From my perspective, the most intriguing match-up of the day had to be the 12 noon contest featuring #5 seed St. Paul Central against #4 seed Osseo. The Orioles, the state runner-up in Class AAAA last year were back ready to do the Northwest Suburban Conference proud while St. Paul Central was looking to recapture the glory days from 2007 and 2008 when they repeated as state champs. This would be an emotional State Tournament for the Minutemen, however, as Head Coach Willie Taylor announced just days before that he was stepping down from the post to pursue other opportunities and you knew his team would leave everything on the floor to try and give him just one more crown.
Osseo had built a 5-2 lead but that advantage quickly evaporated as Central soon took control going on a 13-2 run to build a 15-5 lead of their own. Senior point guard Betsy MacDonald, who has been itching to show her stuff on the Big Stage at Target Center along with fellow senior Sade Chatman were doing a lot of damage early on in this one. Even more worrisome for Osseo was when senior Janay Morton went down after she slipped and appeared to have perhaps tweaked her ankle a bit. She was able to get up, however (much to the relief of Head Coach John Rieser) and her team responded by closing the gap to a much more manageable four point deficit by the 4:45 mark at 24-20. A "3" by junior point guard Madi Malone from the left wing tied the game at 27-all with a little over 1:30 left and a steal by the Orioles and a subsequent lay-up in transition by senior Phillis Webb enabled with scant ticks left on the clock before halftime enabled Osseo to take a slim 29-27 lead into the locker room at the half; avoiding what could have been a total disaster early on. Not surprisingly, both Webb and Malone led the way for Osseo with ten points a piece while Rayna Sherow and MacDonald each had seven points a piece for St. Paul Central. Both teams had 18 rebounds and each had nine turnovers - which is what you'd expect in a close game such as this.
The second half had things staying close as neither team could gain any noticeable advantage. Osseo was getting a lot done in the paint with strong junior post Ayo Porte doing damage in the paint while St. Paul Central senior Tamera Curtis was getting holes in the lanes for lay-ups. With Osseo holding a slim two point advantage, they finally opened up a bit of a cushion thanks to a "3" from an unlikely source on this grand stage; freshman Ari Jones that helped propel the Orioles to a 36-27 advantage with 9:27 left. Even more worrisome for Willie Taylor was when junior guard Jada Jones went down with what appeared to be a turned ankle with 8:44 left. But Taylor and his St. Paul Central squads have been in this pressure-cooker before and they cooly responded. They closed the gap and a "3" by junior guard Lyric Williams at the 6:42 mark put St. Paul Central up by one at 49-48. Now it was Osseo's turn to respond - and respond they did as the young one, Jones, again buried a "3" - this one from the right wing with 4:57 left that helped Osseo get back into the lead. The Minutemen would tie it up again one more time but key missed shots coming down the stretch plus a couple of turnovers eventually did in St. Paul Central. A key offensive rebound and putback by Webb that drew a foul and sent her to the charity stripe to sink the obligatory freebie with 1:35 left enabled Osseo to record a tough 63-56 win.
Afterward, Osseo Head Coach John Rieser was again quick to credit his team with hanging tough when things were in the balance late. Being aggressive on defense, creating turnovers and taking care of the ball helped make the difference in his mind. Now comes the daunting step for the Orioles - a rematch with Hopkins - this time in the semifinals on Thursday night. Osseo lost to Hopkins back in late December decisively by a score of 88-42 but as Rieser was quick to point out, "We take things one game at a time...."We have to keep doing the same things that we're doing, only a LOT better."
No comments:
Post a Comment