Park was sluggish at the start and finally met a team that could trade blows with them as visiting Rosemount took a 75-67 decision from the Wolfpack Friday.

The Irish jumped out to a 18-6 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, led 39-32 at halftime and although the Wolfpack made several second-half runs and came close, they could never quite catch the visitors.

Rosemount went to 2-2 on the season, Park fell to 5-1. It was also a bit of a revenge game for the Irish as Park knocked Rosemount out of the section in a 76-62 win at Rosemount last season. How much that affected the game is hard to say but clearly the Irish came out ready to play.

It was the first loss of the season for the Wolfpack and Park head coach Isaiah Wallfred is hoping the team learned some valuable lessons.

“Basically, we didn’t bring it tonight,” said Wallfred. “They brought more energy. They played harder than we did at the start. They set the tone for the game. We eventually picked it up but at that point we were down and we weren’t able to break through at the end.”

Turnovers were a problem for the Wolfpack. Rosemount slapped a full-court press on the Wolfpack the entire game and it seemed each time Park drew close in the second half the ball would somehow get away.

“That’s the first team that’s really switched everything on us,” said Wallfred. “And we practiced against it and a lot of teams do that, but this is the first time this year someone had done that, and we didn’t handle it well.”

Pak got as close as 69-63 with 2:02 to play but couldn’t solve the final piece of the puzzle in the

Aaron Sadin led Park with 15 points, all of three-point field goals. Griffin Sell 11, Caleb Sweet scored 10 points, Brandon Bihm 9, Peyton Faber 8 and Justin Ebbers 7.

“We fought back,” said Wallfred. “We had little stretches where we played good basketball and we competed and the effort was there. … We’ve got to get better against switching defenses and we’ve got to come out and set the tone. This was the first game all year where we didn’t come out and set the tone. And there’s a certain way that we need to play to be successful and we’re going to come out next game and we’re going to set the tone.”

Park 62, White Bear Lake 56

The Wolfpack remained undefeated on the season with a 62-56 decision at White Bear Lake Wednesday.

Park doubled up the score in the first half on the Bears, leading 34-17 at the break. White Bear Lake turned it around in the second half, winning 39-28 but couldn’t come all the way back from the early deficit.

The Wolfpack once again had a very balanced offensive attack. Senior forward Aaron Sandin drained four 3-points field goes and was 4-for-4 at the line for 16 points to lead eight Park players who scored. Brandon Bihm added 13 and Justin Ebbers 9.

Park went to 3-0 in the SEC and 5-0 overall. White Bear Lake slipped to 2-1 in the conference and 2-3 on the season.

The Wolfpack (5-1, 3-0) venture outside the conference for their next outing, playing at Holy Angels (3-3) in Richfield Tuesday, Dec. 30, with a 1 p.m. start. Park then meets Big 9 Conference member Austin (3-3) Saturday, Jan. 3, in a noon game at Rochester Mayo.

RANKINGS: Cretin-Derham Hall is ranked fifth and East Ridge eighth in the latest Class 4A rankings from the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association.