Park boys basketball faced the No. 9 ranked team Fridley on Jan. 4 in a hard fought back and forth game, eventually resulting in a 90-87 win for the Orioles.
Head coach Arsenio Richardson said this was a good win, but the team should not be satisfied yet.
“That team played hard. (They are) well-coached and disciplined. We had a little more size. We had moments where we thought it was going to be easy, and we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds,” Richardson said. “It was good to make some mistakes, but then be able to bounce back and get the win.”
Junior Marley Curtis said the team could have played better, but they finished the job and had great teamwork.
“It feels great. We all came together as a team, and we got the job done,” Curtis said. ”We could have given up less rebounds offensively. They were getting a lot of offensive rebounds.”
Senior Charlie Odens said the team needs to do better offensively and in regard to their rebounds.
“We probably could have moved the ball a bit better on offense but we did well scoring,” Odens said. “And we definitely could have gotten more rebounds on defense and offensive rebounds.”
Richardson said the team needs to focus for a quick turn around and get ready to face Washburn. He said they need to know what to expect.
“We play Saturday, so tomorrow we’re just going to prep for Washburn. We (will probably) go shoot, watch film and just prepare for Washburn,” Richardson said. “They are another well-coached team to play, so we just have to lock in. It’s not a lot of time, so not much physically we’re going to do tomorrow because we (have a) game Saturday.”
Curtis said they have been working recently to play to the best of their ability and it’s paid off.
“I think we all took the basketball and made our free throws, which were really clutch in the moment,” Curtis said. “We’ve been working a lot on our free throws and on our conditioning, so we’re getting up and down the court really well.”
Park’s boys basketball plays Washburn at 12 p.m. Jan. 6 at Parks main gym.
