Made the annual pilgrimmage up to Anoka on this Thursday night to take in the Section 5AAAA Championship Game between number three seed Champlin Park and number one seed Park Center. The Rebels advanced to the title game by virtue of their upset win over second-seeded Roseville last Saturday while the Pirates had to hold on for dear life against fourth-seeded Osseo on the same afternoon. These two neighborhood and Northwest Suburban Conference rivals have gone at each other for a long time but never in a game this big before. After enduring another agonizing 40 minutes of Iowa basketball earlier in the day that saw the Hawkeyes drop a 68-66 decision to Illinois in the B1G Tourney and after having to stomach UCLA's THIRD blowout loss to crosstown rival USC in ONE season the night before in the Pac 12 Tournament, a chance to take in these two bitter Northwest Suburban Conference rivals playing for the right to advance to state was exactly what the doctor ordered.
It would be the underdog Rebels drawing first blood in this contest as sophomore guard Erica Hicks drained a "3" from the right top area at the 16:45 mark for a 3-0 Champlin Park lead but the Pirates would come right back with a 7-0 run. A drive and finish by sophomore guard Sommer Blakemore at the 14:17 mark and a turnaround jumper off the glass by lanky junior post Mikayla Hayes at the 13:36 mark had Park Center out in front 4-3. Fellow junior sharpshooting guard Ann Simonet punctuated the early run with her "3" from the left corner at the 12:08 mark. The Rebels managed to close the gap to one point when equally lanky 6'4" senior post Hanna Crymble maneuvered down low for a score and drew a foul in the process that allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw at the 11:42 mark. Another Crymble score in the paint at the 9:25 mark and two free throws by reserve sophomore guard Amanda Pollard with 8:51 left in the first half kept Champlin Park right in the thick of things trailing 11-10.
Things appeared to get even more dicey from a Pirate standpoint with 8:28 left when Hayes; the future Florida Gator, picked up her third foul of the contest which forced Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde to sit her for the rest of the first half. Champlin Park meanwhile got its nose out in front again with 8:15 left when Pollard banged home a "3" from the top of the key that had the Rebels up 13-11. The Pirates would respond as sophomore reserve guard Charo Nickens knocked down a "3" from the left corner with 7:46 left and athletic junior forward Fey Ayobamidele snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 7:13 left to forge a 16-13 Park Center advantage. Still, when Crymble snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 5:11 left, it appeared to signal that the Rebels were going to stay right in the thick of things trailing 16-15. It was at this point, however, that the Pirates were able to make their first decisive move and build a bit of a cushion. A 13-5 run to close the first half changed the complexion of this game and a lay-up by Blakemore with 4:54 left and a pull-up jumper in the lane in transition by junior guard Danielle Schaub with 4:37 left made it 20-15 Park Center. Two charity stripe shots by sophomore reserve guard Meghan DuBois with 4:10 left stretched the Pirate lead to 22-15 before Champlin Park could respond on a coast-to-coast lay-up by Hicks that drew a foul and sent her to the line for the ensuing freebie. Undeterred by that hiccup, the Pirates struck right back on a "3" from left wing by DuBois with 3:23 left and two DuBois free throws with 2:46 left made it 27-18. The Rebels were now having considerable difficulty setting up their half-court offense thanks to that swarming, in-your-face Park Center defense that can make life miserable for opponents. Two free throws by Simonet with :55.8 left had the Pirates up double digits at 29-18 and, although Hicks was able to knock down two free throws of her own with :30.5 left that had Champlin Park back within single digit range trailing 29-20, the Rebels were clearly on their heels going into the locker room at the half.
Park Center came out at the beginning of the second half as aggressive as ever and did not give the Rebels much breathing room when they had the ball which led to inevitable turnovers. A Simonet "3" from the left corner at the 16:45 mark and a Hayes jumper from the left wing at the 14:53 mark had the Pirates back up in double-digit range again at 34-20. A Crymble lay-up at the 14:36 mark stopped some of the Champlin Park bleeding but one Ayobamidele free throw at the 14:23 mark and another Simonet three-point bomb - this one from the left top area at the 13:56 mark - made it a 38-22 ballgame. One free throw by reserve sophomore forward Azsha Michael at the 13:17 mark and an Ayobamidele three-point bomb from the left corner at the 13:03 mark now had the Pirates up comfortably at 42-22 and left the Rebels reeling. Two free throws by sophomore reserve forward Lydia Brecht at the 12:10 mark and a Crymble lay-up that drew a foul and sent her to the line for the obligatory freebie cut some of the fat off the deficit but trailing 42-27 at the 10:06 mark, Champlin Park had a long way to go and a short time to get there.
A rare Crymble trey from the right corner with 7:14 left gave the Rebels and their fans a wisp of hope trailing 44-30 but Park Center wasted little time in effectively closing the door on those fragile hopes. A Blakemore drive into the lane and finish with 6:30 left and two free throws by Hayes with 5:59 left built the cushion back up to eighteen points and the Pirates managed to keep their neighborhood rival at bay the rest of the way. Hayes; still riding those three fouls, scored in the paint with 5:25 left and Ayobamidele lay-ups with 4:59 and 4:46 left effectively choked off any last hope Champlin Park may have had. The Rebels still kept flailing away, however, as treys by both Hicks and Pollard got the defict down to sixteen at 54-38 with 4:25 left but they could get no closer. Free throws by Ayobamidele and Hayes made it a 61-40 game with 2:38 left and an Ayobamidele "3" from the left corner with 2:05 left was the cherry on top of the cake. Michael added one more insurance free throw with 1:44 left as Park Center claimed its third straight section title - this one coming in the 5AAAA section - with a convincing 65-41 victory and with it, their third trip to the state tournament.
I have to be honest here.....At the beginning of the season, I really thought that the odds were stacked against the Pirates returning to the state tournament. Sure, they had that core of juniors back who were now much more experienced with two state titles under their belt but going through the Class AAAA field to return to state was obviously going to be filled with many more landmines than it ever was in Class AAA. And they could have easily lost that section semifinal game to Osseo when the Orioles made that late run at them. Somehow along the way, this team took it to another level; another notch if you will. It's an amazing process to watch a group of young players grow not only on the basketball court but emotionally and mentally as well. This squad under VanderHyde and his staff has done just that. VanderHyde, in fact, admitted afterward that he had no concern when Hayes picked up her third foul early in the contest. He knew his other players would step up and they did. The big question now becomes where do the Pirates get seeded for the state tournament this next week? You have to figure that Hopkins will be the number one seed and then Minnetonka would likely be the number two seed should they defeat Shakopee in the Section 2AAAA Championship game on Friday night (3-11). The best bet here would have Park Center going in as a possible number four seed which isn't a bad spot to be in. They would at least avoid the Hopkins - Minnetonka/Shakopee warship off the bat. Depending upon who they play in the first quarterfinal game on Tuesday, assuming they get past that of course, the Pirates could at the very least roll the dice against those one of those top teams. But that prospect didn't seem to faze VanderHyde at all who noted that "we've played these teams already."
No comments:
Post a Comment