Centennial wins Game of the Week, Roseville takes the one that mattered

It could have been a classic. It turned out to be a clinic, as the Centennial Cougars thoroughly dissected the Cooper Hawks on the way to a win Friday in the Northstar Girls Hoops Game of the Week. The Cougars used their superior size and big-game experience to defeat the up-and-coming Hawks 75-56 in the semifinals of the Roseville holiday tournament. Just 24 hours later, however, reality struck as Centennial was stunned 68-67 in overtime by the host Raiders in the championship contest. There was no shortage of great games during holiday tournament week. Eastview's shocker over Hopkins probably made the most noise, but Roseville vs Centennial was epic – a veritable slugfest between two hard-nosed, physical teams, neither of whom was willing to concede an inch. Roseville was up eight midway through the first half. That's when Taylor McAulay (Drake) went to work, scoring a series of baskets to close the the margin to two at the intermission. "Taylor McAulay was good tonight. Very good," said Roseville coach Jeff Crosby. "She is very elusive. She has great body control and gets to the rim. There were times when we defended her well, and did the right thing, and she still made the play." McAulay finished with 25 points. The lead see-sawed throughout the second half and the game was tied at 57 entering the final minute. That's when freshman post Tamia Ugass scored at the rim to give Roseville a two-point edge before McAulay tied it again on a pair of free throws at the 30-second mark. Then chaos ensued as senior guard Claire Orth (North Dakota) missed two attempts for Centennial, and junior Sara Stapleton (Wisconsin) missed a third before Roseville forced a jump ball with 0.3 seconds left. Centennial somehow managed an inbound pass and a shot but McAulay's attempt bounced off the rim and out. Overtime. Four more minutes of mayhem During the first minute of the extra period, McAulay left the floor with an ankle injury. The Cougars got the early jump before Sarah Hvidhyld and Jayda Johnston restored the Raiders' lead. With 30 seconds remaining, Kaylee Nelson (Minnesota Duluth) made a driving layup to put Roseville ahead by three before Orth fouled out with four seconds to go. That sent Jada Hood to the line where she made one of two, extending the margin to four. Centennial's Sydney Stapleton (South Dakota State) then sprinted to midcourt, where she made a desperation three at the buzzer. It was over, and Roseville was the winner by one. "What a game!" said Crosby, whose team is now 8-2 after wins this weekend over Lakeville South and Woodbury. "Each of our losses to Wayzata and Cretin-Derham Hall were very different, and they prepared us well for this one. It's a learning process for players who haven't been in these situations before." Several Raiders made an impact this weekend, including Nelson, who just might be the best perimeter defender in the 2019 class. Kaylee normally draws the daunting assignment of defending the other team's best guard and she was outstanding in that role. "Over the whole tournament, Kaylee's defensive presence was just great," Crosby said. "Tonight she had Sydney Stapleton and caused her fits. Last night she had Anna Harvey. Thursday night she had Rachel Hakes (Fairfield). Those are three of the best." Hood is Roseville's leading point guard and she raised her level of play substantially over the past week. Sophomore guard Tiana Iserman came off the bench to contribute 10 points against Centennial, sophomore power forward Johnston scored consistently (14 points), and the 6'3" Ugass (12 points) demonstrated that she belongs at this level. In the championship game, Ugass drew the assignment of guarding future Big 10 post Sara Stapleton, a top 5 player in the Class of 2019. "Jayda and Tamia were just warriors and they finished around the basket," Crosby said. "Tamia has improved a lot over the past six weeks. Sara Stapleton scored most of her points on two-foot shots. When we were able to get her farther out, that's when she started missing and that's where Tamia really stepped up. As a freshman against a junior like Sara, who has played those big games on the big stage, Tamia did a really nice job." No single Raider is going to put up numbers like Stillwater's Sara Scalia or Moorhead's Sam Haiby. This is a team that wins with lunch-pail defense, not high-octane offense. Through 10 games, Ugass is averaging 11 points, Johnston 10, Nelson 9, Hood 8, and Hvidhyld and Iserman are at 5 apiece. Roseville began the season at the bottom end of the top 25 and had inched its way up to #15 last week. They may not be in the same stratosphere as Wayzata or Cretin or St. Micheal-Albertville but top 10 is not out of the question. "We're in week seven now. The teams that are at the top are very, very good, but the rest of us are starting to catch up," Crosby said. "We still have a lot of work to do to be in the conversation with those schools but we're going in the right direction."