Griffin Sell was the right man in the right place at the right time for the Park Wolfpack Friday night.

Sell, a junior guard, intercepted a White Bear Lake pass in the final seconds and took it in for the winning score in Park’s 58-56 win over the Bears. The score set off a rush of the court by students and fans and why not. It’s been a challenging season for the Wolfpack.

“I just saw a good opening, to gamble on that steal,” said Sell. “I got it and then I came down the lane – this kid has been trying to take a charge on me all game – so I just zeroed around him and got a open layup for the game.”

The win almost didn’t happen because of a controversial turnover call with 13.3 seconds left that awarded the ball to the Bears. But Sell stepped in to give Park it’s biggest win of the season.

Asked if he could remember being involved in a win like this, Park captain Brandon Bihm was unsure.

“Not that I can remember,” Bihm said. “I definitely have but I just can’t remember. This was definitely the best.

“I would have our togetherness,” Bihm answered when asked what led to Park’s dramatic comeback in the second half. “We all love each other on and off the court. Our bench started to bring that energy again and we all love each other so much and we played unselfishly.”

White Bear Lake held a modest 27-24 lead at halftime. Then for minutes the Wolfpack offensive went stone and the Bears built their lead to 48-30 with 10 minutes to play, outscoring Park 21-6 during the stretch.

“We just couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the first half,” said Park head coach Isaiah Wallfred. “Guys were missing wide open shots. I don’t know if we were tired or what it is. But we play hard every game. We guard every game. We defend, we compete, it just comes down to whether or not we can make enough shots to get across the finish line.”

And then when things looked bleak, the ball started dropping for the Wolfpack. Park trimmed White Bear Lake’s lead first to 52-42 with 4:05 to play and then to 56-51 with two minutes remaining. It was a 56-53 game with 44 seconds left when the Wolfpack’s Bihm scored on a long three to tie it at 56-all.

That set the stage for an extra dramatic final minute, not without its controversy. Park looked like it had possession of the ball with 13 second to play but was whistled for a time out penalty which awarded the ball to the Bears.

But all that did was set up Sell who stole the ball at midcourt, drove and put up the game winning floater.

“It was a great win, great comeback,” said Wallfred. “(We) played incredibly hard in the second half, caused a lot of turnovers, created a lot of havoc and we just really got after ‘em. Just really proud of the guys for being resilient and staying tough. We were down at least 15 at one point and we just kept battling and battling.

Park had remarkably balanced scoring led by 13 points from Caleb Sweet and Bihm, 12 points from Griffin Sell, 11 points from Aaron Sandin and 10 points from Justin Ebbers.

The Wolfpack ma hay past the 3-point line making ten 3-point field goals, including six in the second half.

With back-to-back conference wins against Roseville and White Bear Lake, the Wolfpack improved to 5-7 in the Suburban East Conference and 9-11 overall.

“We played hard the whole game and shots just weren’t going down,” said Sell. “But it’s perseverance. We just kept our calm and we finished the game.”

White Bear Lake fell to 5-14 overall and remains at the bottom of the SEC standings with a 3-9 record.

“A win like this is huge for the program all around,” said Justin Ebbers. “We have a bunch of guys who made big plays, stepped up tonight and I think we can all congratulate that. First half was super slow in the beginning, so we still need to learn from this and shout out to the student section and the fans and everyone who showed up, they definitely helped us.”

Park hits the road for its next two games, playing at Irondale (6-13, 5-7) on Wednesday, and then at Mounds View (13-7, 5-7) Friday before coming home to face rival and eighth-ranked East Ridge (15-4, 11-1) on Tuesday, Feb. 13.

St. Paul Central 67, Park 59

Visting St. Paul Central took a 67-59 win at Cottage Grove Wednesday in a non-conference contest.