Section 5AAAA Championship Game - Centennial vs Park Center 3-9-17

Made my seemingly annual trek up to Anoka on this Thursday night to take in the Section 5AAAA Championship Game between two old Northwest Suburban Conference rivals - Centennial and Park Center.  These two teams had met back in early January at Park Center with the Pirates winning handily but the Cougars had improved mightily since that defeat and now seemingly looked ready to steal the show.  Park Center meanwhile was seeking its fourth straight trip to the Big Stage and everything appeared to be clicking for them at precisely the right time of the season.

Centennial built an early 4-1 lead as a jumper from the right wing by lanky 6'3" sophomore post/forward Sara Stapleton at the 16:10 mark and a short jumper at the 14:40 mark by equally-lanky senior post Sarah Grow had the Cougars in good shape.  Centennial was also employing a 2-3 "match-up" zone on defense in hopes of plugging up the middle but that didn't seem to bother the Pirates in the early going.  Senior sharp-shooting guard Ann Simonet drilled a "3" from the right top area at the 13:58 mark to level the contest at 4 a piece and a lay-up in transition by senior point guard Danielle Schaub at the 12:45 mark forged a 6-all tie.  Simonet wreaked havoc again from three-point land at the 10:49 mark; draining one from the right wing in a transition opportunity to push Park Center ahead 9-6 and one free throw by senior post Mikayla Hayes at the 10:18 mark increased the lead to 10-6.  Cougar junior guard Claire Orth brought her Centennial team back to a single point with her "3" from the left corner at the 9:16 mark but Park Center's Schaub gave the Pirates a bit more breathing room with her lay-up in transition at the 9:06 mark to make it a 12-9 game.

Park Center upped its lead to 14-9 when Hayes connected with a short shot with 8:33 left that made it 14-9 but the Cougars refused to simply wilt and go away.  Junior guard forward Sydney Stapleton knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area with 8:11 left and a "3" from the left wing by senior guard Nikki Clark with 7:51 left had the game knotted at 14 a piece.  Simonet put the Pirates back out in front 17-14 with her "3" from the right wing area with 7:07 left but that didn't deter Centennial as an Orth lay-up in transition with 6:41 left and a Grow jumper from the free throw line with 6:03 left shoved the Cougars back out in front by a count of 18-17.  Then Grow struck again with 5:43 left when she scored in the paint and drew a foul in the process and the ensuing "and one" now had Centennial up 21-17.  The Pirates then embarked on a 6-0 push to reclaim the advantage as an offensive rebound and putback by Hayes with 5:19 left and another lay-up in transition by the wily Schaub with 4:33 left tied things up again at 21 a piece and a score in the paint by Hayes with 3:39 left now had Park Center back out in front 23-21.  But the Cougars would end the first half on a 5-0 spurt to take a 26-23 lead into the locker room at the half as Centennial had the luxury of being in the bonus down the stretch.  Sophomore reserve guard Taylor McAulay knocked down two free throws after being fouled with 2:38 left and two more by Grow with 2:25 left had the Cougars back out in front 25-23 and one more by Orth with 1:56 left made it a 26-23 game.  Both teams missed out on scoring opportunities in the waning moments but Centennial Head Coach Jill Becken had to be pleased seeing her team doing well against a seasoned and experienced opponent - and with a three-point lead to boot.

The early moments of the second half were a bit ominous for the Cougars as Sara Stapleton was tagged with her third foul at the 15:37 mark.  Speedy Park Center sophomore guard Sommer Blakemore was the beneficiary of the moment and she promptly dropped two free throws to cut Centennial's lead down to a scant point at 26-25 but a 5-0 Cougar spurt seemed to erase that bad moment.  Sydney Stapleton connected with a jumper from the left elbow area at the 14:25 mark and then it was McAulay dropping a three-point bomb with cool aplomb from the left wing area that had the Centennial contingent roaring as the Cougars now held claim to a 31-25 advantage.  Two free throws by Grow at the 12:13 mark expanded the lead to seven points at 33-26 and now there was some genuine worry in the Park Center fan base as Centennial not only had the lead but seemed to be controlling the tempo to their liking as well.  An alarmed Pirate squad then proceeded to go on a 7-0 run to tie the game.  Blakemore connected on a short turnaround jumper at the 11:15 mark and Simonet unleashed another one of her trademark three-point bombs - this one from the top of the key at the 10:34 mark that had Park Center back to within a single possession trailing 33-31.  Slender junior guard Meghan DuBois' lay-up in transition at the 9:19 mark knotted the contest again at 33 a piece and you just knew that this one had all the makings of a possible classic with so much at stake.

