Centennial vs Park Center 1-10-17

Made the short run over to nearby Park Center High School on this Tuesday evening to take in this huge Northwest Suburban Conference battle between visiting Centennial; currently ranked 5th in the state in Class AAAA taking on host Park Center.  The Pirates; who have been in a bit of a slump as of late, were looking to regain solid footing - as well as perhaps their own self-confidence - in getting a big win over a ranked team.  Moreover, this game could possibly be a preview of the 5AAAA Championship Game up at Anoka come March.

And Park Center definitely got off to a decent start in this contest as one trey from the left top area by senior sharp-shooting guard Ann Simonet at the 17:16 mark and another one from senior point guard Danielle Schaub from the left corner at the 16:19 mark put the Pirates out in front 6-2 but Centennial was quick to respond.  Two scores by sophomore forward Sara Stapleton - one in the paint at the 15:58 mark and a lay-up at the 14:39 mark - tied the game at 6-all and a lay-up by senior post Sarah Grow at the 14:01 mark gave the Cougars their first lead of the evening at 8-6.  Concerned about having things get away from them early, Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde called a thirty-second timeout to discuss things with his team and make some quick adjustments.  That short stoppage in play allowed the Pirates to catch their breath and clear their heads a bit.  Simonet connected with a jumper from the left elbow area at the 13:49 mark and a Schaub lay-up in transition at the 13:08 mark had Park Center back out in front 10-8 although Cougar junior guard Claire Orth would get the game tied again at 10-all with her lay-up in transition at the 12:35 mark so at that point this looked to be a close nip-and-tuck game that you would expect from these two teams.

Typically, this is where the Pirates have faltered as of late but on this night they came together as a team and showed the crowd on hand at Park Center Gymnasium that they are still a force to be reckoned with.  A "3" from the right corner at the 12:15 mark by junior reserve guard Azsha Michael ignited a 13-0 run that effectively put Centennial on its heels.  Michael would strike again at the 10:46 mark with a "3" from the top of the key off the glass for a 16-10 Pirate lead and a Schaub lay-up at the 10:16 mark pushed that lead to 18-10.  Junior reserve forward Charo Nickens' lay-up at the 9:53 mark stretched the lead to 20-10 and Cougar Head Coach Jill Becken immediately called a timeout to get her squad regrouped.  Still, Simonet would cap this game-changing run with her "3" from the left corner at the 9:09 mark for a 23-10 lead before Centennial could stop the bleeding. Sophomore guard Taylor McAulay connected with a lay-up in transition with 8:20 left and junior guard/forward Sydney Stapleton drilled a "3" from the left wing area with 7:12 left that helped the Cougars cut into the deficit trailing 23-15.  Park Center got the lead back up to double-digits on a score in the paint by lanky senior post Mikayla Hayes with 5:45 left and Becken again called for a timeout hoping to find a solution to this Pirate onslaught.  Still, speedy junior guard Sommer Blakemore connected with a lay-up with 4:42 left that pushed the lead to 27-15 and it became a struggle for Centennial to try and get things back into single-digit range.  Sara Stapleton was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:19 left that cut the deficit down to ten points but she also missed a pair of freebies with 3:15 left that would have narrowed the gap back into single-digit range.  The Pirates made them pay for that as Blakemore unleashed a "3" from the left wing area with 2:24 left for a 30-17 advantage although Centennial would manage to briefly get back to within striking distance on two free throws by Grow with 2:07 left and a Sara Stapleton jumper from the free throw line with 1:27 left allowed the Cougars to sniff a bit of daylight trailing 30-21 and two McAulay free throws with :38.2 left gave Centennial even more hope trailing 30-23.  But Charo Nickens stole the spotlight just before the haltime buzzer as she was able to connect with a lay-up with :31.8 left that also drew a foul and allowed her to sink the obligatory free throw for a 33-23 Pirate lead and a pretty drive and finish by the speedy junior reserve with just :04 left allowed Park Center to not only take a 35-23 lead into the locker room at the half but also effectively dissolved a ray of hope that the Cougars were clinging to as well.

