Maple Grove vs Park Center 1-27-17

Made the short hop over to Park Center High School on this Friday evening to take in the match-up between visiting Maple Grove and host Park Center.  This would be my first look at the Crimson this season and it's arguably been a bit of a rebuilding year for Head Coach Mark Cook and his staff as Maple Grove came into this contest with a 7-10 record overall and with an interesting mix of youth and veteran leadership.  The Pirates meanwhile were coming off an important win over nearby arch-rival Champlin Park on Tuesday night and with the team getting over the flu bug that hit them late last week, Head Coach Chris VanderHyde and his staff were hoping to see their squad turn it up a notch or two.

Park Center drew first blood in this contest as speedy junior guard Sommer Blakemore drained a "3" from the right wing area on the Pirates first possession at the 17:25 mark but Maple Grove would answer that with an 8-0 run; highlighted by a lay-ups in transition by junior forward Autumn Mlinar at the 16:55 mark and by junior forward Katrina Theis at the 16:09 mark that helped give the Crimson a 6-3 advantage.  Two free throws by senior forward Sarah Liimatta at the 15:45 mark capped this early run by Maple Grove before the Pirates could narrow the gap to two points on a three-point bomb by slender junior guard Meghan DuBois at the 15:25 mark.  Still, the Crimson seemed to have the upper hand as they employed a mixture of 2-3 and 2-1-2 zone defenses that seemed to throw Park Center for a bit of a loop.  A drive and finish by senior guard Abbey Rostamo at the 15:15 mark extended the lead to four points at 10-6 and a Rostamo jumper from the left wing area at the 14:34 mark maintained that four-point edge at 12-8.  A score in the paint by Theis at the 13:38 mark and two free throws by Theis at the 12:03 mark stretched the lead to seven at 16-9 before the Pirates could break out of their early doldrums.  Senior sharp-shooting guard Ann Simonet took some of the cobwebs off the Park Center basket with her lay-up that drew a foul and sent the future UM-Duluth Bulldog to the line for the "and one" which cut the deficit to a slightly more manageable four points at 16-12 but the Crimson again responded.  Junior reserve forward Sydni Schulte blasted through a gap to connect with a lay-up at the 11:40 mark and two freebies by senior reserve forward Kendall First at the 10:22 mark got the lead to eight points at 20-12.  First was able to muscle into the paint for a score at the 10:00 mark that now had Maple Grove up by double digits at 22-12 and several fans in the Park Center stands were feeling a bit uneasy at this point as many thought that this game would be a rather routine win for the home team.

Slowly but surely, the Pirates would whittle away at the deficit in front of them.  Blakemore dropped her second three-point bomb of the evening - this one coming from the left top area at the 9:10 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by lanky 6'3" senior post Mikayla Hayes with 7:05 left trimmed the Maple Grove lead down to seven at 24-17.  Two free throws by Hayes; the future Florida Gator with 6:37 left and another Blakemore "3" - this one from the right top area with 5:08 left - suddenly cut that nice little Crimson cushion down to two points at 24-22 and Maple Grove's Cook had no choice but to call a timeout to survey the damage done.  The Crimson appeared to recover somewhat after that stoppage in play as Rostamo dropped two free throws after getting fouled with 4:25 left and one more by First with 3:55 left upped the Maple Grove lead to five points at 27-22. Blakemore's drive and finish off the glass with 2:05 left had the Pirates back to within a single possession trailing 27-24 but Crimson junior reserve forward Rebekah Tyler nailed a "3" from the right top area with 1:50 left to make it 30-24 and a Mlinar lay-up with 1:06 left pushed the lead to eight points at 32-24.  Park Center would make one last swipe right before the halftime intermission with Simonet's steal and lay-up the other way with :04 left that cut the deficit down to six points at 32-26 but the Pirate's VanderHyde knew full and well that his squad had a lot of work in front of it if they wanted to come away with the "W" on this night.

