Champlin Park vs Centennial 1-25-19

Made my way over to Circle Pines on this cold January Friday night for my very first visit to Centennial High School to take in a key Northwest Suburban Conference match-up between visiting Champlin Park and host Centennial.  The Rebels were coming into this conference on something of a wave; having won six straight games and naturally were hoping to ride that wave into this important showdown against one of the perennial top teams in the conference in Centennial.  I got into the Centennial gymnasium early enough during the JV game that I had an opportunity to talk with Cougar Head Coach Jill Becken about her team.  I asked her specifically about senior post Sara Stapleton and, although she was dressed on this night, Becken stated that she still was being held out of any contact and it will be a while yet before she gets cleared but it's definitely good to see her making progress and hopefully we'll see her back in action again soon.

Given what I had seen of the Rebels a little more than a week ago in their home win over Elk River, I expected this to be a very good game given Champlin Park's potential.  Still, it would be the Cougars getting off to a 6-0 start in this one as slender senior guard Taylor McAulay knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area at the 17:32 mark of the first half to get this push going.  Senior post Sarah Lavell got into the paint for another score at the 17:09 mark and after a Rebel turnover, willowy sophomore guard/forward Jodi Anderson would connect with a lay-up at the 17:00 mark and, just like that, it was 6-0 Centennial.  But Champlin Park was not about to let this one get away from them - at least not yet anyway - as the Rebels responded with a 6-0 push of their own.  Speedy junior guard Miyah Dubose made a hard drive for a finish at the 15:44 mark and a lay-up by fellow junior guard Izzy Quick at the 15:09 mark reduced the deficit to two points at 6-4.  An offensive rebound and putback in transition by senior post Makayla Johnson at the 14:44 mark had this one tied at 6-all and although the Cougars' Anderson would add a free throw at the 14:32 mark after getting fouled that allowed Centennial to poke its nose out in front again at 7-6, the Rebels grabbed their first lead of the evening when Quick made a hard drive for a finish at the 13:29 mark to make it an 8-7 game and there was every reason to believe at this juncture that this just might be a nip-and-tuck affair.  But what Champlin Park Head Coach Josh Steck and his staff likely could not have counted on was how the Rebels would have the wheels come off as Centennial started turning up the heat on defense that resulted in an astounding 35-2 run the rest of the first half that saw the Rebels denied on every possession save for two measly free throws.  A jumper from the left elbow area off of an inbounds pass by McAulay at the 13:09 mark started this assault and a short, turnaround jumper off the glass by Lavell at the 12:11 mark had the Cougars up 11-8.  Still, it wasn't that much of an alarming development from a Champlin Park standpoint at this particular moment but when Centennial senior guard Mady Sanders knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area at the 11:50 mark and Lavell added a score in the paint at the 11:33 mark, the Cougar lead expanded to 15-8 and the Rebels' Steck called for a thirty-second timeout in hopes of getting his young team regrouped and calmed down a bit.

The thing of it was, however, was that Centennial was just getting going.  Senior reserve post Cate Flynn snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 9:57 mark and a "3" from the left wing area by Anderson at the 9:17 mark now had the Cougars up 20-8.  Champlin Park finally ended its five minute scoring drought when Quick got one freebie to go down after getting fouled with 8:16 left but unfortunately for the Rebels, they were going to need a lot more than that to offset this scoring festival being put on by Centennial.  And a lot of the Cougar scores were coming off of untimely turnovers by Champlin Park thanks to some very good defense that Centennial was applying.  Lavell was able to connect with a short turnaround jumper off the glass with 6:23 left and a little more than a minute later Lavell would knock down a jumper from the right elbow area with 5:11 left to make it 24-9 and the Rebels' Steck was forced to take a match to a full timeout.  But there was nothing he nor his Champlin Park team could do in this first half to stem this tidal wave.  The Cougars' Anderson snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up with 4:28 left to make it 26-9 and, to just to give you an idea of how things were going so much in favor of Centennial on this night, Lavell would connect with a jumper from the right wing area that bounced perfectly off the back rim; straight up into the air where it brushed the top of the backboard and then came down perfectly through the cylinder.  An Anderson score in the paint with 3:37 left made it 30-9 and then Lavell snared an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" made it 33-9.  Senior reserve guard Anna DeBilzan connected with a lay-up in transition with 2;21 left and a "3" from the right top area by McAulay with 1:33 left ballooned the lead to 38-9.  Rebel freshman guard Mikaelah Counce got one more point for her squad with a free throw with 1:24 left but the Cougars were not done yet.  Senior reserve forward Annika Holmstrom knocked down a jumper in the lane with 1:01 left and a score in the paint by Sanders with just :22 left capped this fabulous first half by Centennial as they took a commanding 42-10 lead into the locker room at the half.

