The lady Golden Rams of Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC) secured first place in the MCAC Southern Division with a win over Minneapolis Community & Technical College (MCTC) last Saturday, March 6th. ARCC showed dominance over MCTC beating them all three meetings this season.
Alex Moore, point guard for ARCC, played a big role in the win on Saturday. She put up 18 points and had 8 assists, while taking over late in the game. Moore was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the Women’s All-State team this season, the highest award in the Minnesota College Athletic Association. She joined her teammates, Stephanie Pilgrim and Marie Hanson.
Both teams started off the game very hot. ARCC showed that they could hit the three while in transition. Marie Hanson, All- State selection, got the scoring started for ARCC along with Alyssa Silva. Coach David Dewitt of ARCC knew that MCTC would come to play, “I knew that they would bring their size and speed, but I think the girls matched up well against them,” stated Dewitt. The three’s kept falling early for ARCC. MCTC kept their size on the bench for the most part in the first half. They diverted their game to the guards early on. There was a question about bench play with ARCC coming into the game. MCTC carried 11 players throughout the season; ARCC had two bench players to play with. The Golden Bears showed some fatigue as the game stayed close coming into half time. MCTC carried the momentum going into half time by hitting a three as time expired and bringing their lead to 34-31.
ARCC cooled down MCTC going on 7-2 run to start off the half. The Golden Rams looked like a whole new team coming out of half time. Silva scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half; she went 6 for 7 from the field. While holding onto a small lead, MCTC decided to go with their tall line up, having three six foot girls on the court at once. The Golden Bears took advantage of the tall line-up and started hitting shots all over the court. Coach Dewitt called up a different offense that played out to his advantage. Alex Moore would dribble across the court and hand the ball off to one of her forwards. A forward would then dribble away from the defender and hand the ball off again. This type of offense chewed up a lot of clock. Silva and Moore started taking over when the game got close at the end. Silva had a clutch steal off the press and then dished it to Moore to put ARCC up late in the game. Moore made two free throws with four seconds left in the game to put a comeback out of reach. MCTC desperately put up a half court shot that came up well short, giving ARCC a 78-74 win.
ARCC heads up to Rochester, Minn. to play in the national tournament. That tournament starts Thursday, March 11th.
Hi Bryant, I covered this story too. Wasn't that a great game??? I was wondering, did you cut out the overtime because of the story being too long? I had that problem. Didn't you just love that 'hand-off' offense? Do you think we can take the National title?
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a very nice job covering the story. It sounded like a great game! Very well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you both! Rosalie, that was my first golden bear basketball game. But from the looks of it, we could be a big contender. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out!
ReplyDeleteThis sounded like a great game! I've never been to a ARCC sporting event so this would have been the one to go to! Great story, and loved that you kept it interesting and fun, although with a game like that it seems like it would have been easy to!
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone, Did you see our women's team just won a game at Nationals by 50!!! I can't go on Friday but if they continue to win, I'll go down to Rochester on Saturday to cheer them on.
ReplyDeleteGreat job covering the story! Detailed and very well done. It's cool that you have a quote from the coach in there, too. It makes it even more professional. Well done!
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