A Simonet "3" from the top of the key at the 17:03 mark to begin the second half put Centennial under even more duress as the Pirate lead grew to 38-23 and the Cougars did well responding with a 6-0 push.  Grow connected with a lay-up in transition at the 16:30 mark and a Sydney Stapleton drive and finish at the 16:02 mark trimmed the Park Center lead down to 38-27.  Junior guard Claire Orth's short shot from the left side at the 14:50 mark had Centennial back to within that coveted single-digit range again trailing 38-29 and a Sara Stapleton jumper from the free throw line at the 13:06 mark along with two free throws by sister Sydney Stapleton at the 11:05 mark again provided a ray of hope keeping the Cougars reasonably close trailing 42-33.  Back-to-back scores by Simonet, however, put Centennial back at Square One as she connected with a short jumper from the right side at the 10:55 mark and followed that up with a drive and a pretty one-handed finish at the 10:20 mark as the Pirate lead was back to double-digits at 46-33.  The Cougars would make another try as a Grow score in the paint at the 9:56 mark and one Grow charity stripe shot at the 9:15 mark cut the deficit down to ten points at 46-36 and an Orth lay-up at the 9:05 mark again gave the Centennial faithful another ray of hope as they were back within single-digit range again trailing 46-38.

A McAulay lay-up in transition kept the Cougars within striking distance trailing 48-40 but Park Center; when it was in a potentially vulnerable situation, responded by effectively shutting the door on any Centennial comeback attempt.  Slender junior guard Meghan DuBois drained a "3" from the left wing area with 7:16 left that pushed the Pirate lead back to double-digits at 51-40 and a Hayes score in the paint with 6:26 left increased the lead to 53-40.  An Orth offensive rebound and putback with 5:33 left helped the Cougars momentarily get the deficit back down to ten points at 53-43 but that pesky Park Center defense came to the rescue again as Blakemore snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 4:59 left for a 55-43 Pirate lead and there was really no looking back from there.  Blakemore also snuck into the paint for a score with 4:40 left and Hayes did likewise with 4:11 left for a 59-46 Park Center lead and a Blakemore drive and finish with 3:38 left made it a 61-48 game.  Worse yet for the Cougars was that the Pirates got into the bonus with 2:04 left and Schaub routinely dropped two freebies for a 63-48 advantage as did DuBois with 1:08 left.  Two more by Simonet with :50.6 left and a pair by Blakemore with just :03 left for insurance purposes helped Park Center bag a huge 69-55 win.

A beaming VanderHyde afterward left no doubt about how big this game was for his team.  "Just a huge win" he said with a smile.  I think what impressed me the most about this win was that, on this night, the Pirates just displayed a toughness that I hadn't seen before in some of their previous games where they dropped close decisions to the likes of East Ridge, Elk River and Minnetonka - all quality opponents.  On this night when they faced another quality opponent in Centennial, they came together in all facets of the game and showed that they're still an opponent and force to be reckoned with and, more importantly, a team that can do big things on the big stage against a top team.  On the other side of the coin, certainly a disappointing night for the Cougars and Becken; obviously distraught with the loss, could only say that "We got our butts kicked tonight".  And Centennial obviously left a lot of points on the table in this contest with several missed inside shots and "bunnies" that, at the very least, could have changed the complexion of this contest.  But the Cougars are in very good hands with Becken back at the helm and they'll be fine in the long run.  And they'll have to find a way to respond with third-ranked Elk River paying a visit to Circle Pines on Thursday night which should be a doozy of a contest.  But, then again, that's life in arguably the toughest conference which is the Northwest Suburban Conference.  Moreover, don't be surprised if these two team face each other again up in Anoka in early March with much bigger stakes at hand.