Overcome with excitement and joy, senior Aaron Ellingson said he felt happy after a buzzer beater shot by junior Paris Johnson, giving Park its victory. 

“That was crazy. I knew coming out of his release it looked good and I was just hoping it would go in. Just a crazy ending,” Ellingson said.

According to sophomore Deontez Ross, he had no doubt that the shot was going in. 

“The shot was actually for me, but my teammate ended up getting it, I trusted him. He put the shot up. The moment it left his hands, I knew it was going in. So we just celebrated and we are enjoying it,” Ross said.

Coach Dave Breitenbucher said that in the first half, the team made some mistakes but still competed up until the end. 

“I thought we played an okay game. In the first half we turned the ball over way too many times, but we never gave up and we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end, which is all you ask for,” Breitenbucher said.

According to Ellingson, Park could have improved on being more relaxed when Cooper’s players were defending.

“Sometimes we panicked a little bit in the back court when they were flying around and trapping us,” Ellingson said. “I think we could have done a better job of staying calm and slowing it down, but ultimately it ended up working out. We won the game.”

Ross said the team worked hard throughout the entire game and didn’t let the opposing team affect their game.

“We played hard for sure and we just trusted each other,” Ross said. “We never let the other team get in our head or speed us up. We just stayed in the game and fought until the end.” 

According to Breitenbucher, the team did great at going to the basket and pushing the defenders out, preventing rebounds

“I thought we attacked the basket (and) boxed out well,” Breitenbucher said. “Cooper is a really aggressive team we had to be prepared for. I think the biggest thing tonight is we never gave up.” 

Park will next face Waconia at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at St. Michael-Albertville Middle School West.