Made the short hop over to Park Center High School on this cold Friday evening to take in yet another Northwest Suburban Conference Clash; this one featuring visiting Irondale going up against host Park Center. The Knights have been treading a bumpy road this season while the Pirates seem to be back in their groove as they recorded a big win earlier in the week on the road at Spring Lake Park so this would be another opportunity for them to keep that groove going.
Surprisingly, however, it would be Irondale that would set the tone early on in this contest as their 1-3-1 zone befuddled the two-time defending Class AAA state champions. The Pirates; unsure of how to initially attack the bigger Knights who effectively clogged up the middle, couldn't get their bread-and-butter transition game going and were even less effective in their half-court offense. As such, Irondale bolted out to a 7-0 lead by the 14:37 mark thanks to offensive rebounds and putbacks by freshman forward Ashley Polson and senior forward Mikayla McGee and a "3" from the left wing by sophomore guard Sophia Findell. Ever so slowly, Park Center would scratch and claw their way back into the contest. Treys by junior guard Danielle Schaub - one from the right wing at the 14:12 mark and another one from the left corner at the 12:44 mark - cut the Knights lead down to 9-6. Still, Irondale was able to build the lead back up to five points at 11-6 on two free throws by McGee at the 12:30 mark and it looked as if the Pirates might be in for a tougher going than many expected. However, three consecutive scores by strong freshman reserve guard Azsha Michael seemed to turn the tide in favor of the home team. An offensive rebound and putback at the 12:02 mark and another one of her own miss at the 9:48 mark cut Park Center's deficit to just one point trailing 11-10 and a short jumper in the lane with 8:59 left gave the Pirates their first lead of the evening at 12-11. Lanky junior post Mikayla Hayes connected on a short turnaround jumper and drew a foul in the process and the ensuing freebie had the lead up to 15-11 with 8:20 left but, to their credit, the Knights came right back. Two charity stripe shots by freshman reserve forward Kaley Waldemar and a jumper from the left wing by McGee knotted the issue at 15 a piece and two more freebies by Waldemar put Irondale back up 17-15. But the Pirates weren't going to be down for long. A lay-up in transition by Schaub that drew a foul and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw put the Pirates back up by one at 18-17 with 5:37 left and a "3" by junior guard Ann Simonet from the right corner with 4:48 left gave Park Center a 21-19 lead. But the biggest surprise coming down the stretch was sophomore reserve guard Meghan DuBois. With 3:34 left she drained a "3" from the right corner and with 2:42 left she was able to connect on a lay-up in transition that had the Pirates up 26-19. With 2:12 left, DuBois struck again as she knocked down a three-point bomb from the left corner that now had Park Center up 29-21 and free throws by sophomore guard Sommer Blakemore and Hayes allowed the Pirates to take a 31-22 lead into the locker room at the half. Not a commanding lead by any stretch but, considering the early struggles they encountered with Irondale's 1-3-1 zone defense early on they certainly had to be feeling better about themselves.
The one thing that seemed to be missing from Park Center's repertoire in the first half was that stingy, in-your-face defense that usually creates a bevy of turnovers that leads to easy transition points. That aggressiveness that gives them confidence. Whatever Pirate Head Coach Chris VanderHyde said in the locker room at the half sure seemed to do the trick as Park Center came out of the gate with a new attitude and determination. A quick 6-0 burst in the first two minutes on scores by junior forward Fey Ayobamidele Schaub and Simonet increased the Pirate lead to 37-22 by the 16:46 mark and Irondale Head Coach Dean Coffland wasted no time in calling a thirty-second timeout to get his squad calmed down and refocused. But two quick lay-ups in transition by Schaub at the 16:27 and 16:03 mark suddenly made it a 41-22 ballgame and now Coffland had no choice but to take a match to a full timeout. Now, however, the damage had been done and the Knights had little chance of catching up. Irondale tried to make some dents in the deficit but they were never able to sustain any sustained run. Waldemer connected with a short jumper along the left baseline at the 14:50 mark and a lay-up in transition by Junior forward Juriah Hughes helped cut the deficit down to sixteen trailing 44-28 by the 14:05 mark but Park Center had no intention of taking their foot off the gas pedal anytime soon. A short pull-up jumper by Simonet at the 13:18 mark and a lay-up in transition by DuBois ballooned the lead to 51-29. DuBois' best moment in the game, however, may very well have come at about the midway point when she drove hard across the lane and put up a high floater than deftly kissed off the glass and went through the cylinder. With the Pirates now safely up 57-34 by this time, Irondale could only make incremental dents the rest of the way although they did get on a nice 11-2 run well after the game was decided. A "3" by senior reserve forward Ali Welch from the left wing with 7:14 left along with scores by both senior guard Sydney Driggs and Waldemar made the score respectable. Blakemore got late scores for Park Center in the late going - a "3" from the right top area with 4:10 left and a jumper from the right elbow with 2:54 left as Park Center notched another victory in this season by a 73-51 margin.
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