Park Center vs Maple Grove 12-19-17

Headed out to Maple Grove High School last night to take in this very important early-season Northwest Suburban Conference Girl's Basketball showdown between visiting Park Center and host Maple Grove.  Both teams have a very proud history which adds to this rivalry and the Crimson were coming into this game ranked seventh in Class AAAA with a 4-0 record and with an incredibly long and athletic line-up.  The Pirates were coming off the big home win against Anoka last Friday night and had a lot of momentum as well so it was not unreasonable to expect a very close, hard fought game on this night and I certainly don't think anybody would have been disappointed on this front.

Maple Grove came out red-hot from the opening tip-off as willowy 5'11 senior guard Autumn Mlinar was able to snare it and race in for an easy lay-up at the 17:57 mark and a Mlinar "3" from the top of the key at the 16:34 mark gave the Crimson a 5-0 lead.  Park Center would manage to cut the deficit to one point as senior guard Sommer Blakemore knocked down two free throws at the 15:56 mark as did freshman guard/forward Adalia McKenzie at the 15:47 mark when she was fouled in a transition opportunity.  But the Pirates were having a very difficult time trying to find cracks in the Maple Grove defense and the Crimson did a very good job of getting into the passing lanes that disrupted Park Center's half-court offensive sets.  Two free throws by Maple Grove freshman guard Jordyn Lamker at the 15:34 mark and one more by strong senior forward Katrina Theis at the 15:17 mark not only gave the Crimson some more breathing room with an 8-4 lead but Park Center's McKenzie was now saddled with her third foul as well and Head Coach Barb Metcalf had no choice but to yank her to the bench to sit her for the rest of the first half.  The Pirates did manage to cut things down to one point again on a three-point bomb by sophomore guard Lauren Frost at the 15:05 mark but Mlinar put her Maple Grove team on her shoulders over the next two and a half minutes.  She first connected with a lay-up at the 14:48 mark and then slithered into the paint for another score at the 13:36 mark to get the Crimson's lead out to 12-7.  Then Mlinar found her touch from behind the arc again at the 12:09 mark by unleashing a bomb from the right top area at the 12:09 mark that pushed Maple Grove's lead to 15-7.  Senior reserve forward Becca Tyler added a "3" of her own from the right corner at the 11:30 mark and now the Crimson enjoyed a double-digit advantage of 18-7 and Park Center at this point appeared to be in a heap of trouble.

But give this young and unpredictable Pirate squad a lot of credit for being resilient and battling back in the form of an 8-0 that seemed to take a lot of wind out of Maple Grove's sail when they appeared to be in position of blowing this one wide-open.  Freshman reserve forward T'Naye Griffin got into the paint for one score at the 10:55 mark and pairs of free throws by slender senior forward Meghan DuBois - at the 10:25 and 9:05 marks - now had the deficit down to five points at 18-13.  Then it was Frost connecting on a lay-up in transition after a steal with 8:21 left that suddenly had Park Center back in single-possession range at 18-15 and an alarmed Crimson Head Coach Mark Cook called a timeout to get his squad calmed down and regrouped.  Maple Grove had a solid response to this challenge as Tyler knocked down a jumper in the lane off the glass off of an inbounds pass with 7:13 left and a lay-up by Lamker with 5:39 left got the lead back up to seven points at 22-15.  The Pirates, however, would respond with a 6-0 push to reduce the deficit to a scant point.  Senior forward Charo Nickens connected with a lay-up after a backcourt steal with 4:44 left and an offensive rebound and putback by Charo Nickens with 4:16 left had Park Center back in single-possession range again trailing 22-19.  A DuBois lay-up with 3:51 left completed this push before Maple Grove could establish some more breathing room again.  Junior reserve guard Sam Carroll connected with a lay-up with 3:11 left and senior forward Paige Hinze connected with a lay-up as well with 2:18 mark to up the Crimson lead to 26-21.  Two Hinze free throws with :40.4 left in the first half maintained the five-point edge for the Crimson at 28-23 but Park Center's Blakemore would connect on a lay-up after a steal with :15 left as both teams headed for the locker room with Maple Grove up 28-25.

