Park Center Holiday Showcase - Simley vs Minnetonka 12-28-17

Made the short hop over to Park Center High School on this cold, somewhat snowy Thursday afternoon to take in the first day of action at the Park Center Holiday Showcase.  The 3:45 P.M. game pitted Simley out of the Metro East Conference and Lake Conference powerhouse Minnetonka.  While the Trojans are in the process of trying to create an identity for themselves, the normally prolific Skippers have been meandering along in the early part of the season with a so-so 5-5 record and were desperately seeking some consistency.  On paper anyway, this appeared to be an easy victory for Minnetonka but you have to play the game.

The Skippers were able to build a 4-2 lead in the early stages of the first half thanks to one free throw by junior guard Blake Greer at the 17:00 mark and a Greer "3" from the left corner at the 15:41 mark.  Simley, however, would grab its first lead of the afternoon on one free throw by by sophomore guard Ravyn Miles at the 15:15 mark and a score in the paint by athletic sophomore forward Tiwaah Danso at the 14:36 mark that gave the Trojans a 5-4 advantage.  Minnetonka would manage to take the edge back as senior guard Megan Walker got into the paint for one score at the 14:04 mark and a jumper along the right baseline by fellow senior forward Kayla Mershon at the 13:04 mark had the Skippers up 8-5.  A Walker lay-up at the 12:18 mark helped Minnetonka maintain the three-point advantage at 10-7 but the Trojans showed that they were up to the challenge for the time being as two Tiwaah Danso free throws at the 11:09 mark cut the deficit down to one point and a lay-up in transition by eighth-grade reserve guard Sydney Runsewe at the 10:12 mark pushed Simley ahead 11-10.  The Skippers would answer on a score in the paint by Walker at the 9:41 mark but when the youngster Runsewe nailed a "3" from the right top area with 8:45 in the first half, Minnetonka looked like it might have a real battle on its hands trailing 14-12.

But whatever nerves the Skipper faithful in attendance on this day may have had initially were calmed by a game-changing 18-0 Minnetonka run.  Junior guard Natalie Erhard started this run with 7:49 left in the first half with a jumper in the lane to tie the contest at 14 a piece and a lay-up by Mershon with 6:41 left put the Skippers in front for good at 16-14.  Then it was Walker finishing a pretty lay-up in transition that drew a foul and the ensuing "and one" got Minnetonka's lead up to 19-14.  Next, it was junior reserve guard Hannah Fransen draining a "3" from the right corner with 4:23 left and then it was Erhard going back to work big-time.  First, she nailed a "3" from the left wing area with 3:24 left that gave the Skippers a double-digit advantage at 25-14 and then Erhard connected with a lay-up in transition with 2:57 left that also drew a foul and the obligatory free throw pushed the lead to 28-14.  Then it was Erhard putting the finishing touches on this run with an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:38 left that made it 30-14 and Simley Head Coach Mark Stensgard had seen enough to know it was time to take a match to a timeout.  Tiwaah Danso finally broke the Spartans drought with her score in the paint with 2:11 left but Simley's troubles included not only dealing with a long and athletic Skipper team but also the fact that Minnetonka Head Coach Leah Dasovich was doing a good job of mixing up her defensive looks; going from man defense on one series to going to a 2-3 "match-up" zone on some other series that kept the Trojans guessing.  And Erhard kept her heroics going for Minnetonka as well as she was able to knock down a short jumper off the glass with 1:47 left and a steal and lay-up the other way by Walker with 1:36 left stretched the Skippers lead to 34-16.  An Erhard jumper in the lane with just :02.7 left concluded a great first half by the youngster but more importantly gave Minnetonka a commanding 36-18 lead going into the locker room at the half. 

The Skippers left nothing to doubt in the early moments of the second half by going on a 14-3 burst.  Erhard; picking up right where she left off in the first half, snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 17:35 mark and a drive and finish by strong senior post Zoe Hardwick at the 14:54 mark boosted Minnetonka's lead to 40-20.  Walker would also make a hard drive into traffic for a finish at the 13:44 mark and a pretty turnaround jumper by Mershon at the 12:14 mark lengthened the lead to 44-21.  Walker would drop one freebie after getting fouled at the 11:42 mark and Hardwick snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 10:06 mark for a 47-21 Skipper lead.  Finally a "3" from the right wing area by Fransen at the 9:47 was the icing on the cake for this Minnetonka run and the Spartans' Mark Stensgard knew his team was buried at this point trailing 50-21 and frantically called a timeout to try and avoid the oncoming avalanche. 

To Simley's credit, they came out of that stoppage in play with a renewed determination to try and close the gap a bit.  Sophomore guard Sydney Stensgard drained a "3" from the right wing area at the 9:29 mark and Tiwaah Danso knocked down a jumper from near the free throw line with 7:41 left in hopes of reviving of what seemed to be a moribund Spartan offense.  Junior guard Bonita Franco made a drive into the lane for a finish with 7:10 left and drew a foul as well and she sank the obligatory free throw that trimmed the Skipper lead down to 54-29.  Then it was Sydney Stensgard striking gold from three-point land again with 6:33 left as got one to go down from the right corner that cut the deficit down to twenty-two at 54-32.  Tiwaah Danso was also able to get into the lane for a finish with 4:44 left but Simley was never able to seriously threaten down the stretch despite its best efforts.  The Skippers slowly righted the ship to cruise homeward as Walker gracefully knocked down a jumper from near the left elbow area with 3:31 left and Hardwick; not necessarily known for her three-point prowess, drained a bomb from the top of the key with 3:07 left that had Minnetonka's lead up to 61-34.  Senior reserve forward Liv O'Brien connected with a pretty reverse lay-up with 1:34 left and senior reserve guard Maddie Uglum connected with a lay-up as well with :55.8 left as the Skippers rolled to a 65-34 victory.