Made the trek on U.S. Highway 169 northward on this
Thursday evening up to Anoka to take in this big Northwest Suburban Conference
clash between visiting Park Center; fresh off their home win over Elk River and
host Anoka. The Tornadoes, likely still
smarting from their loss at Andover just two nights ago, were anxious to put
that debacle behind them and Anoka Head Coach Scott Antl had to hope that his
Tornado squad would be in full EF-5 mode for this night’s game against the
Pirates. Park Center, despite an earlier
loss to Centennial, was rolling right along and the storyline revolving around
this game had to be the size of Anoka going up against the speed and
athleticism of Park Center. In my own
mind, I had to give Anoka the edge in this one simply because they were on
their home floor and the Pirates have also had some bad memories of section
finals gone awry on this same court.
Predictably, Anoka was in its formidable 2-3 zone at the
start; daring the Pirates to try to come into the paint to meet certain
doom. But both teams were exceptionally
cold early on and it wasn’t until the 14:21 mark when senior guard Kyrah
Fredenburg helped the Tornadoes draw first blood with an offensive rebound and
putback (a second attempt at that).
Little did anyone realize at the time that that would be Anoka’s first
and only lead of this contest. Sloppy
play and mistakes dominated the opening minutes of this contest and it wasn’t
until the 11:03 mark that Park Center had built a 6-2 edge thanks to free
throws by both freshmen Mikayla Hayes and Danielle Schaub and a lay-up by
senior forward Cayla McMorris. Still, a
score down low by Tornado senior forward Ashley Bray cut the Park Center lead
down to only 6-4 with 9:28 left so all indications seemed to be that this was
going to be a close one.
From that point on, though, things quickly unraveled for Anoka
as the Pirates suddenly seized control and embarked on a 15-3 run that changed
the entire complexion of the ballgame markedly.
And it was Park Center’s senior flashy 5’10” forward who took center
stage to lead the way for the Green and Gold while Anoka looked shell-shocked
and completely lost on offense. After a “3”
from junior guard McKenna DuBois from the left wing with 9:16 left, Hayes
connected with a jumper from the right corner with 7:09 left. Then it was McMorris with a turnaround jumper
in the lane with 6:40 left for a double digit Pirate lead that they would not
relinquish at 15-4. Freebies by freshman
guard Ann Simonet and McMorris, a lay-up in transition by Hayes with 3:57 left
and then a steal by McMorris followed by a sweet pull-up jumper in transition
suddenly had things at 21-7 in favor of Park Center and new Anoka Head Coach Scott
Antl had seen enough to know it was time to call a halt to the action with a
thirty-second timeout. But Park Center
was not finished yet. A one-handed
jumper by McMorris with 2:23 left and then a steal by the Wisconsin-bound star
and a lay-up in transition (that resulted in a nasty collision with Fredenburg
under the basket) and an encore performance by Simonet with 1:07 left made it a
27-9 bulge before Anoka senior guard Claire Lundberg finally was able to maneuver
inside for a score that got her fouled as well.
Lundberg would give the Anoka fans some hope when she hit a “3” from the
top of the key with :35 left but the Tornadoes were staring at a 29-15 deficit
going into the locker room at the half.
Anoka needed to get off to a great start in the second
half and Ashley Bray’s twin sister, Amber; who has been battling with her share
of injuries thus far, muscled inside for a score at the 17:48 mark and then was
fouled on a putback attempt after an offensive rebound that allowed her to
knock down two charity stripe shots at the 16:58 mark that sliced the deficit
down to eleven at 31-19. But any hope of
the Tornadoes getting back into this thing and making things close again were
quickly snuffed out. Junior guard Hannah
Schaub knocked down a “3” from the right wing at the 16:30 mark and then Hayes
was able to score inside at the 15:12 mark.
A jumper from the right wing my McMorris at the 14:16 mark and a lay-up
in transition by Hannah Schaub at the 13:34 mark completed this 9-0 burst by
the Pirates for a 40-19 advantage and
once again had Antl burning a timeout.
But this Park Center team was seeking to make a statement
on this night on the road in a big conference showdown and they were far from
finished. On the flip side of the coin,
this had to be about as frustrating a night as there ever could be for the
Tornadoes for it seemed like they simply could not buy a basket; be it from the
perimeter or down low in the paint where they seemingly had a decisive
advantage with their height – NOTHING seemed to fall for them. Even worse was that they had no way of
stopping the McMorris Express as she was putting on a show. A drive and finish at the 12:42 mark plus
some supporting cast help from both Hannah Schaub in the form of a lay-up in
transition at the 12:07 mark and by Hayes in the form of a short jumper at the
10:48 mark made it a prohibitive 46-21 lead for Park Center. An offensive rebound for a putback by
McMorris with 8:41 left and a score in the paint by DuBois with 8:17 left
allowed the Pirates to double up the Tornadoes by a 50-25 count. Antl, meanwhile, was trying to find some combination
that might give his Anoka squad some sort of spark. Ashley Bray had countered with with an
offensive rebound and putback before DuBois’ foray into the paint but the
youngest member of the Bray triumvirate, freshman Taylor, got inside for a
score with 8:02 left and then senior Cassidy Sarazine banged home a “3” from
the left wing with 7:03 left that helped to whittle the deficit down to 22 at
52-30 but they would never seriously threaten.
Sophomore reserve Ashley Lewis knocked down a “3” for the Pirates from
the left wing with 6:35 left and lay-ups by Park Center’s set of sisters –
Hannah and freshman Danielle (with older sis Nicole who plays at Anoka-Ramsey
cheering them on in the stands) – and a “3” for good measure by McMorris
typified the kind of night this was.
DuBois would drill “3’s” – one from the right corner with 4:03 left and
another one from the opposite corner with 2:35 left and one more short jumper
by McMorris with 1:40 left allowed Park Center to waltz to a shocking 71-36
rout of Anoka.
A very happy and pleased Park Center Head Coach Chris
VanderHyde was quick to admit that a big win like this right before the holiday
break gives his squad a huge shot in the arm of confidence before they play in
the holiday tournament at St. Olaf where they’ll wind up facing powerhouse
programs Lakeville North AND Eastview.
But, after tonight’s performance anyway, they look eager for such a
challenge. Meanwhile, it’s arguably back
to the drawing board for Antl & Co. and this Anoka squad which had such
high hopes (and rightfully so) at the start of the season. This one-sided loss, coupled with the debacle
over in Andover the night before, was weighing heavily on the minds of the players
and you could sense the disappointment and frustration. This squad has way too much talent, ability
and potential to get down on themselves for too long yet I sense at the same
time that Antl is still seeking to try and find that right “mix” that will
prevent his squad from becoming too one-dimensional and predictable. In the end, you have to remember that this is
still only December and that there’s a lot of basketball to be played yet and I
still believe that the Tornadoes will be the ones left standing when all is
said and done in Section 7AAAA.
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