Armstrong vs Park Center 1-9-18

Made the short run over to Park Center High School on this unusually mild January night to take in this Northwest Suburban Conference matchup between visiting Armstrong and host Park Center.  The Falcons have been struggling mightily this season thus far; notching only one win so far this year while the Pirates were coming into this contest with a somewhat sub par 7-5 record and were coming off the heels of a bad loss to ninth-ranked and conference rival Centennial and were looking for a big win on this night.  On paper anyway, this looked to be an easy win for Park Center but given the Pirates' inconsistencies as of late, they were hardly in position to take anything for granted and they would soon find out that this game would be no laugher.

Despite a drive and finish by Armstrong junior guard Masengo Mutanda at the 17:49 mark to put the Falcons up 2-0, things still looked promising for Park Center early on.  A lay-up by senior point guard Meghan DuBois at the 16:10 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by fellow senior guard Sommer Blakemore at the 15:44 mark had the Pirates up 4-2 and another DuBois lay-up at the 15:12 mark gave Park Center a 6-3 lead.  The Falcons would close the gap to 6-5 on a Mutanda lay-up at the 15:04 mark but when Park Center senior forward Charo Nickens drained a "3" from the left corner at the 14:45 to put the home team up 9-5, it looked like it could be a long night indeed for Armstrong.  But one of the early danger signs for the Pirates was that they were having to deal with Armstrong's lanky 6'1" junior post Carly Krsul and she helped the Falcons close the gap to a single possession with her lay-up at the 14:31 mark.  Still, Park Center was able to keep things tipped in their favor for the time being as freshman guard/forward Adalia McKenzie connected on a lay-up in transition at the 13:55 mark and a McKenzie score in the paint at the 12:32 mark had the Pirates up 13-11.  Two scores by Mutanda would push the Falcons out in front briefly as a lay-up at the 12:02 mark and a drive and finish at the 11:27 mark gave Armstrong a 15-13 lead but when Pirate sophomore reserve guard Aaliyah Ragulen knocked down two free throws to tie the contest at 15 a piece, most people inside Park Center Gymnasium likely thought it would only be a matter of time before the Pirates started pulling away for good.

Park Center pushed out in front again at 17-15 on an offensive rebound and putback by lanky freshman reserve forward T'Naye Griffin at the 9:03 mark but the Falcons had vastly different ideas when it came to the idea of anyone pulling away from anybody.  Freshman guard Ella Brugnoli got sent to the charity stripe with 8:28 left where her two free throws started an unlikely 12-2 Armstrong run.  Brugnoli followed that up with a jumper from the right corner inside the arc with 8:03 left that got the Falcons out in front by a 19-17 count.  Surprising seventh-grade reserve post Savannah McGowan snared an offensive rebound for a putback in transition with 6:20 left and a Krsul score in the paint with 5:29 left suddenly had Armstrong up by six at 23-17.  McKenzie tried to reverse the Pirates' sagging fortunes (literally and figuratively) with her reverse lay-up with 5:11 left but the Falcons built on their advantage as Krsul connected with a lay-up in transition with 4:26 left and two free throws by Mutanda with 4:01 left now made it a 27-19 game and Park Center Head Coach Barb Metcalf had seen more than enough to know that a full timeout was warranted.  The Pirates were able to trim the deficit a bit down the stretch of the first half as sophomore guard Lauren Frost drained a "3" from the left corner with 3:38 left and a lay-up by speedy sophomore reserve guard Kayla Cox with 2:33 left had Park Center down by five at 29-24.  A Blakemore lay-up with 2:03 left now had the Pirates back in single-possession range trailing 29-26 but Armstrong was able to increase their safety net back up to five points when Mutanda connected with a lay-up in transition with :29 left that had the Falcons up 31-26 when the halftime buzzer sounded.  Though certainly not an insurmountable deficit by any means for Park Center, some of the problems that had been hampering this squad in some of their previous games were starting to rear the ugly heads again and any thoughts of this contest being a breeze for the Pirates were clearly out the window now.

Park Center's fortunes sank even further at the start of the second half as the Falcons came out with two three-point bomb daggers by Brugnoli from the left wing area to get things started - the first at the 17:32 mark and the second one at the 15:27 mark - to not only push Armstrong's lead to nine at 37-28 but to start a 12-2 run as well.  A score in the paint by Krsul at the 14:22 mark had the Falcons up by double-digits at 39-28 and two Krsul free throws at the 13:59 mark pushed the lead to 41-28.  Junior reserve guard Jordan Bloom made a hard drive and finish at the 13:27 mark to get the Falcons lead to 43-28 before Park Center could finally get untracked a bit.  Blakemore uncorked one of her patented three-point bombs from the right top area at the 12:45 mark and two DuBois free throws at the 12:24 mark had the deficit down to twelve points at 45-33.  But the Pirates were having a devil of a time trying to work the ball down low as Armstrong's Krsul kept swatting Pirate scoring attempts away like a pesky fly which, in turn, gave the Falcons a chance to pad their lead even more.  Mutanda dropped two free throws at the 10:53 mark to make it a 47-33 ballgame and when Mutanda made a hard drive into the lane for a finish at the 10:02 mark, Armstrong had the Pirates between a rock and a hard place with a cushy 49-33 advantage. 