The Pirates came right out of the gate once the second half started and stole not only the lead but all the momentum that Maple Grove seemed to have with a 7-0 run.  Charo Nickens got into the paint for a score at the 17:54 mark and McKenzie; riding those three fouls that forced her out for most of hte first half, connected with a lay-up in transition at the 17:37 mark that gave Park Center its first lead at 29-28.  McKenzie would get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 16:27 mark and would drop two more at the 15:49 mark that now had the Pirates up by four at 32-28 to cap this run.  Maple Grove tried to answer this as Theis muscled into the paint for a score at the 15:28 mark but Park Center had a 6-1 push left in them.  DuBois connected with a lay-up at the 13:01 mark to get the lead back to four at 34-30 and one Griffin freebie at the 12:31 mark and a Griffin "3" from the left wing area at the 12:07 mark now had the Crimson reeling a bit down 38-31.  Maple Grove managed to reduce the deficit down to two points as Mlinar unleashed another three-point bomb - this one from the left wing area at the 11:26 mark and Theis connected with a lay-up at the 11:00 mark.  McKenzie's drive and finish at the 10:42 mark would give Park Center a bit more breathing room up 40-36 and with the Pirates' up-tempo offense finally clicking after a bit of a slow start in this one, it appeared that they finally had things going their way. 

The Crimson, however, were not so willing to let this home contest get away from them and they mounted a comeback.  Lamker uncorked a "3" from the right wing area at the 9:27 mark that cut the deficit to one point and a Lamker drive and finish with 8:12 left kept Maple Grove in that one-point range trailing 42-41.  A lay-up by Theis with 7:40 left finally propelled the Crimson back out in front for the first time since the beginning of the second half at 43-42 and a score in the paint by Theis with 6:25 left maintained Maple Grove's one-point edge at 45-44.  With things incredibly tight and with time starting to be a bit of a factor, the Pirates rose to the greatest challenge yet in this contest and retook the lead just when a bigger opponent appeared to have things finally figured out.  Two DuBois free throws with 5:34 left and a jumper by McKenzie from the right elbow area with 3:48 left re-established Park Center's lead at 48-45.  The Crimson had a big opportunity to cut the gap to one point with 3:34 left but Mlinar wasn't able to convert on two free throw attempts.  That gave the Pirates a chance to increase their cushion and a Blakemore drive into the lane and finish with 2:46 left now had Park Center up by five at 50-45.  Maple Grove was able to get things back to one point as Hinze connected with a lay-up with 2:38 left as did Theis with 1:54 left that made it a a 50-49 ballgame but the Crimson never could find that one opportunity that may have allowed them to get their nose back out in front again.  Blakemore would knock down two free throws after getting fouled with 1:40 left that gave the Pirates a 52-49 advantage.  Park Center's Metcalf called a timeout shortly thereafter to make sure her squad's ducks were all in a row going down the home stretch.  Frost and McKenzie not only helped the Pirates get some more breathing room but also added a bit of flair in the process as Frost connected on a pretty reverse lay-up with 1:16 left and McKenzie did the same with 1:00 left and now Maple Grove was staring at a seven-point deficit at 56-49 and the Crimson simply could not recover.  A Lamker offensive rebound for a putback with :47 left helped cut the deficit down to five for Maple Grove at 56-51 and two Mlinar free throws with :37.1 left gave the Crimson a wisp of hope down 56-53.  The problem now was that Park Center was now in the double-bonus and the Crimson never could get another opportunity to make things even again.  DuBois knocked down free throws with :35.5 and :29.3 left and was able to knock down a pair with :17.7 left as the Pirates claimed a huge 60-53 win on the road. 

Park Center did indeed have some good fortune with the ability to get McKenzie back into the game in the second half with those three fouls as she led the Pirates with 17 points while DuBois was the only other player for Park Center in double figures with 14 points.  Mlinar also talled 17 points for Maple Grove on this night while Theis had 12 points and Lamker tallied 11 points.  This was indeed an important victory for the Pirates not only their future standing in the Northwest Suburban Conference but also perhaps a big shot of confidence in the arm for them as Park Center has two big games coming up against ranked opponents:  at home against top-ranked Hopkins on Thursday evening (12-21) and then against fifth-ranked Cretin-Derham Hall also at home during the Park Center Holiday Tournament.  Meanwhile, while it's a disappointing loss for Maple Grove, I think this team will be fine in the long run.  They're incredibly long and athletic and the only downfall I can see for this squad right now is how they handle up-tempo teams such as Park Center.  This is a squad that definitely prefers the half-court game and they've got the size to excel there.  Now it's a matter of tweaking a few things here and there and Head Coach Mark Cook knows how to get this squad back on a roll again.