Anoka vs Park Center 12-15-17

Made the short run over to Park Center High School on this somewhat snowy December evening to take in this big early season match-up of two proud Northwest Suburban Conference rivals between visiting Anoka and host Park Center.  This would be my first look at the Tornadoes who have bolted out to a 6-0 start this season thus far and were trying to make amends for a somewhat disappointing 2016-17 season while the Pirates have entered a new era of sorts with a new head coach in Barb Metcalf and a lot of new faces to replace recently departed stars.  I had watched Park Center play at the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic where they beat Prior Lake but wasn't really sure how good they could be so early in the season.  On this night, the Pirates would definitely give me a better idea.

Both teams would trade blows in the opening moments of the first half as Park Center freshman guard/forward Adalia McKenzie connected with a lay-up in transition at the 17:32 mark but the Tornadoes would counter on a three-point bomb from the right wing area by sophomore guard Jersi McAlpine at the 17:14 mark.  Anoka would grab another one-point lead at 5-4 when senior post Lily Schoknecht got into the paint for a score at the 16:19 mark before the Pirates could put together a bit of a run to retake the lead.  McKenzie snared an offensive rebound for a putback of her own miss at the 16:01 mark and senior three-point bomb specialist guard Sommer Blakemore uncorked one of her trademark "3's" from the right wing area at the 15:39 mark for a 9-5 Park Center lead.  McKenzie would snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up at the 14:10 mark and an 11-5 Pirate lead before Anoka could shake off a few cobwebs and battle back.  Freshman reserve guard Olivia Anderson knocked down two free throws after being fouled in a transition opportunity at the 13:24 mark and Anderson would strike again at the 13:06 mark with a pretty drive and finish that got the Tornadoes back in single-possession range trailing 11-9.  Park Center would try to create a little more breathing room with a 4-0 push as Blakemore made a hard drive in transition for a finish at the 12:08 mark and slender senior guard Meghan DuBois connected with a lay-up in another transition opportunity for a 15-9 Pirate lead.  Anoka would cut the deficit down to four points on a "3" from the left wing area by junior reserve guard Lexi Huelsnitz at the 10:59 mark that made it 15-12 game.  Although it was becoming more obvious that Park Center's up-tempo style and pressure defense was definitely having an effect on the Tornadoes preferred half-court game, Anoka was staying close for the time being and weathering the storm reasonably well.

The Pirates would get their lead back to six again as speedy sophomore reserve guard Aaliyah Ragulen slithered into the lane for a finish and was fouled in the process and the ensuing "and one" gave Park Center an 18-12 advantage at the 10:04 mark.  A score in the paint by surprising freshman forward T'Naye Griffin at the 9:08 mark maintained the six-point lead at 20-14.  Two free throws by Tornado sophomore guard Emily Josephson with 8:17 left had Anoka down by only four at 20-16 but it was here that the Pirates made their first decisive move of the game.  Ragulen ventured into the land of giants for a drive and finish with 8:04 left and a steal and lay-up the other way by sophomore reserve guard Kayla Cox with 7:43 left now had Park Center up 24-16.  A short, turnaround jumper by McKenzie with 7:02 left and a short jumper from the left side by Ragulen with 6:35 left now had the Pirates up double-digits at 28-16 and Anoka Head Coach Zack Vogelsberg had seen enough to know that a thirty-second timeout was warranted to get his squad calmed down.  To their credit, the Tornadoes went on a 6-0 push to cut the deficit in half.  Two free throws by Schoknecht with 5:39 left and a pretty give-and-go lay-up by senior reserve guard Justine Watson with 4:59 left had Anoka back in single-digit range trailing 28-20 and a strong offensive rebound and putback by Schoknecht with 4:23 left had things much more manageable for the Tornadoes trailing 28-22.  Watson would strike again for Anoka with 2:35 left with a three-point bomb from the left top area that had things down to five points at 30-25 although the Pirates would flirt with another spurt.  Blakemore would drain another one of her patented three-point bombs from the right top area with 2:18 left for a 33-25 Park Center lead and a Cox lay-up with :50 left before halftime maintained the eight-point edge at 35-27.  Anderson would come to the rescue of the Tornadoes with a jumper along the right baseline with :33 left to keep things reasonably close at the halftime buzzer by a count of 35-29.  Anoka, however, was incredibly fortunate to be as close as they were as the Pirates missed several easy "bunny" shots that would have had Park Center up by considerably more had they been able to cash in.

The fact that the Pirates had allowed Anoka to hang around looked like it might come back to bite Park Center in the early moments of the second half.  A Schoknecht score in the paint at the 17:26 mark kept the deficit at six points at 37-31 and a lay-up by senior guard Noelle Josephson at the 16:22 mark and two Noelle Josephson free throws at the 15:22 mark now left things somewhat uncertain as the Tornadoes trailed by only four at 39-35.  It was here, however, that the roof gradually caved in on Anoka as the Pirates embarked on a game-changing 15-2 run fueled primarily by its pressure defense.  Griffin got into the paint for a score at the 15:10 mark and a three-point bomb by Blakemore from the left wing area at the 12:10 mark suddenly pushed the lead to nine points at 44-35.  McKenzie connected with a lay-up at the 11:27 mark and would also connect with a lay-up in transition at the 9:41 mark to push things back up to double-digit range at 48-37.  Ever-improving sophomore guard Lauren Frost got a lay-up in transition to go down as well at the 9:21 mark and the wily Ragulen drove into the lane for a finish with 8:47 left that now had Park Center up 52-37 and the Tornadoes' Vogelsberg had seen enough to know that he had to take a match to a timeout as this one was rapidly getting away from his squad. 

McKenzie would connect with a lay-up in transition after a steal to complete this run with 7:55 left that made it 54-37 before Anoka could finally stop the bleeding on a pretty drive and finish by Noelle Josephson with 7:08 left.  By now though, the damage had been done and any hopes for a Tornado comeback had long since gone out the window into the cold, snowy night.  An 8-0 Park Center push sealed Anoka's fate for good.  McKenzie connected on a pretty reverse lay-up with 6:55 left and then Blakemore let loose with a "3" from the left corner with 6:18 left that now had the Pirate lead up to twenty at 59-39.  DuBois would do the same from the opposite corner with 5:54 left that made it 62-39 and the Tornadoes could only make incremental dents in the large cushion down the stretch.  Griffin would get into the paint for a score with 5:01 left and although Anoka's Vogelsberg would call another timeout with 4:44 left, there was simply no stopping the Pirate onslaught.  Griffin would connect with a lay-up with 4:12 left and then Blakemore would unleash an NBA-range three-point bomb from the left top area with 3:25 left for a 69-43 Park Center lead.  Both Metcalf and Vogelsberg unloaded their benches in the final two minutes as the Pirates rolled to a 71-47 victory.

After bolting out to a 6-0 start, it was obviously a harsh defeat as the Tornadoes came crashing back to earth the hard way on this night.  I caught up with Vogelsberg afterward and asked him what was the culprit in tonight's loss.  "We just didn't move on offense" he replied.  "We stood around."  While Anoka has to go back to the drawing board and re-tool and tweak some things, I think they have enough weapons and mojo to recover from this setback but tonight was obviously a harsh lesson.  Meanwhile for Park Center, the more I see of this squad, the more I like them.  There's a lot of new faces that fans will need to get used to but they haven't deviated too much from what's made them successful in the past and with that kind of speed and athleticism that they possess, why would you?  I still think it's too early to project how well they can actually do come February or March but it's obvious that when they use that pressure defense to create turnovers and get into easy transition opportunities, they're going to be an incredibly tough team to beat.