics Jason Harris; not at all liking how this one was unfolding, decided to take a thirty-second timeout to get his troops reorganized. Still, Anoka-Ramsey would cap this run with 3:46 left on a lay-up by Vaughn with 3:46 left before Bismarck St could patch up some of this massive bleeding on a three-point bomb from the left top area by McPherson with 3:10 left. Unfortunately for the Mystics, they would have to withstand some more three-point artillery by the Golden Rams. Lussier would uncork one three-point bomb from the left corner with 2:48 left and Hazuga would uncork another one from the left top area with 2:17 left that stretched the Golden Ram lead to 37-20 before Bismarck St could finally whittle the deficit down a bit thanks to McPherson as she would first knock down a jumper from the left wing area with 2:06 left and then unleash a three-point bomb from the left top area with 1:36 left that had the gap cut to twelve at 37-25. The Mystics would stay within that twelve-point range on a pair of free throws by Maya Vibeto with :17.9 left after she was fouled but on the wrong end of a 39-27 score and considering how things were going Anoka-Ramsey's way since the second period got underway, Bismarck St looked to be between a rock and a hard place as both teams headed for their respective locker rooms for the halftime break.
The outlook for the Mystics certainly didn't improve one iota once the third period got underway as Anoka-Ramsey unleashed a 12-1 run from the get-go. Hazuga would bury one three-point bomb from the right top area at the 9:24 mark and Lussier would follow suit with a bomb from the left top area at the 9:05 mark that stretched the Golden Ram lead to 45-28. Back-to-back lay-ups by Alowonie - one at the 8:30 mark and another at the 7:36 mark - got Anoka-Ramsey's lead to 49-28 and a tough score in the paint by sophomore guard Lynae Walker at the 7:11 mark capped this latest run as the Golden Ram lead ballooned to 51-28. Bismarck St finally started finding some semblance of offense as one three-point bomb from the right top area by sophomore reserve combo forward/post Brynnlee Murdock at the 6:22 mark and another "3" by sophomore reserve forward Brooklyn Brendel from the right wing area at the 5:35 mark had the deficit down to nineteen at 53-34 but it was difficult for the Mystics to make much in the way of significant inroads on this cushion that Anoka-Ramsey had established. A jumper along the right baseline by Vibeto with 3:15 left had the deficit down to 18 at 56-38 but the Golden Rams went right back to work as two scores by Alowonie - a score in the paint with 3:00 left and a lay-up with 2:29 left - got the lead to 60-38 and although Bismarck St was able to slice a few points off of this at the charity stripe on one free throw by sophomore reserve combo forward/post Trinidi Clarke after she was fouled with 2:15 left and two more by Vibeto with 1:09 left after she got fouled got the deficit down to nineteen at 60-41, things looked awfully blead at juncture for the Mystics.
