Champlin Park Finishes 3rd in State

Champlin Park Rebels win 3rd in MYAS State Championships

March 18, 2007

MYAS Championship basketball started off on Saturday with the Rebels playing Johnson. The previous night, Johnson had beat Woodbury and we were set to take our run at a state championship.

Johnson, a team from St. Paul, came out early pushing the ball up the court and full court pressing. Josh Pella stepped up in the 1st quarter scoring 8 points and the Rebels trailed after 1 quarter, 17-14. The second quarter proved to be much like the first as Johnson continued to show extreme ball pressure on defense and a quick offensive tempo. Champlin Park only scored 2 field goals and shot only 50% from the free throw line, (7 of 14), to trail by 7 at the half, 25-32. In the second half, Champlin Park took better care of the ball, played the up-tempo game in an effort to win the third and fourth quarter. As the clock seemed to wind down quickly, the Rebels played hard. With just 1 minute left in the game, Champlin Park finally caught up. Johnson, trying all they could to hold off the Rebels fouled Dillon Hager. Dillon stepped to the line and nailed the 2 free throws for the 1 point victory, 55-54. Josh Pella finished with 18 points, Dillon Hager with 9 while Blair Dittrich and Jordan Reibling both chipped in 7.

With the win against Johnson, the Rebels next game would be Sunday against rival Burnsville. Unfortunately, point guard, Brandon Marquardt, was recovering from some sort of flu that kept him up all night and with a very soar stomach. Nevertheless, the tournament must go on. Champlin Park played a great first half but could not seem to get in a flow. Halftime score was 31-32 and the Rebels felt they had much more to give. The second half picked up where the first half left off with Burnsville spreading the shots around and much of the team scoring. In the fourth quarter, Josh Pella did all he could to carry the team to victory scoring 9 points and finishing with 23 but that wasn't enough. Burnsville hit their free throws down the stretch going 7 for 10 and finished off the Rebels 58-68. Blair Dittrich scored 14 and Rick Starck finished with 6.

With the Championship hopes gone, it was time to regroup, accept the loss and focus on the next 2 games ahead that would make us 3rd in state. First up would be Woodbury. The Rebels came out, played fast basketball and had a nice 21-12 lead after one quarter of play. Unfortunately Woodbury was not ready to roll over. The second quarter was disastrous. Woodbury continued to feed their center and the Rebels could do nothing to stop him. Their center scored 24 of Woodbury's 27 second quarter points and gave them a 39-30 lead at halftime. Adjustments were made and the third quarter was underway. With adjustments and all, Woodbury continued to work it down low and finish ending another quarter down 38-52. The speech between the third and fourth quarter was much like the movie, "Miracle" of which we had just watched the night before. Trust in yourselves, have some faith, don't give up and get it done. This was it, down by 14 points, the Rebels must win the fourth quarter big or go home 1-2. Not wanting to accept defeat, Brandon Marquardt realized the team needed him more than ever. Giving every bit of energy he had, Brandon captained the floor like the true leader he is, driving to the hole, drawing the foul and hitting his free throws (5-5). Dillon Hager and Jordan Reibling went on a defensive frenzy putting amazing ball pressure on the guards and stealing it at will. Josh Pella hit four three pointers and finish the quarter with 16 points, 25 for the game. Woodbury was blindsided by an unbelievable comeback in the making. In the closing minute, Champlin Park overtook the lead and never gave it up finishing 74-72 and winning the fourth quarter 36-18. After giving up 27 points in the second quarter, the team came back and scored 36 points in the fourth. An amazing comeback to advance to the third place game. Jordan Reibling scored 18 and Blair Dittrich finished with 13.

As it turns out, Johnson wasn't giving up easy after we defeated them in our first game. They were on the war path working their way back to the third place game and had made it. The third place game would be a rematch. Champlin Park Rebels vs. Johnson, again. With the exciting comeback fresh in the teams mind, it seemed nothing would stop the Rebels from winning. Champlin Park came out with confidence and went to work. Johnson had the exact same thoughts and it showed. The first quarter was tied 15-15. The halftime score was also tied, 29-29. The entire weekend of basketball came down to 14 minutes. Team ball is why we win and it showed in the third quarter. 6 of the 8 players scored and the Rebels won the quarter 25-15 giving them a 10 point lead going into the closing 7 minutes. Johnson, knowing it was coming to an end, became very physical and tried to intimidate but the Rebels would not cave in. Making their lay-ups, hitting their outside shots and dropping their free throws effortlessly, The Champlin Park Rebels outplayed Johnson again in the fourth quarter and won by a final score of 73-60. Jordan Reibling led all scorers with 19, Josh Pella finished with 14, Blair Dittrich contributed 11 and Dillon Hager 9.

The MYAS State Championship concluded with Burnsville beating Osseo to win 1st place, Osseo finishing 2nd and Champlin Park 3rd.

Game 1 vs. Johnson