ANOKA — The Raider players took the court against Anoka-Ramsey with the opportunity to bring home No. 500 for head coach Jim Russell and they brought the defense, holding the Rams to 65 points and 39% shooting Friday, Feb. 24.
Anoka-Ramsey also brought a strong defense that held the Raiders to 32% shooting and in the end that was just enough for the Rams to defeat Central Lakes 65-62 in the quarterfinals of the Region 13 tournament.
“We played our hearts and I am proud of these guys,” Russell said. “I told our coaches that win or lose our captains have been phenomenal for us. Look at how hard they played. Both teams played great defense and no one got into any rhythm. I think they probably made more free throws than us and that was probably the game. I would battle with my guys any time.”
Guard Anthony Burch, who scored 14 points along with Denzil Walker, had the ball in his hand with the Raiders trailing 63-62 with under a minute left to play. The Raiders were not able to execute an interior pass and the Rams were there for the turnover, the 17th of the night for CLC, and an inside basket from Anoka-Ramsey’s Rodney Owens gave them a 65-62 advantage.
The Raiders took the last possession with a chance to send the game to overtime and they got two good looks for a 3-pointer, but both shots bounced off the rim and the game was over as the Raiders shot 3-of-20 from downtown.
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Anoka-Ramsey led 26-19 with just over eight minutes left in the first half, but a 3-pointer from Burch and a 2-pointer from Walker made it 26-24 Anoka Ramsey and the Raiders held the Rams scoreless for the last 2:50 of the first half to head to the locker room tied at 36-36.
The Raiders kept the game close in the second half and never trailed by more than seven points. CLC took the lead for the first time with 5:56 left on two free throws from Burch.
Early in the second half Central Lakes lost TJ Kornbaum, who scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds, on a hard fall and he was not able to return to the game. David Felix grabbed nine rebounds and eight points and the Raiders lost the rebounding battle by just one at 43-42.
The Rams got the rebounds and the free throws when they needed down the stretch. Russell praised his players for their effort.
“I am proud of this group with all the adversity we went through with sickness and all that stuff and we still battled and won the conference title and made it here,” he said. “It was just a lot of good stuff and sometimes you just have to sit back and take a look at it and number 500 will come when it comes.”
After Kornbaum went to the bench, leaving the court for the last time, Russell went over and gave him a hug and said a few words.
“All I said to him was ‘I love you man’ and these kids need that,” Russell said. “They need our hugs and to know that we care and love them and that is what this program has been about.”
Anoka-Ramsey 36 29 — 65
Central Lakes 36 26 — 62
ANOKA-RAMSEY
Albert Tinnel 8, Matthew Ellingson 11, Chaz Franklin 3, Rodney Owens 5, Jacob Say 10, Ellis Todd 6, Manny Jinco 9, Steven Colon 13. FG 22-57 (39%), FT 15-23 (65%). 3-point 6-20 (30%).
CENTRAL LAKES
Carrson Jones 2, Anthony Burch 14, Denzil Walker 14, Josh Rogers 7, TJ Kornbaum 9, Davion Jackson 5, Broden Fleisher 3, David Felix 8. FG 20-62 (32%), FT 19-25 (76%). 3-point 3-20 (15%). Overall: 18-9.
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