It was pretty much the same story for Bismarck St once the fourth period got going as well. Slender sophomore combo guard/forward/post Harys Beauchamp - who had been bottled up for the most part by the Golden Rams and held scoreless - finally got into the books with one free throw after getting fouled at the 9:25 mark but Anoka-Ramsey quickly made up for that as Johnson would get a tough score in the paint at the 9:10 mark and would also get one free throw to go down after getting fouled giving the Golden Rams a seemingly comfortable 63-42 lead. Strangely enough, when things looked absolutely hopeless for Bismarck St, the Mystics finally started finding a way to get their high-octane offense into high gear. Baker would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 7:11 mark and Beauchamp used her 6'0" frame to make a hard drive into the lane for a finish at the 6:28 mark that cut the deficit to eighteen at 63-45. Then McPherson got into the act as she would first connect on a lay-up in transition at the 5:31 mark and less than a minute later with 4:52 left the Bismarck native would drain a "3" from the left top area that narrowed the gap to thirteen at 63-50 and sensing newfound life in his team, Bismarck State's Harris called for a timeout to reset strategy. The Mystics cut into this cushion even more when Vibeto snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:16 left that cut the deficit down to eleven at 63-52 before an alarmed Anoka-Ramsey team seemed to come awake again. Kanz would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 2:31 left and would get one more freebie to cooperate after getting fouled in a transition opportunity with 2:15 left that seemed to make things "safe" again for the Golden Rams with a 67-52 lead but Bismarck St wasn't about to go away so easily. One free throw by Vibeto with 2:00 left after she was fouled and then pairs of free throws - two by Murdock after she was fouled with 1:39 left and two more by the diminutive Vibeto after she was fouled with 1:24 left - got the deficit down to tenat 67-57. Then after the Mystics forced an Anoka-Ramsety turnover with pressure defense, Bismarck St crawled back to within single-digit range on a nifty lay-up off of an inbounds pass by McPherson that had the Mystics down 67-59. Again the Golden Rams would attempt some patch-up work on the boat as Alowonie got one free throw to go down after getting fouled with 1:11 left and then Kanz got a three-point play the old-fashioned way with a strong offensive rebound for a putback that also drew a foul and the obligatory "and one" by the former Maple Grove standout got the lead to 71-59 and one more free throw by Johnson with :58.3 left appeared to seal the deal for Anoka-Ramsey with a 72-59 advantage. Still the Mystics refused to break out the proverbial white flag. Brendel would bury a "3" from the right corner with :55 left and even though the Golden Rams responded on two free throws by Hazuga with :53 left after she was fouled, Bismarck St fought to the bitter end. Vibeto would connect with a lay-up with :16.2 left and with just :06 left, Brendel would bury a "3" from the left wing area that had the deficit down to seven at 74-67 but the Mystics ultimately saw the sands of time run out on them as Anoka-Ramsey held on for a somewhat harrowing 74-67 victory.
When one looks at the final box score for this one, you have to believe that Bismarck State's Harris could only shake his head in dismay at his team's inability to convert from the charity stripe wound up shooting only 50% for the game and anyone will tell you that that's simply not even close to being good enough and in a game like this that had things turn in their favor down the home stretch, this was exceptionally costly. It wasn't just free throw shooting either as the Mystics shot 26.8% from FG range and were an ice-cold 21.3% from behind the arc. And keep in mind that this Mystics team does have three-point shooting as its MO so when those three-point shot attempts were off the mark as they were for most of the contest, they were pretty-much one-dimensional. Now, of course, you have to give credit to Anoka-Ramsey here too as their defense and overall athleticism created a lot of match-up problems for Bismarck St. And consider too, Anoka-Ramsey had a whopping 38-20 advantage in points in the paint. At the same time, the Golden Rams can't be completely absolved of any transgressions here either as their free throw shooting was suspect in this outing and the Golden Rams were guilty of 19 turnovers in this game and the Mystics had a 20-15 edge in points off of those turnovers. But in the end, Anoka-Ramsey was able to do enough to make up for whatever mistakes they did make and come away with an important win and when I talked with Anoka-Ramsey Head Coach Samantha Doucette afterward, I got the feeling that this team still has a lot of work ahead of it but at the same time, they're on the right track. And Doucette knew full and well of Bismarck State's ability to hit the three-point shot but the Golden Rams defense and athleticism had the Mystics befuddled on that end for a good chunk of the game. Just as important, Anoka-Ramsey held Bismarck State's Beauchamp to just four points on this day.
One obvious bright spot for Doucette and her Anoka-Ramsey team is the sophomore point guard, Hazuga as her 18 points led all scorers and paced a very balanced Golden Ram attach. She's also a very good leader on the floor for this Golden Ram team as well. Alowonie came up big as well for Anoka-Ramsey on this day with her 17 points while Lussier was solid with her 12 points and the Kanz tallied 10 points. Surprisingly, it was Vibeto's 17 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double that paced Bismarck St on this day while McPherson wasn't far behind with her 15 points but she was only 3-12 from behind the arc on this day. Brendel also poured in 12 points while tallied 10 points.
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