Made the short run over to Park Center High School on this Tuesday evening to catch another key Northwest Suburban Conference match-up between visiting Champlin Park which made the short hop down Zane Avenue to take on host Park Center. The Rebels would be playing without one of their starters on this night; freshman guard Sydney Hilley who was laid up with the flu; never a fun thing. On this night, however, the flu bag proved costly for Champlin Park Head Coach Jake Kuppe and his Rebel team.
Park Center came out on fire from the opening tip in this one; making its way up and down the floor like the famed Union Pacific-Milwaukee Road "City Of Los Angeles" streamliner zipping across the Iowa and Nebraska prairies on its way to the Motherland. Scores in the paint by flashy senior forward Cayla McMorris at the 17:22 mark and lanky freshman post Mikayla Hayes at the 16:51 mark put the Rebels in a 4-0 hole early and had Kuppe calling for a very early timeout. But the break in the action failed to faze the Pirates as they continued on with their ambush. Junior point guard Hannah Schaub knocked down a "3" from the right top area at the 16:14 mark for a 7-0 lead and then four consecutive scores by the Wisconsin-bound Morris had Champlin Park reeling; down 15-0 by the 12:52 mark that forced Kuppe to burn another timeout to try and stop the bleeding. An offensive rebound and putback by Rebel senior guard Genevae Adkins finally got Champlin Park on the scoreboard at the 12:28 mark but a jumper from the right baseline by Park Center sophomore reserve forward Oliva Peterson right at the 12:00 mark coupled with two scores freshman reserve forward Feyisayo Ayobamidele - a jumper from the left wing at the 11:16 mark and a lay-up in transition at the 10:50 mark - ballooned the Pirate lead to 21-2. Champlin Park tried to recover on a lay-up by willowy freshman forward Allison Gerads with 9:48 left and a pull-up jumper in the lane by senior guard Alexis Alexander but Park Center made another charge as Ayobamidele connected with a jumper in the lane with 9:24 left and then Peterson drilled a "3" from the right top area to make it a 26-7 game with 8:48 left and Champlin Park's Kuppe; while not waving the white flag, was yelling for another timeout.
But the Pirates had no intention of giving the Rebels any loophole that might allow them to creep a bit closer. Another foray into the paint and finish by McMorris with 7:56 left and another Hannah Schaub "3"; this one from the right top area with 7:06 left made it a 31-10 game and the bulge eventually grew to 35-14 with 5:38 left before Champlin Park made a couple of stings as senior guard Kelli Heytens connected with a jumper from the right wing with 5:02 left and senior reserve post Mariya Sampson knocked down a jumper with 4:40 left that whittled the deficit down to 35-18 but a jumper by Park Center's Ayobamidele from the right baseline with 4:25 left and a "3" from junior guard McKenna DuBois from the left wing made it a 40-20 game with 2:55 left and a turnaround jumper in the lane by Hayes with :49 left had Park Center in command at halftime by a score of 42-24.
If the Rebels were somehow going to get back into this game, they needed to get off to a roaring start in the second half; get a spark that might somehow turn the momentum. A "3" from Gerads from the top of the key at the 17:54 mark plus one freebie at the 15:52 mark cut the Park Center lead down to a fifteen point margin at 43-28 and, for a short while anyway, provided some hope for the Champlin Park contingent. But four scores by Park Center's McMorris (two treys, a lay-up in transition, plus two free throws) had the Pirate lead back up to 23 at 53-30 and quickly put to rest any comeback attempts the Rebels may have had in the back of their minds. Another "3" by Gerads from the left wing at the 12:20 mark plus two scores from Alexander helped but Champlin Park could never seem to get any closer than twenty; trailing 57-37 by the 10:18 mark. Park Center proceeded to put even more distance between themselves and their opponent when Ayobamidele swished a "3" from the right top at the 10:09 mark and then freshman reserve guard Danielle Schaub followed suit on the ensuing Pirate possession with 9:48 left to make it a 63-37 ballgame and Kuppe; sensing impending disaster, called another halt to the action to try and stop the bleeding.
Park Center still had no intention of letting go of the chokehold they had on the Rebels as some of their younger players had opportunities to shine down the stretch. Danielle Schaub let loose with another "3" from the top of the key with 9:17 left and freshman guard Ann Simonet connected with a lay-up with 8:39 left for a comfortable 68-42 Pirate lead. DuBois uncorked another "3" from the right corner with 6:17 left and then Peterson had one last shining moment on this night as she made the front end of a one-and-one situation and then was able to somehow get the loose ball scramble off of the back end miss and get a putback out of it for a 78-49 Pirate advantage. Crymble, Gerads, senior reserve guard Olivia Fulton, and Alexander were able to get late scores for the Rebels but Park Center had this one wrapped up long before the final buzzer sounded as they recorded a resounding 78-57 victory.
Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde couldn't really add much to the big win on this night except to say that his squad "was on fire". The Rebels simply had no answers for the multi-talented McMorris (not many teams do these days) but, perhaps just as important, the Pirates got contributions from several players on this night; a pattern that has to be important for this Park Center squad if they are going to take it to the next level and seriously challenge for a state title. But watching them on this night, I have to believe that they're certainly capable of just that. In the meantime, it's one practice at a time and one game at a time for this Park Center squad.
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