Totino-Grace vs Park Center 2-9-17

Made the short hop over to Park Center High School on this Thursday evening to take in yet another Northwest Suburban Conference battle between visiting Totino-Grace and host Park Center.  The Pirates won the first meeting between the two teams back in January at Totino-Grace so now the Eagles were hoping to turn the tables on the return trip to Park Center.  Unfortunately for Totino-Grace Head Coach Jessica Priest and her staff, they would simply run into a buzzsaw on this night.  This was also "Pink Out" night at Park Center for breast cancer awareness with the Pirate players wearing pink warm-up t-shirts that had the phrase "Tougher and Stronger".  

Somewhat ironically, the Eagles would grab their first (and only) lead of the evening in the early minutes of the first half when junior guard Maddie Doran put Totino-Grace up 2-0 with her lay-up at the 16:56 mark but the Pirates would answer that with a vengeance.  A short jumper off the glass by lanky senior post Mikayla Hayes at the 16:36 mark and a three-point bomb from the left corner by speedy junior guard Sommer Blakemore at the 16:08 mark had Park Center up 5-2.  Less than a minute later, Blakemore would strike again with her steal and lay-up the other way at the 15:17 mark for a 7-2 Pirate advantage.  Totino-Grace would try to counter as Doran connected with another lay-up at the 14:10 mark but things only got worse for the Eagles from that point on.  Two Hayes freebies at the 13:08 mark and three consecutive scores by Blakemore - a "3" from the left wing at the 12:53 mark, a steal and lay-up the other way at the 11:37 mark and a drive and finish at the 11:11 mark - pushed the Park Center lead to 16-4 and the Eagles' Priest called a thirty-second timeout shortly thereafter to try and stop some of the bleeding.  Totino-Grace would keep the deficit at twelve after sophomore forward Bree Glynn's score off of an inbounds pass at the 10:13 mark but two three-point bombs - one by Blakemore from the left wing off of an inbounds pass at the 9:55 mark and another by freshman reserve guard Kayla Cox from the right top area at the 9:00 mark - pushed the Pirate lead to 24-7 and that lead expanded to 26-7 on a short shot from the right side by senior point guard Danielle Schaub with 8:38 left.

Another thirty-second stoppage in play was in the offing by Totino-Grace's Priest but that had little effect on the direction this game was headed in.  Cox was able to connect with a lay-up in transition after a steal by junior forward Charo Nickens with 8:24 left and a "3" from the left wing area by slender junior guard Meghan DuBois from the left wing area with 6:42 left expanded the lead to 31-7. Senior sharp-shooting guard Ann Simonet's "3" from the right wing area with 5:47 left made it a 34-7 ballgame before the Eagles could finally get back on the board again on two free throws by Glynn with 5:09 left.  Totino-Grace, in fact, could only get three more points - all from the charity stripe down the stretch of the first half while the Pirates wreaked havoc every which way.  Schaub drained a "3" from the left top area with 4:59 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Simonet with 3:36 left got the lead to 39-12.  Then it was Schaub with back-to-back three-point bombs from the left wing area - the first with 2:54 left and the other one with 2:20 left - that ballooned the lead to 45-12. Then the Sommer Blakemore Show did an encore presentation with a "3" from the left wing are with 1:16 left and a steal and lay-up the other way by Simonet with :50 left allowed Park Center to breeze into the locker room for the halftime intermission with an insurmountable 50-12 advantage.

The only thing seemingly in question as the second half got underway was how many points the Eagles might get before the MSHSL's "Mercy Rule" of running time kicked in.  To Totino-Grace's credit, they never gave up or quit fighting.  Two free throws by senior forward Alex Gannaway at the 16:57 mark and a lay-up by senior Maddee Brunn at the 14:54 mark were signs that the Eagles were still battling.  Glynn was able to get into the paint for a score at the 14:05 mark and a jumper from the left elbow by senior post Sydney Weierke at the 13:25 mark coupled with a Doran lay-up in transition at the 13:08 mark showed that Totino-Grace had no intentions of simply mailing this one in and going home.  But even those dents could not overcome the sizable lead that the Pirates had built and it was only a matter of time before things were sent into running time.  Holding a sizable 59-22 advantage, Hayes was able to get into the paint for an easy score at the 12:48 mark and then DuBois was able to connect with a lay-up in transition at the 12:29 mark that also drew a foul and her "and one" got the lead to 64-22.  The Eagles were able to get three more scores as freshman reserve forward Maria Hall got a score in the paint at the 12:06 mark and fellow freshman reserve guard Carla Meyer connected with a lay-up in transition at the 10:44 mark.  Weierke also got into the paint for a score at the 10:02 mark but two more Park Center scores - a Schaub free throw at the 9:36 mark and a Charo Nickens lay-up in transition with 8:17 left were the precursor to running time.  This gave both Priest and Pirate Head Coach Chris VanderHyde a chance to get both of their chain gangs off the floor and let the reserves take care of mop-up duty.  Park Center's reserves got a chance to shine down the stretch as well.  Junior reserve guard Azsha Michael connected with a lay-up in transition with 7:01 left and one free throw by eighth-grader Adalia McKenzie with 5:23 left made it a 72-28 game.  Freshman reserve guard Aailyah Ragulen's lay-up in transition after a steal with 4:44 left made it a 74-29 game before McKenzie got three more scores down the stretch - lay-ups with 2:45 and 2:09 left and an offensive rebound and putback of a missed Ragulen free throw with :23 left as the Pirates rolled to an easy 81-31 victory.

Although there wasn't much to say about this particular game, Park Center's VanderHyde was quick to admit that his squad may have played the best first half that they've played all season long.  And, with over a week off before their next contest (at Spring Lake Park on 2-17), it's an opportune time for the Pirates to lick their collective wounds and heal up a bit before they make the last push for the regular season and the Section 5AAAA playoffs.  Freshman reserve guard Lauren Frost sat this one out with an ankle injury she suffered at Osseo back on January 31 but she should be back in action this next week.  It was indeed a great night for Blakemore as she led the way for Park Center with her 18 points while DuBois had thirteen points and Schaub tallied 12 points.  Doran led the way for Totino-Grace with her eight points.