Champlin Park needed something - anything - to somehow give them a jump start once the second half got underway and a 6-2 Rebel push was certainly a step in the right direction.  Sophomore guard Maya Fitzpatrick got into the paint for a score at the 17:50 mark and Dubose would connect with a lay-up at the 16:52 mark.  Quick would add a lay-up of her own at the 15:59 mark but the Rebels were going to need a lot more of this if they hoped to realistically cut the deficit down.  And they were in no position either to be content to just trade scores with Centennial either.  The Cougars' Anderson would knock down two free throws after getting fouled at the 15:37 mark before Champlin Park could get two more scores as Makayla Johnson connected with a lay-up in transition at the 15:01 mark and Fitzpatrick connected with a lay-up of her own at the 12:51 mark.  The Rebels were still down at this point 49-20 and Centennial would add to those woes as one Anderson free throw at the 12:43 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by McAulay at the 12:12 mark pushed that lead to 52-20 and now Champlin Park was in a fight to stave off the MSHSL's mercy rule of "Running Time".  Freshman reserve guard Amelia Valentino came to the Rebels' rescue as she buried a three-point bomb from the right wing area at the 10:49 mark and one free throw by sophomore reserve guard Dejah Jenkins with 8:20 left saved the cause - for now anyway - but being down 52-24 all hopes of trying to bring this one back had long since gone out the window. 

A McAulay drive into the lane and short jumper with 7:53 left pushed the Centennial lead to 54-24 but Champlin Park was not ready to throw in the towel.  One Counce free throw with 7:14 left and then a lay-up by senior reserve post Ally Crymble that also drew a foul and resulted in an "and one" had the cushion cut down to 54-28.  With such a sizable lead, it gave the Cougars' Becken a chance to unload her bench down the stretch to give her younger reserve players some quality game minutes.  The Rebels' Valentino would connect with a lay-up in transition with 3:30 left and would also get her second three-point bomb from the left top area with 3:00 left as well.  Centennial sophomore reserve post Jenna Guyer would get a score in the paint with 2:13 left and would get sent to the charity stripe with 1:36 left after getting fouled where she would get one free throw to go down.  Champlin Park sophomore reserve forward Gina Stefferud would knock down one free throw with :26.6 left but when the final buzzer sounded, the Cougars had the convincing victory by a 58-34 margin. 

I caught up with Centennial's Becken afterward who was basking in this latest win with family and friends.  She felt that the first half was arguably the best half she's been able to get out of this team thus far.  She was a bit disappointed that her squad seemed a bit sloppy at times in the second half and a bit unfocused as well but that can happen when you have such a large lead at your disposal.  I think one positive that has developed for the Cougars has been the emergence of Lavell as she's raised the level of her game during Stapleton's injury recovery period.  She's a very versatile player and can be a threat not only down low but she isn't afraid to take some shots from the outside either.  So when Stapleton is able to get back onto the floor, it has to be reassuring for Becken to know that she has not one good post but two to rely on and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see them on the floor at the same time doing the high-low thing.  Champlin Park's Steck and his squad arguably had a bad day at the office on this night and they arguably have to find a way to be a bit more consistent - particularly on the road.  Not sure if it was an unlucky omen for the Cougars or not but they had not one, not two but THREE players with 13 points on this night - McAulay, Anderson and Lavell.  Champlin Park's Valentino led the way with her eight points thanks to her three-point prowess.