Whatever VanderHyde said in the locker room at the half sure seemed to work as Park Center came out in the second half with a renewed vigor and intensity.  Two scores to start this second half - a "3" by senior point guard Danielle Schaub from the right corner at the 17:39 mark and a score in the paint by Hayes at the 16:27 mark - trimmed the deficit down to a scant point at 32-31.  The Crimson tried to recover as a short jumper from the left side by Liimatta at the 15:44 mark got the lead back up to three at 34-31 but another Hayes score in the paint at the 15:27 mark and two Schaub free throws after the future Concordia St. Paul Golden Bear was fouled in a transition opportunity at the 14:56 mark pushed the Pirates ahead 35-34 for the first time since the opening moments of the ballgame.  Again Maple Grove tried to recover.  A "3" from the top of the key by senior guard Skyler Dodge at the 14:20 mark pushed the Crimson back out in front again at 37-35 and a Mlinar score in the paint at the 14:02 mark got Maple Grove's lead up to four points at 39-35.  The Pirates would respond with a 6-0 push, however, that allowed them to recapture the lead - this time for good.  Schaub unleashed another "3" - this one from the right corner again - at the 13:32 mark and one free throw by DuBois who was fouled on a drive to the basket at the 12:43 mark tied the game at 39-all.  Then it was the freewheeling DuBois with a pretty lay-up in transition at the 12:11 mark that gave Park Center the lead at 41-39.  Freshman reserve guard Lauren Frost lit up the gym with her "3" from the right top area at the 11:20 mark for a 44-40 Pirate advantage and even though Maple Grove would close the gap to a single point a bit later on one free throw by junior reserve guard Lauryn Moline at the 10:53 mark and a score in the paint by Theis at the 10:15 mark, Park Center had grabbed the bull by the horns so to speak that had momentum clearly in their favor.

Oddly enough, it would be the young ones who would give the Pirates a lift after the Crimson got close again.  Junior reserve forward Charo Nickens snuck into the paint for one score at the 9:55 mark and then it would be Frost reigning terror from three-point land again - this one from the left corner at the 9:12 mark that seemed to do a wicked dance on the rim before falling through - that upped the Park Center lead to 49-43.  A short jumper in the lane by Simonet with 8:28 left maintained the six-point edge at 51-45 but a stubborn Maple Grove team refused to fly the white flag.  Sydni Schulte uncorked a "3" from the top of the key with 7:55 left and two Dodge freebies with 7:04 left had the Crimson back within a single possession trailing 53-50.  Frost and Charo Nickens would come through again to save Park Center.  Frost sank one charity stripe shot with 6:46 left and Charo Nickens snuck into the paint again for a score with 6:01 left that gave the Pirates a bit more of a safety net up 56-50.  Hayes got into the paint for a score with 4:01 left and two Frost free throws with 3:09 left now had Park Center up 60-51.  The Crimson would still make one last try to upset the apple cart on the road.  Theis was able snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback with 2:50 left and then connected with a lay-up in transition a little less than a minute later with 1:56 left that trimmed the deficit down to five points at 60-55.  Maple Grove's Cook called a timeout to set up strategy to try and forge an unlikely comeback.  But the Crimson were also now forced to foul in an effort to preserve as much time on the clock as possible and it was here that Park Center was finally able to ice the game.  Schaub; the Pirates ever-reliable point guard, calmly dropped two freebies after getting fouled with 1:29 left that made it a 62-55 game and after a foiled Maple Grove possession, Hayes was subsequently fouled on the defensive rebound and her two freebies with 1:19 left pushed the lead to nine at 64-55.  That nine point edge would be too much to overcome in such a short time frame although the Crimson would get two last scores in a vain effort to do that.  Theis dropped two free throws after getting fouled with :47.6 left and Sydni Schulte connected with a lay-up cutting the deficit to five but Park Center was able to run the clock out and pocketed a key 64-59 Northwest Suburban Conference win.

One of the keys to the Pirates victory on this night was an incredibly balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures scoring-wise.  It was a fantastic outing for the youngster, Frost, with her 13 points and Hayes also had 13 points as well.  Schaub had 12 points while Blakemore chipped in with 11 points.  Maple Grove relied heavily, on the other hand, on Theis as she led all scorers with 19 points.  Another big factor for the Pirates was Hayes' rebounding efforts as her 14 boards helped her get a "double-double" on this night.  And, while I rarely comment on the officiating of any games, I feel compelled to comment on the officials on this night.  They were simply atrocious as a group and one of the officiating members was in way over his head with several mistakes being made during the game on free throws and other matters.  At the same time, we forget that, as fans, coaches and players, that officials are human beings as well and even the best ones make mistakes at times.  I get that and totally understand that.  And this is coming from someone who has garnered his share of code violations on the tennis court over the years and likely still will.  But I think that the governing body that handles officials has to do a better job to insure quality officiating and if it's more training and video work they have to do, then so be it.  Park Center's VanderHyde couldn't contain his frustration about the officiating either.  "Horrible.  Just horrible" he said.  Yet, the Pirates were able to overcome those obstacles and get a key win that helps solidify their case for a number-one seed in Section 5AAAA and hold their first place status in the Southern Division of the Northwest Suburban Conference as well.