Made the short run over to Park Center High School on this frigid Friday evening to take in this Northwest Suburban Conference clash between visiting Maple Grove and host Park Center; currently ranked second in Class AAA. The Pirates had claimed a tough road win earlier in the week up the road at Champlin Park so now it was time to see if they could hold serve at home against the Crimson.
Things would stay tight in the opening eight minutes of the first half with neither team being able to gain a decisive advantage. After Park Center had assumed a 3-0 lead on a jumper from the left baseline by junior sharpshooting guard McKenna DuBois at the 15:18 mark, the Crimson came right back as junior guard Haylee Barker made good on a drive and finish in the lane at the 14:50 mark that was followed by an offensive rebound and putback by strong senior guard Kaela Jones at the 14:24 mark for a 4-3 Maple Grove lead. Cayla McMorris, the flashy Park Center senior forward, had the Pirates back up briefly again with a lay-up in transition at the 12:52 mark but then Maple Grove junior reserve guard Mary Eckberg knocked down a "3" from the left corner at the 12:40 mark for a 7-5 Crimson lead but Park Center reserve sophomore forward Oliva Peterson was able to maneuver into the paint for a score at the 11:06 mark that left things deadlocked at 7-all.
But once Park Center started harassing the Crimson with both a full- and half-court press on defense the Pirates slowly started taking command of this game. Worse for Maple Grove, they had a ton of trouble in their half court offense with a plethora of turnovers that helped fuel a decisive Park Center run. Holding a 10-9 lead, a strong drive along the left baseline and finish by McMorris with 10:02 left followed by a jumper along the left baseline by freshman reserve forward Feyisayo Ayobamidele with 8:55 left expanded the Pirate lead to 14-9. Maple Grove senior reserve forward Allie Winter temporarily halted the Park Center explosion with her jumper in the lane with 8:34 left but then the Pirates ripped off fourteen straight points after that; highlighted by a running jumper in transition by McMorris with 7:43 left and a "3" from the right corner by freshman guard Ann Simonet with 7:08 left. Trailing 25-11 with 3:56 left, Maple Grove Head Coach Mark Cook knew it was time to call a time out to try and cool this hot Park Center squad but Simonet hit another "3" from the right top area off the glass to complete this 10-2 run that made it a 28-11 game with 3:09 left. The Crimson would make a bit of a flurry before the halftime break; a score in the paint by sophomore forward Allie Schmidt with 2:29 left coupled with two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Maddie Tharp cut a few points off the deficit. Sophomore guard Mackenzie Barta used her strong 5'9" frame to get into the paint for a score with :59.6 left and a foray into the paint and finish by Jones with :18 left had the Park Center advantage whittled down to a somewhat more manageable 30-19 count. But Park Center's DuBois made one last impression in the first half; draining a "3" from the left corner - off the glass no less - with just :02.8 left that allowed Park Center to take a 33-19 lead into the locker room at the half.
But whatever emotion or energy that Park Center had in that first half that allowed them to build a commanding lead seemed to evaporate when they came out for the second half and the Crimson took advantage of this seeming letdown by the Pirates and went to work. Barta set the tone for Maple Grove early on with her "3' from the right wing at the 17:31 mark and then Jones was able to knock down a freebie after being fouled at the 16:27 mark and followed that up shortly thereafter with an offensive rebound for a putback that had the Crimson to within ten trailing 35-25. Eckberg then drained a "3" from the right wing at the 11:38 mark and had an encore performance less than a minute later from the right corner that cut the Park Center lead down to 38-32. Two more freebies by Barta withj 9:41 left had Maple Grove within four at 38-34. DuBois finally brought Park Center back to life with a huge "3" from the left top area with 9:10 left and Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde immediately called a timeout in hopes that DuBois "3" would re-energize his squad. Jones would hit a "3" for the Crimson, however, that cut it down to a one-possession game with 7:55 left at 41-38 but Park Center junior point guard Hannah Schaub was able to slither into the paint to snare an offensive rebound for a putback and a 43-38 Pirate lead.
And that seemed to be the difference in this game the rest of the way. Maple Grove squandered several opportunities to draw even closer or perhaps even tie the game but the Pirates were always able to find the escape entrance when things got just a little dangerous. And it would be none other than McMorris who would help point the way to ultimate victory for the team in green and gold. A sweet turnaround jumper in the lane with 6:39 left followed by two pairs of charity stripe shots pushed the Park Center lead back to eleven at 49-38 with 3:31 left. Maple Grove would get the deficit back down to seven points after Schmidt connected on a lay-up in transition with 1:57 left but they could get no closer. Free throws by Park Center's Schaub Sisters - junior Hannah and freshman reserve guard Danielle - in the closing minute provided the difference as the Pirates claimed this conference battle by a final count of 55-44.
VanderHyde was quick to agree that the intensity simply wasn't there for the Pirates at the beginning of the second half. "We were lethargic and stagnant on offense." Presumably that's something that's going to be addressed in the coming days before Park Center's game this next Tuesday over at Armstrong. On the other side, Cook admitted that his squad didn't do a very good job in the first half when Park Center began applying both full- and half-court pressure and trapping defense. "We have to take better care of the ball". At the same time, he felt that his team came out with a better focus in the second half. "We started knocking some more shots down and made a run." Alas, that run came up just short for the Crimson and they have to go back to work as well now. Such is the life in the grueling Northwest Suburban Conference.
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