Park scores a victory after 14 years
Junior scores 1,000th point in game against Cooper
Junior Faith Johnson looks to pass the ball to one of her teammates. Park won against Robbinsdale Cooper 77-73 Jan. 30.
February 1, 2020
After years of losses, junior and captain Kendall Coley said Park girls’ basketball fought hard to finally break its losing streak to Robbinsdale Cooper.
“We really came out in the second half and they came back on a run (and) tied up the game, but in the end we were the ones who played stronger and pushed through it. We made history tonight,” Coley said. ‘
Park lost 62-69 against Cooper Jan. 3 and beat Cooper 77-73 Jan. 30.
Park entered the game driven to win, according to coach Arsenio Richardson,
“It was basically a battle of who wanted it the most,” Richardson said. “The last time we played them they out-toughed us and we weren’t going to let that happen again.”
Senior and captain Jordyn Turek said the team’s communication contributed to the successful game.
“It was probably our best defensive game this whole season. We were really active and we were super talkative. Then on offense, we were just strong with the ball,” Turek said.
According to Coley, the work the team put into practices since Jan. 3 led to improvement and helped unite the team.
“We’ve been working hard for the last couple of weeks (to) build up our toughness and work harder,” Coley said. “We’ve been doing our towel drills, our ladder running and we’ve been working really hard as a team. We started playing more together and we’re clicking more.”
On top of the historic win, Coley scored her 1,000th point this game, according to Turek.
“(Coley) was very poised with the ball and she had also gotten her 1,000th point. She (was) always open when anybody was trapped — we could look to her to be aggressive,” Turek said.“I’m really proud of her. She’s worked super hard and she continues to be a leader on the court.”
Richardson said Coley is a key player on the girls’ basketball team and believes she will be missed when she graduates.
“(Coley) is a special player. I wish we had a couple more years with her. It’s going to be tough to see her go but I’m very happy to say that I am one of the coaches that coached her for her high school career,” Richardson said.
Girls’ basketball has its next game 7 p.m. Feb. 4 at Bloomington Kennedy High School.