But this Park Center team; which seemingly has a penchant for living on the edge, was not about to let the Falcons come onto their home floor and steal the show.  A Ragulen jumper from the right wing provided something of a spark for the Pirates and they finally showed some signs of life with an 11-0 run.  DuBois connected with a lay-up in transition after a Pirate steal at the 9:13 mark and then Griffin was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 8:30 left that also drew a foul and the ensuing "and one" now had Park Center back in single-digit range trailing 49-40.  Then it was DuBois connecting with a lay-up in transition with 8:16 left that cut Armstrong's lead down to seven at 49-42 and Falcon Head Coach Antiwan Easley had no choice but to call a timeout to try and get his squad calmed down.  Still, McKenzie was able to knock down two free throws after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 7:57 left that now had the Pirates trailing by only five at 49-44.  Armstrong finally stopped the bleeding as Mutanda sailed from coast-to-coast for a lay-up with 7:19 left and one Krsul freebie with 6:58 left made it appear that the Falcons had snuffed out this Park Center comeback bid.  But the Pirates would not allow themselves to be denied on this night.  Frost connected with a lay-up in transition with 6:33 left as did Blakemore with 5:39 left.  When DuBois connected with a lay-up in transition after a steal with 5:05 left, Armstrong's lead was now down to three points at 52-49 and Easley had to take another match to a timeout to try and keep this ship from sinking.  The Falcons tried desperately to build some more cushion as Mutanda snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 4:25 left for a 54-49 Armstrong lead but the Pirates were not to be denied.  Griffin quickly got Park Center back into single-possession range again with her jumper from near the top of the key with 4:10 left and a Frost offensive rebound for a putback with 3:38 left now had the Pirate deficit down to two points at 55-53.  Park Center was able to finally knot the game up at 55 a piece when Blakemore got a lay-up attempt to go down with 3:15 left but the Falcons were not quite ready to concede things just yet.  Bloom got one charity stripe shot to go down with 1:42 left and Mutanda added two more after she was fouled with 1:15 left that had Armstrong up 58-56.  But Blakemore would add two free throws of her own with :49.9 left that allowed the Pirates to tie the game at 58-all and when Park Center snared a steal near mid-court shortly thereafter, the Pirates now had the chance they were looking for with the game inside a minute.  Park Center carefully worked the ball around; looking for any possible opening or crack and with the seconds counting down, DuBois took a chance as she slithered into traffic and attempted a one-handed shot in the lane with :05 left but that shot bounced off the rim and into the hands of Armstrong's Mutanda who raced towards the half-court line and uncorked a Hail Mary attempt that also missed its mark so off we went to overtime tied at 58.

After both squads were unable to convert on their first two possessions in the extra session, Mutanda was able to poke her Armstrong team back out in front 59-58 as she got one free throw to go down with 2:58 left but on the ensuing Pirate possession, Griffin launched a three-point bomb from the left corner that finally got Park Center back out in front for the first time since the midway point of the first half at 61-59.  On the ensuing Falcon possession, Mutanda would be fouled with 2:17 left but she was only able to get the back-end of the two freebies allowed that still had Armstrong trailing by a tantalizing point at 61-60.  On the next Pirate possession, Griffin would be fouled with 1:45 left and she got both free throw attempts to go down that extended Park Center's lead to 63-60.  Metcalf would call a thirty-second timeout to set up the Pirates defensive strategy as Armstrong was still within single-possession range.  But the Falcons were unable to convert on their ensuing possession and now Park Center had a chance to establish some breathing room.  With :33.1 left, DuBois was sent to the charity stripe but she could only get one of her free throw attempts to go down for a 64-60 Pirate lead and when Armstrong's Krsul got into the paint for a score with :21 left, things were still pretty unsettled with the Pirates clinging to a 64-62 lead.  Falcon Head Coach Easley called a timeout to set up defensive strategy and with :10.7 left, Armstrong seemingly got their chance as Mutanda snared a steal and was fouled but she was only able to get the back end of the two freebie attempts to go down and now, with Park Center clinging to a perilous one-point lead at 64-63, the Falcons would be forced to foul.  Blakemore would get fouled with :09.5 left on the ensuing Park Center inbounds pass and she calmly dropped both attempts for a 66-63 Pirate lead.  Still one chance left for Armstrong but that chance went out the window when Mutanda; perhaps trying to create too much, inadvertently lost the ball out of bounds.  Blakemore would again be fouled on the ensuing Pirate inbound pass and she dropped two insurance free throws as the Park Center contingent heaved a huge collective sigh of relief with a 68-63 overtime victory.

I managed to finally catch up and meet Park Center's Metcalf afterward and mentioned to her that her squad definitely does seem to like living on the edge and she couldn't help but laugh a little and admit that she asks her squad why they do things the hard way sometimes.  In all fairness, however, this is a relatively young Pirate squad and the current seniors (DuBois, Blakemore and both Charo and Chyanne Nickens) now have the job of leading the younger ones after years of being able to look up to the recently departed players such as the Schaub sisters (Hannah and Danielle), McKenna DuBois, Cayla McMorris and Mikayla Hayes.  That's not always an easy thing to do plus the fact that there's also a learning curve for the young players coming up as well.  There's still a lot for this young Pirate team to work on but they do show flashes of what they can be and if they can keep things going one step at a time, this could be a dangerous team come early March.