The nightcap at Park Center High School on this night featured the contest between visiting Duluth East and host Park Center. The Pirates; still with the #1 ranking in Class AAA despite the loss to Minnetonka right before Christmas, were looking to get back on track on their home floor in the first annual Park Center Holiday Tournament while the visiting Greyhounds were looking to make a big splash and snare a big victory to get on an upward move.
Duluth East opened some eyes early in this contest; getting out to a 5-2 lead thanks to a "3" from the top of the key by senior post Rachel Weyenberg at the 17:15 mark and a score in the paint at the 16:30 mark by fellow senior forward/post Hannah Johnson. But the Pirates wasted little time in utilizing their quickness and aggressiveness on defense to take control of this one. An offensive rebound and putback by sophomore post Mikayla Hayes of her own miss at the 15:45 mark and a "3" from the left corner by diminutive sophomore guard Danielle Schaub had Park Center back out in front by a score of 7-5. At the 14:41 mark, Danielle Schaub; enroute to a fantastic day for her squad, snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up and got fouled in the process and the ensuing free throw made it a 10-5 ballgame. Older sister and senior point guard Hannah Schaub was fouled in the act of shooting at the 13:49 mark and her two freebies made it 12-5 and Greyhounds Head Coach Joaquim Harris had seen enough to know that a timeout was needed to get his squad calmed down. But the stoppage in play didn't deter the Pirates from expanding on their lead. Sophomore reserve forward Fey Ayobamidele knocked down a "3" from the right corner at the 11:53 mark and later added two free throws for a 17-5 Park Center lead at the 10:21 mark. Senior reserve forward Camille McCoy made it a 19-5 score with 9:58 left to finish off the 17-0 run with a jumper in the lane.
Duluth East finally ended its scoring drought with 9:11 left when Johnson connected with a lay-up but the Pirates embarked on a 7-1 run over the next four minutes. A drive and finish by Hayes with 7:05 left along with two more scores from Danielle Schaub - a short shot in transition with 6:32 left and a "3" from the right wing with 5:27 left - made it 26-8 Park Center. Johnson was able to get another score in the paint for the Greyhounds with 4:51 left but Danielle Schaub uncorked yet another "3" from the right wing area again with 4:15 left to make it a 29-10 game and a very upset Harris was forced to use another timeout to stop the bleeding. An offensive rebound and putback by Hayes extended the lead to 31-10 with 3:21 left before Duluth East was finally able to get untracked. A 6-0 spurt to end the first half - highlighted by two scores by senior forward Danielle Cieluch - trimmed the Pirates lead at the half 31-16 but the Greyhounds had a LOT of work in front of them if they were going to get back into this thing.
Duluth East relied on Cieluch's hot hand from late in the first half as they trimmed the Park Center lead down to ten points at 32-22 by the 16:25 mark before the Pirates woke up from their short siesta. Sophomore guard Ann Simonet connected on a lay-up at the 16:20 mark and got fouled in the process and her free throw upped the lead to thirteen at 35-22. A score down low by Hayes at the 15:47 mark made it 37-22 and then senior sharpshooting guard McKenna DuBois; who had been quiet in the first half, finally shook off the cobwebs and got into the scoring book. She scored in the paint at the 15:19 mark on a nice assist from Hayes and then connected on a lay-up in transition at the 14:50 mark to make it a 41-22 game. Still another score in the paint by Hayes at the 13:45 mark and a lay-up in transition by Simonet at the 13:22 mark capped a 13-0 burst to make it 45-22 and the Greyhounds Harris; knowing his squad was right back at Square One; had no choice but to call a timeout.
But Duluth East would have few answers for the Pirates relentlessness on defense and the ability to create turnovers for easy scores. Hannah Schaub snared one steal and raced the other way for a lay-up at the 12:13 mark and lil' sis Danielle Schaub stole a Greyhound inbounds pass and got a lay-up out of that for a 49-26 Park Center lead which would expand to 51-26 with 9:03 left when Danielle Schaub connected with another lay-up in transition. A "3" from Ayobamidele from the right wing with 8:33 left and another Simonet lay-up with 7:08 left had the Pirates up comfortably 56-29 with a seeming stranglehold on the game when Head Coach Chris VanderHyde made an interesting decision with just under six minutes to empty his bench and put mostly his reserves on the floor. Duluth East, stymied for the last several minutes on offense, took advantage of the now youthful Park Center line-up and finally went to work. Two lay-ups by Cieluch cut the Pirate lead down to 58-36 with 4:44 left and a Johnson score in the paint with 4:15 left trimmed the Park Center lead down to twenty at 58-38. Another Cieluch/Johnson scoring combination cut the lead down to sixteen points at 58-42 with 3:18 left and a VanderHyde had to be worried that this experiment might backfire badly. A Cieluch score in the paint with 2:48 left and one free throw by senior forward Liz Libbon drew the Greyhounds to within fifteen points at 60-45 and a Libbon lay-up in transition cut the Pirate lead down to 60-47. By this point, VanderHyde had seen enough to get some of his starters back onto the floor to close the deal. Danielle Schaub, who finished this game with a career-high 24 points, definitely did finish off Duluth East with two late lay-ups in transition for a final score of 64-47.
I couldn't resist asking VanderHyde afterward about his installing several of his reserves with about six minutes left. "We just wanted to see how they would do with a lead" he replied. Not necessarily a bad experiment either; particularly in a non-conference match-up just before the first of the year. Sometimes, the young ones have to learn the hard way. I remember being told as a young junior tennis player back in the day that, "If you're going to run with the big dogs, you'd better learn how to p*ss in tall grass." Maybe not the best analogy perhaps but I think that there's a lot of truth to that. The bottom line is that the younger players who got some minutes today that they normally wouldn't get will only help them down the road. More importantly, though, is that Park Center is sitting pretty going into 2015 and the Northwest Suburban Conference season. Some tough non-conference match-ups are in the immediate offing however, as roadies over to Eden Prairie this coming Saturday night (1-3) and another one to Hopkins loom ahead but those will only help the Pirates get through another grueling Northwest Suburban Conference schedule as they set their sights on a return trip to the State Tournament to defend their title.
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