The first step of the journey of getting back to the State Tournament began in earnest last night and I was over at nearby Park Center High School to take in their opening Section 5AAAA quarterfinal game against visiting Spring Lake Park. Given the fact that the Pirates had already handily defeated the Panthers on this same floor back in early February 83-36 their was little, if any reason to expect a different outcome this time around. However, once you get to this stage of the season, the LAST thing ANY team can afford is complacency and, as has been the case the last two seasons anyway, this is when the Pirates play their best.
And, coming out of the starting gate, it appeared as if Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde had his squad in full gear as they came out bombs away. Back-to-back treys - one by athletic junior forward Fey Ayobamidele from the left top area at the 17:20 mark and another one by sophomore guard Sommer Blakemore from the right top area at the 16:53 mark - gave the Pirates a quick 6-0 lead. A score in the paint by lanky junior post Mikayla Hayes at the 16:26 mark and another Blakemore "3" from the same right top area as before made it 11-0 by the 15:24 mark. At the 14:20 mark, Ayobamidele pick-pocketed a Panther and dashed the other way for a lay-up that made it 13-0 before Spring Lake Park finally got on the board at the 13:42 mark when sophomore reserve forward Emma Curran knocked down a "3" from the top of the key. But a "3" from the right wing area by junior sharp-shooting guard Ann Simonet from the right wing area at the 13:27 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by junior point guard Danielle Schaub expanded Park Center's lead to 18-3 at the 13:08 mark and Panther Head Coach Randy Eatherton; sensing that this one was going to be a repeat of last time, called a time out to try and stop the hemorrhaging.
In reality, there was very little Spring Lake Park could do to try and stop this incredibly talented Pirate team - especially in the month of March. The Panthers managed to keep the deficit at fifteen points at 22-7 on free throws by freshman reserve guard Jocelyn Talso and senior guard Sierra Reiland but Park Center wasted little time in expanding the lead once again. A Simonet "3" from the right corner at the 10:56 mark and a lay-up in transition by sophomore reserve forward Charo Nickens twenty seconds later made it 27-7 and successive lay-ups by Simonet made it a 33-9 game by the 9:36 mark which resulted in another Spring Lake Park timeout. This stoppage only delayed the inevitable as Blakemore unleashed her third trey of this game with 7:58 left from the left wing area and a lay-up in transition by reserve sophomore guard Meghan DuBois with 7:26 left made it 38-9. The Panthers tried everything conceivable under the sun to try and slow down the Park Center attack but even a 1-2-2 zone defense wouldn't do the trick. Hayes snared a long offensive rebound of her own miss and got a jumper in the lane out of it with 6:07 left for a 40-10 advantage and a short jumper by Schaub with 5:29 left maintained the thirty-point edge at 42-12. Blakemore uncorked her fourth three-point bomb of this first half; this one coming from the left top area with 4:35 left to make it 45-13. A Curran jumper along the left baseline with 4:10 left momentarily stopped the Park Center artillery barrage but the Pirates quickly resumed the bombardment. A Hayes lay-up with 3:36 left followed by a jumper in the lane off the glass with 3:08 left by the future Florida Gator made it 49-18. Schaub knocked down a short jumper in the lane with 2:39 left and then Hayes snared an offensive rebound of a missed Blakemore free throw and got a lay-up out of it with 2:00 left for a 54-18 lead. Hayes got another score down low with :34 left and a lay-up in transition after a steal by Charo Nickens with just :17 left made it 58-19. Reiland managed to get one free throw to go down for the Panthers with :07.3 left but Hayes and the Pirates got one more dagger in right before the first half buzzer as she snared an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback with just :01 left that left no doubt how this one was going to turn out as Park Center trotted into the locker room with a 60-20 lead.
With a thirty-point lead and the contest all but decided, VanderHyde, as he had in the previous regular season game against Spring Lake Park, sent in his reserves to finish things up for the second half which not only kept the score halfway respectable but, just as important, protected his starting rotation from risking an injury. The young faces, given this opportunity in this setting, did not let the moment get away from them. Freshman reserve guard Trinidi Prochaska got into the paint for a score at the 17:38 mark and sophomore reserve guard Naomi Fields snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 15:54 mark that made it a 64-22 ballgame. Two scores by sophomore reserve post Chyanne Nickens at the 12:31 and 12:02 marks and a "3" from the left corner by junior reserve guard Ilenna Garcia at the 11:31 mark now had the Pirates up 76-28. Eighth-grader Lauren Frost and junior reserve guard Siah Tamba also had a nice outing in this second half opportunity for the young ones. Frost connected with a lay-up after a steal at the 11:10 mark and also drained a "3" from the top of the key with 8:59 left. Tamba meanwhile got one score in the paint at the 10:36 mark and another one at the 10:15 mark. With a prohibitive 85-30 lead after the Frost trey, the MSHSL Running Time Rule came into effect to speed the conclusion of this one. Eighth-grader Kayla Cox connected with a jumper from the free throw line with 5:43 left and freshman reserve forward Ajah McBride and eighth-grader Aaliyah Ragulen got late scores as Park Center waltzed into the semi-final round with a resounding 91-38 victory.
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