COLL LEADS PARK OVER AACS IN "C" HOOPS WIN

 

By Mike Buchanan
 

If anyone thought Rose Coll was on the varsity team as a freshman because her father is the coach … well, think again.

Coll has been productive all season, but may have put up her best overall game last night, leading Park (8-0, 9-1) to a 54-41 IAAM C-Conference win over Annapolis Area Christian, in Brooklandville.

The 6’ 0” center scored a team-high 16 points, and also contributed 11 rebounds and four steals.  She was 6-12 from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. She upped her season’s stats to 9.9 points per game and 7.7 rebounds. It was not so much the number of points Coll scored, but more when she scored them. She put up four points at the beginning of both the third and fourth quarter, important scores that negated a potential opponent rally.

Coll had plenty of help, as sophomore guard Adrienne Tarver scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and added five steals. Fellow soph Kristen Smith tallied eight points and three steals. Park had 27 steals for the game.

Park had a 12-8 lead after the opening quarter. The second quarter was a bit more up-tempo, with both teams pushing the press. Both teams had seven turnovers, and Park had a 16-13 edge on the scoreboard, giving the hosts a 28-21 lead at the break. Senior guard Dani Mink kept the Eagles close with seven points in the quarter.

In that all-important first two minutes of the third quarter, where the winning team can increase its lead, or the losing team can cut into the deficit, it was Park getting the edge. Coll scored on a put-back at 6:20 and then scored again on the next trip down-court, getting free on the weak-side block to score on an underneath out-of-bounds play, giving Park its first double-digit lead at 32-21.

Mink then scored for the Eagles on successive possessions, cutting the lead from 11 back down to seven. But Coll responded once again, rebounding her own miss and scoring inside to nip a potential AACS run.

With both teams still pressing, turnovers were aplenty in the quarter, as Park had 12 and AACS had nine. The Eagles would not go quietly, cutting it to seven points once again with two minutes left in the period. But Tarver scored and then junior forward Dawn Lee knocked down a pair of free throws, and Park had the lead back up to 11 by quarter’s end.

Just as she did to begin the third quarter, Coll came up big for the Bruins to begin the fourth, scoring inside on two straight trips to give her team a 44-31 lead. The press finally took its toll on AACS, as Tarver and Smith both got lay-ups off of steals, giving Park its biggest lead, as the margin reached 19 with five minutes to go, 50-31.

"Coming into the game, I was really excited because it was our first Friday night game and we were really pleased to see so many people from Park there to support us,"  freshman Coll said. "After the first couple minutes I could  tell that AACS wasn't a very big team, so I really looked to crash the  offensive boards and make strong moves down low."  It certainly worked, as Coll was effective inside for much of the evening.

AACS gave one final mini-run, but it was too-little, too-late. But Coach Gary Young’s Eagle squad gave Park one of its toughest tests of the season. They lost each of the four quarters, but each by just a little (four, three, four and two points). Four small margins added up to a 13-point win, in a game a bit closer than the final score reflected.

Annapolis Area eventually wilted under the constant pressure, as all other teams had before them. In one previous game, Friends held a seven-point lead at the half over Park, and still led by one at the end of the third. But the Bruins went on to win by 18, as the Quakers, too, succumbed to the all-out, full-court constant pressure.

“I was pleased with our intensity on defense. We did get sloppy at points, and we turned the ball over more than I would like, but overall we did what we want to do, which is get up and down the court at a fast pace,” reflected Coach Kevin Coll after the game. “I thought AACS was extremely well-coached and well-prepared and played a great game. Dani Mink was deadly from outside.”

Mink scored a game-high 18 to lead the Eagles. AACS (5-4, 6-7) remains in third place in the C’s X Division, behind Beth Tfiloh and ahead of St. Timothy’s. The Eagles have a pair of tough games next week, playing at Baltimore Lutheran on Wednesday and then hosting Beth Tfiloh on Thursday.

The Bruins will face a tough stretch over the next 10 days in a quest to continue their perfect season in the C. Park, because of last week’s snow day, will have a rare oddity on the schedule next week, facing Garrison Forest on consecutive days. The Bruins and Grizzlies will growl at each other on Tuesday, in Owings Mills in the make-up game, and then again on Wednesday in Brooklandville.

Maybe Garrison Coach Paul Ribb can figure out the puzzle – that of how to beat Park. No one else has to date. Annapolis Area Christian was the closest yet, losing by last night’s 13-point margin. Catholic lost by 16 and Friends by the above-mentioned 18, Glenelg Country by 18 and St. Timothy’s by 19.

If two games versus Garrison isn’t enough, Park then has to travel to Catholic on Friday and to Baltimore Lutheran on the following Monday for a pair of road games.

With those tough games ahead, Coll (as in Coach), can only hope that Coll (as in freshman center) continues to bring her “A” game, just as she did on Friday.

Park 54, Annapolis Area Christian 41
AA –  Cheek 4, Mink 18, Mahaffey 3, Dark 6, Curro 4, Minor 2, Topp 4.  Totals: 17 5-9 41. 
P – Smith 8, Monnett 4, Coley 2, Tarver 12, Althauser 1, Weinberg 6, Coll 16, Lee 5. Totals: 22 10-12 54.
Half: P, 28-21.