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Lightning
struck twice this week, in the form of Claire Ellwanger delivering the big play
in the final seconds of two games, helping Park to two wins over
The
two schools were already slated to play at Park on Wednesday. Their game the
week before was a victim of snow, and the only spot on the schedule for a
make-up was Tuesday.
So, two games in two days, home and away. If that isn’t oddity enough, what
are the statistical odds of having two games between the same two teams, two
days in a row, both come down to the final seconds ... and have the same player
hit the huge shot and/or pass to win both games? Maybe higher, statistically,
than having lightning strike twce.
Garrison Forest Head Coach Paul Ribb is probably having the proverbial
coach’s nightmare this week – if he’s able to sleep at all. Sometimes, as a
basketball coach, it’s almost better to lose by 20 or so; almost always, in a
20-point loss, the better team has won, and there’s no internal second-guessing.
But when your team loses by one or two points, the brain won’t stop working
overtime. One basket more that we make, or that they miss, that open lay-up we
missed, a free throw here or there, a costly turnover here or there, a call
that didn’t go our way, last minute strategy and decisions – it all rotates
through a coach’s mind with agonoizing repetition, over and over. What if?
When Ribb finally got to sleep on Thursday night – or more likley the wee
hours of Friday morning – those were not visions of sugar plums dancing in his
head. Rather, they would have been visions of ghoulish nightmares, with
Ellwanger as the star tormentor.
Ellwanger,
a 6’ 0” senior guard/forward, is an All-Conference returnee who can play inside
or out. But with Rose Coll and Dawn Lee providing inside presence for Park, Head
Coach Kevin Coll loves having Ellwanger on the wing. And she likes it there,
too. As all C-Conference coaches know, Ellwanger loves to put the threes up,
and she did so with a lethal effectiveness versus Garrison, to the tune of
seven makes in two days.
“I
could see in her eyes that she was locked in,” said Coll. “She’s been in the
zone lately and those three’s couldn’t have come at a better time.”
In
Tuesday’s game at
Garrison
had a five-point lead with
“We
switched to a 3-2 zone for better coverage on the wings, and I told my girls to
get a hand in her face, but she still dropped in another one,” said Ribb. On the next trip down, Ellwanger went to her
favorite spot on the wing and drained another three,
But
Garrison answered with a lay-up on the other end to regain the lead.
On
Park’s final possession, the ball naturally went to Ellwanger once again, but
this time, with defenders flying at her, she calmly passed inside to an open
Dawn Lee, and Lee scored in the paint, what would be the game winning basket.
Garrison
had one last chance with five seconds to go, and a long shot at the buzzer came
close, but not in. Game, Park.
Ellwanger
led all scorers with 16 points, including those huge six points in the final
minute, and the game-winning assist. Coll and Lee added 13 apiece. Ribb
received very balanced scoring, as sophomore Alexis Hairston scored 14 and
fellow sophs Julian Stepney and Emily Bishop added 12 each. Liza Blue was right
behind with nine.
After
perfect preparation, great execution and a near upset of undefeated Park, Ribb
faced an even tougher challenge the next day: How does he get his girls back up
to do it again, after coming oh so close to a knockout, but getting knocked to
the mat themselves with a near-victory snatched from their grasp?
“I
hardly slept,” said an exhausted Ribb. “I wondered how I was going to get them
up to play again the next day, but they came out and fought and fought and
fought. I could see in their eyes that they didn’t have the energy to press
again, so early on we went half-court in a 2-3 zone, and doubled down in the
post. I told them we gotta trade baskets, and that’s what we did. We just came
up short again, but I couldn’t ask any more from them. What a great effort –
twice.”
That
second game on Wednesday, in Brooklandville, was also back and forth
throughout, with Park having a slight edge in this one. Ellwanger took right up
where she left off the day before. After hitting three treys in the first game,
she added four more in the second game – seven threes in two days, enough to
give opposing coaches nightmares.
As
Ribb recalls the second day’s ending, “I think it was tied with about 30
seconds to go. Ellwanger didn’t hit a three this time, but she did hit a huge
two with I think eight seconds left. Leah Gold also hit one of two free throws somewhere
in there, it’s all fuzzy to me trying to recall. Park went up by two with like
2.3 seconds on the clock. We got one last desperation shot but that was it.”
Game,
set, match – Park. Two wins by a total of three points.
Ellwanger
was robotic in her efficiency, matching her game-one total of 16 points with
exactly another 16. And Park needed every one, as she got a little less help in
the scoring column this time. Lee was the next highest scorer for the Bruins
with seven. Blue was the lone Grizzly in double figures with 11, and Hairston
added eight.
“Garrison
is a really dangerous team. They’re all guards or perimeter players, but they
can all shoot and they play very well as a team. Their coach obviously had them well-prepared.
We were very, very fortunate to get two wins,” said Coll.
As
for the standings, after the dust settled, Park remains unbeaten at 10-0. The
Bruins play at Catholic on Friday and then have a huge game at Baltimore
Lutheran, the other unbeaten team in the C, on Monday.
Garrison
drops to 6-5 and is in third place, behind Catholic and a half game ahead of
Glenelg Country. The Grizzlies are at Glenelg Country on Friday and then meet
Friends next Wednesday.
While
Coll sleeps soundly, Ribb will likely be restless for a few nights. One close
loss is tough enough to take; two, even harder. He did all he could as a coach
to prepare, and his players did all they could on the court. Only to come up a
bit short in both games.
If
Garrison would somehow meet Park again in the play-offs, it’s safe to say that
Ribb might get those recurring nightmares: close game, seconds ticking away, Ellwanger on
the wing, she receives a pass and shoots ...
Ribb
awakens in a cold sweat. It was only a dream.
Or
was it?
Park 56, Garrison Forest 55
P – Fidler
6, Tarver 4, Weinberg 4, Ellwanger 16, Coll 13, Lee 13. Totals 23 7-12 56.
GF – Bishop
12, Hairston 4, Greenbaum 1, Blue 9, Stepney 12, Brown 14, Simms 1, Tinati 2. Totals 18 19-34 55.
Half: 28-28.
Park 39, Garrison Forest 37
GF – Blue
11, Bishop 5, Hairston 8, Stepney 3, Brown 2, Greenbaum 6, Simms 2. Totals
13 8-15 37.
P – Gold 1, Coley 6, Fidler 3, Althauser
3, Ellwanger 16, Coll 3, Lee 7. Totals 14
7-23 39.
Half: GF, 18-17.