The Cougars then poked their nose out in front again as Clark made a pretty move along the left baseline for a finish off the glass with 8:13 left and then Orth found a crack in Park Center's defense and slithered through for a lay-up with 7:26 left for a 37-33 Centenial lead.  The Pirates slimmed the deficit down to a scant point when Blakemore drained a "3" from the right top area with 7:17 left and two free throws by Schaub with 5:51 left tied the game at 38.  But getting their nose back out in front was proving to be an arduous task up to this point anyway for Park Center and the Cougars were doing everything possible to try and make sure that that didn't happen.  Sydney Stapleton connected with a jumper from the right elbow area with 5:28 left for a 40-38 Centennial lead and although Hayes would cut the deficit down to one point for the Pirates with her free throw with 5:14 left, you just couldn't help but wonder if possibly the sands of time were finally running out on Park Center's hope to return to state for a fourth consecutive season.  The Cougars were not going away anytime soon and they seemed to have an answer for everything that was being thrown at them.  But it's a funny thing in a highly competitive situation when you're in a tight contest and you just feel a sudden sense of urgency to raise the level of your game that will help you pave the way to ultimate victory. And Park Center, when at a crucial stage of the game with everything hanging in the balance, found a way to do just that.  Simonet, getting just enough of a good look from behind the arc in the right wing area, launched a bomb with 4:43 left that finally pushed the Pirates ahead for good at 42-40.  But Park Center committed a grievous error on the ensuing Centennial possession as Sydney Stapleton was fouled from behind the arc with 4:31 left.  Unfortunately for the Cougars, the lanky 5'10" junior could only get one of the three free throw attempts to go down and Park Center dodged a huge bullet late.  As such, Schaub extended the Pirate lead to three points on her two free throws with 4:10 left and two more by Blakemore with 3:34 left now had Park Center up by five at 46-41 and even worse for the Cougars was the fact that now Orth was gone; collecting her fifth foul of the night.  Sara Stapleton helped Centennial get back to within a single possession as she was able to knock down two free throws with 3:22 left but they couldn't stop the Pirates on their ensuing possession as they went straight to Hayes who rolled the dice and scored inside with 2:54 left that again had Park Center up five points at 48-43.  Sydney Stapleton made up for those missed free throws earlier by knocking down a jumper from the right elbow with 2:36 left that again had the Cougars down a single possession trailing 48-45.  It was here that Park Center may have played a bit of a dangerous game; going into a stall to try and eat up clock.  Blakemore was finally fouled with 1:00 left and was able to get the back-end free throw attempt to go down for a 49-45 Pirate lead.  On Centennial's ensuing possession, Sydney Stapleton was fouled with :50.8 left but she was unable to get either free throw attempt to go down and now the Pirates finally had a real chance to close this one out.  Schaub would drop one free throw with :36.9 left and two more by Blakemore with :22.5 left and one by Schaub with :09.6 left allowed Park Center to escape with a harrowing 53-46 win to punch its ticket to the State Tournament for the fourth time in a row.

I was able to catch up with an elated Schaub who was soaking in the moment.  I asked her if she and her Pirate teammates could make some noise this time around in the state tournament next week.  "We weren't seeded last year but we're older now and we're more mature and smarter now so I feel like we could really surprise some teams."  Park Center Head Coach Chris VanderHyde; now going to his fourth state tournament in as many seasons with the Pirates, was equally elated.  I mentioned to him that I thought his squad's experience in these types of situations played huge dividends down the stretch.  "Yeah....Fortunately we were able to keep the game tight enough so that we were able to use that experience.....I've got to give a lot of credit to Centennial....They had a great gameplan.  They played well and took away everything we were trying to do all night long.  They've got enough playmakers on the floor to do things to their advantage and Jill (Becken) is a phenomenal coach and gets them ready every night.....They're a terrific team and they're as good as any we'll face next week and I was impressed that our girls didn't crack under all that pressure.....When we got down by seven, it could have been easy for us to say 'We don't have it tonight' but we fought back, kept fighting and that was the difference in the game....We did not give in.  We did not give in."  I also asked VanderHyde if his team is primed to do some damage at the State Tournament this next week given that they're a year older and a year more experienced in the Class AAAA setting.  "Well, I hope so....I don't know....I mean you never know.......You start from the beginning.....There's a lot of great teams and I have no idea what happened in the other sections tonight but there's going to be a lot of great teams in the field next week and we'll find out who we match up with tomorrow.....They're going to be a great team.....And it's going to take a lot of preparation to beat 'em.....The experience is something you remember but it's not something you can rely on to win basketball games."

Park Center had an incredibly balanced scoring attack on this night that helped pave the way to victory with four players in double-figures.  Simonet; with her three-point prowess, led the way with 15 points while Blakemore was right behind with 13 points.  Schaub added 12 points while Hayes chipped in with 10 points.  Grow was the only player for Centennial in double-figures with her 13 points.  While definitely a disappointing finish for the Cougars, there's no question that Jill Becken has this program headed in the right direction and the fact that they made it to the Section Championship Game in her first year back at the helm in Circle Pines speaks volumes, IMHO, on how good a coach she really is and the potential that lies ahead for this Centennial program.  They lose some nice seniors in Clark, Grow, along with reserves Laura Gallup, Bridget Bolkcom and McKenna Gieske but they have an exciting young group coming up including the Stapleton Sisters (Sydney and Sara) along with Orth so the future is definitely bright.

Sadly, this game ends my coverage of high school basketball this season.  I'll be at the State Tournament next week but strictly as a fan because of recent decisions made by the MSHSL and I'll have more - much more- to say about this by the first part of this next week.  I hope that you'll get a chance to take it in as I will because it is truly an enjoyable experience and you get a chance to see the top teams in action.  Congratulations Park Center on your Section 5AAAA championship!!