Andover vs Park Center Synopsis 12-11-18

This Tuesday night night found me back over at Park Center High School for one of the early-season Northwest Suburban Conference clashes; this one between visiting Andover and host Park Center.  From a Park Center perspective, while I expected the Pirates to get the "W" on this night, I was also hoping to see some improvements in areas that needed to be bolstered, on defense and on boxing out.  The Huskies meanwhile were a year removed from their run to the state tournament and hoping to improve on last year's disappointing 9-17 overall record.

Surprisingly, however, it would be Andover having the upper hand after both teams came out of the gate a bit on the sluggish side.  Senior guard Alexa Garcia connected with a jumper in the lane at the 16:48 mark to get the game tied at 2-all and a Garcia lay-up at the 16:11 mark that also drew a foul and resulted in an "and one" had the Huskies up 5-2.  Park Center would come back to take the lead on two free throws by flashy sophomore guard/forward Adalia McKenzie at the 14:37 mark and a pull-up jumper from the left elbow area by McKenzie at the 13:59 mark had the Pirates up 6-5.  Andover would grab the lead once more when senior forward Mackenzie Mackey snared a steal in the backcourt and got a lay-up out of it at the 13:15 mark and one free throw by junior guard Sydney White at the 12:59 mark had the Huskies ahead 8-6.  It was here, however, where Park Center took command of this game for good as they exploded with a 20-1 run.  Diminutive junior guard Aaliyah Ragulen connected with a lay-up at the 12:36 mark to get this assault going and a drive along the left baseline and pretty finish by fellow junior guard Lauren Frost at the 11:59 mark had the Pirates up 10-8.  Then Ragulen; despite her small stature, grabbed an offensive rebound in transition and got a putback at the 11:37 mark to get the lead to 12-8.  Two McKenzie freebies at the 10:53 mark made it 14-8 and then lanky sophomore forward T'Naye Griffin nailed a "3" from the right corner at the 9:34 mark to push the lead to 17-8.  McKenzie's defensive prowess also made its presence felt as she snared a steal and whizzed the other way for a lay-up with 7:18 left and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" now had the Pirates up 20-9.  Another routine McKenzie steal and lay-up the other way followed less than a minute later with 6:21 left and a short shot from the right side by eighth-grade reserve guard Aniyah Reuben with 5:48 left made it 24-9.  Sophomore reserve guard Chloe Cink got into the act as well with her jumper from the left top area just inside the arc with 5:01 left to cap this run for a 26-9 lead before Andover could stop the massive bleeding when Sydney White snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 4:30 left in the first half.  Still, two more scores by McKenzie - a lay-up with 4:13 left and a score in the paint with 3:29 left - solidified Park Center's cushion with a 30-11 advantage and a "3" from the left corner by unheralded junior guard Kayla Cox with 2:21 left gave the Pirates a 33-13 lead.  One free throw by Griffin with 1:39 left and one more by McKenzie with just :01.4 left had Park Center up comfortably at 35-15 as both teams headed to the locker room for the halftime break.

The Huskies were hoping for some offensive sparks on their end once the second half got underway but for the Andover faithful they were too few and far between.  Junior guard Emily Diemer; held scoreless in the first half, finally got into the books with a lay-up at the 16:26 mark and Sydney White did as well at the 13:31 mark that also drew a foul and she cashed in on the obligatory free throw as well.  Sydney White would drop two more free throws at the 13:21 mark but the problem was that the Huskies simply weren't able to get much closer than the twenty point cushion they were already facing at the halftime break.  And Park Center certainly wasn't going to open any doors for them either.  A Cox "3" from the left corner at the 12:58 mark was the start of an 11-0 run that erased any doubts about how this one was going to turn out.  McKenzie followed up with a short jumper in transition at the 12:34 mark and a lay-up by Reuben in transition at the 11:24 mark had the Pirates up 48-22.  Two more scores by McKenzie - a lay-up in transition at the 10:53 mark and a drive and finish at the 9:33 mark - pushed the lead to 52-22 and now the MSHSL's "Mercy Rule" of Running Time became a real probability.  Andover tried desperately to keep that from happening as Sydney White connected with a lay-up with 8:52 left and one Sydney White free throw with 7:31 left had the deficit down to twenty-seven points at 52-25.  But the Pirates unleashed another run that sealed the deal for good on this one.  Ragulen uncorked a "3" from the right corner with 6:42 left and two lay-ups in transition by Frost - one with 6:20 left and another with 5:44 left - now had Park Center up 59-25.  With running time now in effect, the Pirates were able to put the daisy on this one as Cox buried a "3" from the top of the key with 5:06 left and McKenzie connected with a jumper from the right elbow area with 3:44 left.  The Huskies managed to get one late score when junior reserve forward Anna Gerth connected with a lay-up with 2:45 left but the Pirates snagged an easy 64-27 victory.