Park beat New Prague  Feb. 17, in a close 67-62 win. Head coach Arsenio Richardson said that Park remained competitive even when playing through injuries.

“We got a lot of injuries but tonight was a game where we stepped it up even though we haven’t played really well lately,” Richardson said. “Even though the first eight minutes we spotted them 17 points, the rest of the game we were ready to compete and it was awesome the girls really stepped up to the challenge.”

According to senior Maecee Alexander, they won the game because they played like a team and focused on their defense.

“We did pretty good playing together and focusing on the little things,” Alexander said. “Our defense was pretty spot on because we’ve been struggling with it for the last couple of games but we really stepped it up this game and got the win because of it.”

Sophomore Bella Miller said she thought the team had a shaky start, but improved as the game went on.

“Our start was a little rocky and we did not communicate enough during the game,” Miller said. “After the beginning, we picked it up as a team.”

Richardson said the team’s shooting on offense was a key factor in the game.

“We shot the ball well from three and then we made our free throws down the stretch,” Richardson said. “We’ve been really struggling with free throws lately and we made some key free throws down the stretch that put the game away.” 

Miller said that focusing on defense was one strong suit for Park, but they also had their leaders guide the team.

“My defense was better than my offense and that goes for the whole team. Our team stepped it up as being leaders and we were all communicating very well on the court,” Miller said.  “Our defense picked it up a lot, and this game we played as a team which helped us get the win.”

Alexander said Park played well, but still had some things to improve.

“Our energy was really good tonight and we played an overall solid game,” Alexander said. “We need to work on finishing at the rim and have more communication.”

Richardson said Park did a good job at finishing the game out strong. 

“We closed out the game when we were up,” Richardson said. “We were up by six and we were able to finish the game out.”

Girls basketball takes on Chanhassen at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Chanhassen high school.