After a slow start, the Roseville High School Varsity Girls Basketball team dominated Irondale High School the rest of the way beating the Knights convincingly 58-28 at home on Friday night. Roseville was never challenged by Irondale who had no answers for the Raiders strong inside game and stifling defense.

First Half

After clearing the cobwebs out of their system, the Raiders’ twin threats, forward Kiyanah McGriff and guard Maddie Sundberg put their team on their backs as the Raiders bolted to a big lead. McGriff dominated the inside with tough moves to the basket and numerous second chance baskets off her own rebounds. And Sundberg was a force, hitting two first half three pointers and scoring on unstoppable drives to the hoop.

The only downside for Roseville in the first half was the loss of senior guard Mirabelle Jackson with an ankle injury. Raiders coach James Henderson reported that Jackson suffered only a minor sprain and would be alright moving forward. When the buzzer sounded to end the first half, Roseville headed to the locker room with a crushing 33-5 lead. 

Second Half

The game's second half started the same way the first ended. This time, the Raiders were led by sophomore center Peyton George. Coming off the bench, George playing a very physical game simply intimidated the Irondale players, especially under the basket. She also hit some short jump shots and even contributed two three pointers.

Roseville emptied their bench with four minutes left to give their starters a much needed rest. Even frosh forward Kyleeana Koenig got into the act, hitting a jump shot near the end of the game. Irondale played a gutsy game but the imposing Raiders squad was too much to overcome.

Game Recap

Roseville was paced by George who scored 15 points and added eight rebounds. Sundberg and McGriff were next with 14 points, with McGriff tying George for most rebounds with eight. McGriff and Molly Jackson tied for most assists with four. And Belle O’Brien in a “never say die” performance led all Irondale players with 12 points.

The Raiders (18-6, 12-4 in conference play) next head to White Bear Lake on Tuesday night to play the Bears in a 7 pm start.They close their regular season with a home game Friday night against Suburban East Conference leading East Ridge at 7 pm.

Interview with Coach Henderson

After the game, I caught up with second year Roseville head coach James Henderson to talk about the game and their season.

The Roseville Reader: Congratulations coach! 

James Henderson: "Thank you. Great win." 

TRR: Coming into the season, what were your expectations and goals for this team? 

JH: "Goals were to get more familiar with the team. Last year was my first year coaching this team. We lost a couple seniors, but we still brought back most of our core players. And we actually made it to the section finals.. My first year was establishing who we are and what our identity is. That's what I had in mind coming into the season is building on the great season we had last year." 

TRR: You run an up-tempo offense. Do your players come in shape at the beginning of the season or is there a lot of conditioning work done when practices start?

JH: "We do a lot of preseason conditioning. We do a lot to get them ready for the season and then in season we're still working hard on conditioning every day.  We go about seven or eight strong with our lineup, so we got to be ready to run." 

TRR: Talk about your strong inside presence with numbers 1 (Kyanah McGriff), and 25 (Peyton George), especially. 

JH: "25 was great off the bench. She's been doing that all year. You know what, she's only a sophomore. She's also the nicest kid ever. You tell her to do something and she'll run through a wall for me. But she's so unselfish that I have to get on her. It's one of those weird things where sometimes you have to tell a player to stop shooting the ball so much.

"But with her, you have to tell her to score. Then she gets that confidence, she sees the goal, and it'll be a long night for her opponent. It's kind of like the light bulb goes off: 'Oh, this is what you want me to do.' She gets into the game and starts playing." 

TRR: Tell me about 30 (Maddie Sundberg). She's a special player. 

JH: "30 is a special player. Her and 11 (Mirabelle Jackson). I'm going to be sad when those seniors leave. I only had two years with them. I wish I had more time. Sundberg is a smart kid. IQ is off the charts. She's going to play for Hamline University next season. She's unselfish, plays the game the right way, and can shoot the pill off the ball. Great kid.

"And number 11 is a tough kid. She's going to play  soccer next year at St. Benedicts. She’s quite an athlete. I'm not too worried about her. She's tough. She was injured tonight twisting her ankle, but a little ice and tape, and she'll be good."

TRR: Congratulations on being ranked. I know you're 21st in the state, and that's great. You play in a tough conference schedule that includes East Ridge and Forest Lake. What do you anticipate for the rest of the season?

JH: "I think we'll be good. I believe we're second in our conference right now, and will be ranked second in our section for the playoffs. I think we can come on strong. We're not going to surprise a lot of people because we already did last year. This will be a year to get over the hump if we play good defense and play to our strengths. We have an incentive to do better."

TRR: And that freshman number 3 (Kyleeana Koenig), who came into the game at the end. It looks like she's got game.

JH: "We’ve got some good young players. We just have to develop them into our culture and the way we want them to play. We have some great athletes returning next season." 

TRR: Good luck the rest of the way, coach.

Cheer on Roseville Girl's Basketball away at White Bear Lake on Feb 17 and at home vs. East Ridge on Feb. 20.