Made the quick run over to Park Center High School on this
Tuesday night; a week before Christmas Eve to catch this important Northwest
Suburban Conference clash between visiting Elk River and host Park Center. I’m pretty familiar with the Park Center
squad but the Elk River Elks were an unknown commodity to me; despite last year’s
16-13 record and its run to the Section 8AAAA Championship Game. But one thing I couldn’t help but notice early
on was the size the Elks have so, if nothing else, I reasoned that this type of
game could be a great tune-up for the Pirates when they make the jaunt on U.S.
Highway 169 up to Anoka on Thursday night to take on the Tornadoes.
But looking at this game from strictly that perspective
would probably be selling the Elks short and it became evident as the game
progressed that this Elk River squad is going to be a team to be reckoned with;
not only in NWSC play but in the Section 8AAAA as well. Still, Park Center got out to a decent 7-2
start thanks to two scores by senior forward Cayla McMorris and a score in the paint
by lanky 6’1” freshman post Mikayla Hayes.
Moreover, the Pirates were wreaking havoc with their full- and
half-court traps that they were unleashing on the Elks that resulted in a
plethora of turnovers early on for Head Coach Reed Caouette’s team that he forced
him to burn a timeout by the 15:16 mark.
Park Center wanted to speed up the tempo of the game which is to their
liking but the Elks had different plans on their minds.
Despite struggling with their perimeter shooting, the
Pirates were still in control of this game by the 10:58 mark; McMorris’ “3” from
the right corner was the lone bright spot for Park Center which upped their
lead to 10-6. Elk River, however,
gradually became able to slow the tempo down to their pace. Moreover, they were using what appeared to be
a 1-2-2 zone on defense that the Pirates discombobulated in the half-court and the
Elks were starting to control the boards as well. Trailing 12-9 after McMorris maneuvered inside
for a score at the 8:40 mark, diminutive Elk River reserve freshman guard Ava
Kramer was able to spurt into the heart of the Pirate defense for a lay-up that
got her fouled as well. Although she
missed the obligatory freebie, it seemed to give the Elks the spark they needed
as they kept the deficit to a one possession game over the next five
minutes. With the Pirates struggling
mightily with that Elk 1-2-2 zone, Elk River finally found its groove
offensively. With 3:48 left, senior
reserve guard Shelby Gracik knocked down a “3” from the left wing area that put
Elk River back out in front since the opening moments of the game by a count of
18-17. Free throws by senior guard Erin
Ness and freshman forward Sidney Wentland made it a 21-19 Elk River lead with
1:50 left. A score in the paint by
Wentland with 1:12 left and a freebie by Wentland after getting fouled with
:33.8 left enabled the Elks to take a somewhat surprising 24-19 lead into the
locker room at halftime.
A “3” by Ness from the right top area at the 16:48 mark
put Park Center into an even deeper hole as they now trailed 27-19 but new Park
Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde was keenly aware of the adjustments that had
to be made to turn the tide in favor of the green and gold-clad Pirates. They were taking better care of the ball than
what they were in the first half and McMorris was getting more involved in the
offense as well. Even more important was
that Park Center appeared to be getting back to what makes them successful –
speeding up the tempo that allows them to utilize the great speed and quickness
that they have. Freshman guard Ann
Simonet, who had been quiet up to this point, snared a steal from the Elks and
dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 13:44 mark that cut the Elk River lead
to 29-26. Two scores in the paint by the
flashy McMorris – one at the 12:24 mark and then again at the 11:53 mark – put the
Pirates back in front 30-29. A lay-up by
Gracik gave the Elks one last lead at the 11:31 mark but the tide had turned in
favor of the Pirates by now.
Junior guard McKenna DuBois, who had been unable to find
that shooting touch throughout the first half, shook off the cobwebs in the
second half and began to unleash three-point bombs and other weapons of
destruction on the Elks. A foray into
the paint for a score with 9:28 left and then a trey from the right wing with
8:58 left lifted DuBois’ (and the Pirates) spirits and now had Park Center up
by a count of 37-31. To their credit,
the Elks never let the Pirates out of their sights and stayed within striking
distance; mainly by getting the ball to lanky 6’2” sophomore post Abi Scheid. Despite another three-pointer by DuBois from
the right corner with 5:50 left that had the Pirates up by a 42-35 score,
Scheid connected with a jumper in the lane with 5:10 left and then Gracik banged
home a “3” from the left top with 4:40 left that cut the Pirate lead down to
four at 44-40. Scheid would also make
several trips to the charity stripe after getting a pass down low and
attempting a shot but each time the Pirates would have an answer. A “3” from the left wing by freshman reserve
guard Danielle Schaub and another three-point bomb from DuBois with 2:00 left
on the clock from the left corner made a 53-44 game in favor of the Pirates and
only left Elk River with a wisp of hope.
Scheid would score inside with 1:20 left and snare an offensive rebound
for a putback with just :28.2 left but it would not be enough as the Pirates
claimed an important conference victory on their home floor by a 58-51 margin.
Afterward, VanderHyde confirmed some of my suspicions as
to their success in the second half; speeding up the tempo of the game
obviously but there was one item that really caught me by surprise that I did
not pick up on while watching (Hey, I’m not a coach!). “We moved (Mikayla) Hayes to the outside of
the lane as a runner and it forced them out of their 1-2-2 zone that we had a
very hard time figuring out and they then switched to a somewhat more
conventional 2-3 zone that we had a better chance of attacking.” McMorris definitely did attack better inside
in the second half and I also think this played a large part of getting chances
for DuBois on the perimeter as well. A
big win for sure at home for Park Center but they cannot rest on their laurels
for long as a big road trip Thursday night up at Anoka is in the offing and the
Pirates will have their hands full against a very big and strong Tornado team.
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