Photo Gallery: Lakeville North vs Rosemount
Nearing the halfway point of the South Suburban Conference round-robin schedule, Rosemount remains tied for first place in the loss column and with a tiebreaker on its side after defeating Lakeville North, 60-45, Tuesday in Rosemount.
Four Irish in double-figure scoring resembled the team’s usual mode of operation. Without a prospect on the roster attracting splashy Division-I college offers, the senior-laden squad is on a 10-game winning streak and playing its best basketball of the season.
“Most definitely that’s a goal of ours. They know that. The seniors have been around long enough,” Rosemount coach Chris Orr said of gunning for the South Suburban Conference crown. “But we’ll keep working one game at a time, because we’re going to get everyone’s best effort and need to be ready to play.”
Rosemount was 4-0 at home entering the night with three wins of 18-plus points. It hadn’t lost in 42 days and looked like it when it got out to an 8-0 lead.
Lakeville North’s Emy Wolkow hit a three-pointer to end the four-plus minute drought. She was second on the team with 10 points off the bench.
Between Wolkow and the presence of 6-foot-2 sophomore center Trinity Wilson, Lakeville North, No. 14 in the Class 4A rankings released Jan. 19 by Minnesota Basketball News, began to work its way back against No. 9-4A Rosemount.
Wilson finished with a team high 16 points. She had two or more inches on anyone on the Irish’s roster, and was effective drawing fouls inside and kicking out to open shooters.
Even after senior guard and co-captain Abby Ruhland exited for the rest of the game with an injury with under eight minutes in the first half, Lakeville North tied it at 19.
The Irish’s usually crisp ball movement grew stagnant.
Just not for long.
Rosemount closed the half on an 8-0 run by forcing turnovers and spotting open shooters.
“We came out great. Obviously, they came back. They’re a great team and a great program. We’ve had great battles with them and we know they’re not just going to fold over,” Orr said. “We went into a dry spell there. We settled a little bit, shot a few too many one-pass threes. I think those last two minutes or whatever it was, that 8-0 run was huge. We got that momentum back.”
There may be no better a momentum shifter than a breakaway steal and layup by Ava Thompson at the halftime buzzer. It gave Rosemount a 27-19 lead that grew to 20 in the second half.
Senior guard Alexa Ratzlaff led the Irish with 16 points. She was followed by junior guard Nicole O’Neil with 15 points along with senior forward Tayah Leenderts and sophomore guard Ava Thompson with 11.
The number of threats made life tough for Lakeville North’s 2-3 zone defense. The Panthers entered allowing 46.6 points per game, good for third in the conference. Rosemount scored 56.6 per game.
“The fact that any girl can score helps us,” Ratzlaff said. “If anyone’s in a rut, we know our teammates are going to pick us up. That’s helped us in all our games this year.”
Ratzlaff described her role on the team as being an active, athletic defender. She credited fellow co-captain and senior guard Anna Tauer for “the great vision she has on the court.”
Tauer scored just three points, but was efficient in getting the ball to Ratzlaff and company.
“I play defense on post players. Getting the rebounds, putting in the easy baskets off the boards and post work, said the 6-footer Leenderts, another co-captain along with senior guard Lexie Wilson. “I want to shout out Ava Thompson at point guard, the vision she has and the playmaking ability. And also Nicole O’Neil for her shooting touch.
O’Neil made four three-pointers for a team equipped with a good shooting touch all night.
Leenderts had five points all on free throws in the first half and made sure to get involved early in the second half with buckets in the paint after Lexie Wilson picked up her third foul.
Rosemount opened the season with an 0-3 and 1-4 records. Three losses were by single digits and the other to No. 1 and nationally ranked Hopkins. The Irish are now gaining steam at the right time.
“It helps when you have good team chemistry,” Ratzlaff said. “We all love to play with each other.”
No one needs to score 30-plus points for the Irish to come out on top.
“No one gets mad about getting their stats,” Leenderts said. “Everyone’s good with the ball movement.”