Made my annual trek up to Anoka for the two sectional championship games that Anoka High School hosts on a yearly basis. The first game on tap on this Thursday night was the 6:00 P.M. contest between - who else - DeLaSalle and Park Center. These two squads have seemingly faced off in this venue in this game since B.C. and while the Islanders got the best of the Pirates in the first few meetings, Park Center finally broke through last year; beating DeLaSalle and earning their first trip to state where they won the whole ball of wax. This year's contest, though, was likely the last one in this setting; at least for a while anyway with the Pirates slated to be shoved to Class AAAA next year.
From a Park Center perspective anyway, the one thing I feared coming into this contest was how the Pirates would handle a bigger, more physical Islander squad that was a year older and a year more experienced. But those fears were quickly erased in the opening minutes of the first half as the Pirates raced out to an early 11-1 lead; fueled by a "3" from the left top area by senior guard McKenna DuBois at the 16:49 mark and a "3" from the left corner by sophomore guard Ann Simonet at the 15:03 mark. Two lay-ups by senior point guard Hannah Schaub; including one in transition at the 13:50 mark and one free throw by sophomore reserve forward Fey Ayobamadele at the 12:47 mark gave Park Center that 11-1 lead before the Islanders finally got untracked a bit. Two free throws by junior forward Camryn Speese at the 12:03 mark and a "3" from the right wing by junior reserve guard Aiza Wilson at the 11:27 mark plus two Wilson freebies at the 11:10 marked closed the gap a bit at 14-8 but DeLaSalle arguably left several points on the table in the first ten minutes of this contest as well; missing several easy lay-ups in transition that could have tightened things up considerably. A Simonet lay-up at the 11:02 mark and a Simonet jumper from the left wing with 9:58 left had the Pirates up by ten at 18-8.
The Islanders tried to counter as Speese connected with one jumper from the right elbow area off of an inbounds pass with 9:34 left and then again in the lane with 9:00 left that helped trim the Park Center lead down to 18-12 and an offensive rebound and putback by junior forward Teja Bodden drew the Islanders closer trailing 19-14 with 7:54 left but DeLaSalle was having a ton of trouble getting back on defense whenever the Pirates got their transition game going. Senior reserve forward Camille McCoy connected with a lay-up with 7:44 left and diminutive sophomore guard Danielle Schaub did as well with 7:24 left that pushed the Park Center lead back to nine at 23-14. Two Hannah Schaub freebies with 4:34 left and a score in the paint by lanky 6'2" sophomore post Mikayla Hayes with 2:12 left and two charity stripe shots by Danielle Schaub with :22.3 left expanded the lead to fourteen at 29-15 before the Islanders found a late spark. Senior reserve guard Jada Haynes muscled into the paint for a score with just :12.9 left and got fouled in the process and her free throw chopped the Pirate lead down to 29-18. Then, with just :00.2 left, strong senior forward Taylor Toney; who struggled mightily with her shooting touch in the first half, found some redemption as she tipped in a missed lay-up in transition that got DeLaSalle back into single-digit range at the half trailing 29-20 and certainly Head Coach Faith Johnson-Patterson's squad had to be feeling a heckuva lot better about themselves than they had minutes earlier
Park Center appeared to be in the process of sewing things up and solidly assuring themselves of a return trip to state in the opening minutes of the second half. Hayes got a score in the paint at the 16:52 mark and then sunk two freebies at the 16:21 mark for a cozy 34-22 lead. Two more Hayes forays and finishes in the paint - one at the 15:32 mark and then again at the 12:41 mark pushed the lead to 38-24 and a DuBois lay-up in transition at the 12:30 mark that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw now had the Pirates up 41-24 and seemingly in full control. But the Islanders were not ready to go down meekly without a fight. A Toney score in the paint at the 11:07 mark and two Bodden freebies at the 10:23 mark trimmed Park Center's lead down to 41-28. Toney made a hard drive and finish with 8:20 left and a Haynes lay-up in transition with 8:03 left now had DeLaSalle back to within single digits again trailing 41-32. Moreover, the Pirates; for whatever reason, seemed to get away from what was working for them earlier; getting into transition that usually led to easy points or, at the very least, got them to the charity stripe. But Park Center suddenly found themselves in a dry spell and that nice double-digit cushion was suddenly gone. Head Coach Chris VanderHyde quickly recognized the situation and wasted no time calling a timeout. Was this panic time for the Pirates?
Any questions about Park Center not being up for the challenge were answered and answered quickly. With 7:28 left, Hayes got into the paint for another score and got fouled in the process as well. Though she missed the ensuing freebie, the Pirates were able to snare the offensive rebound and Hannah Schaub got herself free from the right corner behind the arc with 7:18 left where she drained a huge "3" that suddenly had Park Center back up by fourteen at 46-32 and the Islander threat vanished just like that. A Simonet lay-up in transition with 7:00 left that got her fouled in the process as well and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw now made it a 49-32 game and DeLaSalle's Johnson-Patterson saw this one slipping away for good and called a timeout to try and stave off the inevitable. Hayes, who had the hot hand for the Pirates in the second half, made good on a drive and finish with 6:54 left and then snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 6:23 left for a 51-36 lead and, even worse now for the Islanders, foul trouble was now becoming a factor as well. Speese picked up her fourth foul with 5:46 left and after a Hannah Schaub lay-up with 4:55 left and two Hayes free throws with 4:22 left, Park Center now was in the double-bonus. A thoroughly frustrated Haynes fouled out with 2:38 left and two Danielle Schaub free throws with 1:49 left put the finishing touches on a convincing 57-39 Pirate victory that sends the green and gold back to the state tournament for the second year in a row.
I asked VanderHyde afterward if there was ever any sense of panic or worry when DeLaSalle managed to get back to within single digits near the 8:00 mark. "No.....We simply had to refocus and find re-direction and get back to attacking which is our style" he said. And the Pirates certainly did just that. I also got to spend a few moments with a jubilant Hannah Schaub afterward as well. She was forced to sit on the sidelines a year ago as she had suffered that ACL injury late in the regular season and now has fully recovered and looks to be playing her best basketball - and seemingly at just the right time. She seems hungry and she was very focused as were her teammates and they came out and took care of business on this night. Are they a favorite to repeat on the big stage for a second year in a row? Certainly they'll be in the conversation along with number one seed Orono and the experience of last year will play a big part in how well they do this next week.
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