Coon Rapids vs Park Center Synopsis 2-5-19

Made the short hop over to Park Center on this snowy Tuesday night to take in this Northwest Suburban Conference clash between visiting Coon Rapids and host Park Center.  This would be my first look at the Cardinals in quite some time and this is a squad that has struggled mightily this year as they were coming into this game with a 2-15 overall record and were winless in conference play.  Park Center meanwhile was coming into this game with a sparkling 17-2 overall record and were undefeated in conference play thus far and on top of the Northwest Suburban West Division.  So while this game appeared to be an easy "W" on paper for the Pirates, games aren't won on paper.  They're won on the court and you have to play the game.

And Coon Rapids, in fact, did an admirable job in the opening minutes of the first half of keeping the Pirates off-balance with their switching up between a 2-3 zone and a 2-1-2 zone; giving them different looks and keeping Park Center guessing.  The Pirates did forge out to a 5-0 lead as super sophomore guard Adalia McKenzie knocked down two free throws at the 16:05 mark after getting fouled and would follow that up shortly thereafter as she snared an offensive rebound for a putback and drew a foul in the process and got the ensuing "and one" to go down at the 15:45 mark.  Coon Rapids cut the deficit to a scant point as senior forward/post Laynie Hanneman connected with a short jumper at the 15:10 mark and fellow senior forward Lexi West got two free throws to go down after getting fouled in transition at the 14:18 mark.  Park Center would get the lead to 9-4 on scores by junior guard Aaliyah Ragulen and fellow junior sharpshooting guard Lauren Frost but a score in the paint by Cardinal senior guard Destini Artis at the 12:13 mark got Coon Rapids back to within a single possession down 9-6 and an Artis drive and finish at the 11:44 mark kept the Cardinals in the hunt down 11-8.  Artis would also get one free throw to go down after getting fouled at the 11:27 mark that cut the deficit down to two points at 11-9 and there was certainly some hope among the small Coon Rapids faithful in attendance on this night that this might actually be a competitive game.  But for the Cardinals to keep Park Center's McKenzie in check would simply be a bridge too far on this night as the Pirates would explode on a 20-2 run that changed the complexion and outlook on this contest for good.  Three scores by McKenzie at the 11:15, 10:48 and 10:27 marks got Park Center's lead to 17-9 and Cardinals Head Coach Deb Peterson called a timeout to try and halt this march but to no avail.  The Pirates got their transition game in full gear and were forcing several Coon Rapids errors that led to easy scores.  A McKenzie score in the paint with 5:55 left in the first half had Park Center up 31-11 before the Cardinals could finally get some more points on the board with 5:27 left in the form of a lay-up by sophomore reserve guard Sydney Kehr.  But Coon Rapids was going to lead a lot more than a basket here and a basket there to keep this one from getting away from them and it just wasn't happening on this night.  A McKenzie drive and finish with 4:44 left sparked yet another Pirate push that opened up more distance.  Willowy sophomore guard/forward T'Naye Griffin got into the paint for a score with 4:06 left and would also drop two free throws after getting fouled with 4:06 left to make it a 37-13 game.  Another routine McKenzie score in the paint with 3:05 left and one more Griffin freebie with 2:45 left pushed the lead to 40-15 before Coon Rapids was able to get a flurry of scores right before the halftime break.  Sophomore guard Emma Hemann knocked down a jumper from the left wing area with 2:33 left and a score in the paint by freshman reserve forward/post Jenny Ntambwe with 1:23 left had the deficit down to twenty-two points at 41-19.  Senior guard Ashley Flattem would drill a "3" from the left corner with :56 left but the Cardinals were still on the wrong end of a 41-22 score as the teams headed to the locker room for the halftime break.

Coon Rapids tried desperately to cut into this cushion in the early moments of the second half as two three-point bombs from Artis - one from the left corner at the 16:37 mark and another from the left wing area at the 15:28 mark made some dents but at the most they were simply treading water and with the Pirates enjoying a 46-28 advantage by this point, they set out to open up some real distance and put this one away for good.  A "3" from the left corner by junior guard Kayla Cox at the 15:13 mark started a 9-2 push.  Frost connected with a lay-up in transition at the 14:52 mark and dropped one freebie at the 14:20 mark and a "3" from the right corner by diminutive junior guard Aaliyah Ragulen at the 14:02 mark had Park Center up 55-30.  The Cardinals Kehr tried to reverse this trend with a lay-up at the 13:17 mark but the math simply was not working in favor of Coon Rapids on this night.  The Pirates' Frost connected with a lay-up at the 13:07 mark and drew a foul in the process and although she couldn't cash in on the obligatory free throw, the Cardinals failed to box out Park Center's Cox who grabbed the offensive rebound and got a lay-up out of it at the 13:02 mark.  Two scores by McKenzie - a lay-up in transition at the 12:38 mark and a drive and finish at the 11:46 mark - now made it a 63-32 game and a short shot by Ragulen at the 11:18 mark pushed the margin to thirty-three at 65-32.  Coon Rapids' Kehr again tried to reverse this trend; draining one three-point bomb from the left wing area at the 10:57 mark and another three-point bomb from the very same left wing area at the 10:04 mark but now the Cardinals were simply trying to stave of the MSHSL's "Mercy Rule" of running time and those prospects were beginning to look dim at best.  West would connect with a lay-up at the 9:36 mark to get the deficit down to twenty-seven points at 67-40 but the roof would soon cave in on the Cardinals.  Park Center's McKenzie connected with a lay-up in transition at the 9:14 mark that drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" made it 70-40.  McKenzie would follow that up with a steal and lay-up the other way at the 9:00 mark and then a Ragulen "3" from the left top area made it 75-40 with 8:18 left and the "running time" factor would soon kick in.  The home stretch would be the Adalia McKenzie show - and with good reason as I would later find out.  Lay-ups in transition at the 4:04 and 2:52 mark made it 79-41 and one free throw with 2:20 left had the Pirates up 80-41.  But the crowning jewel cam with just 1:15 left when McKenzie snared a steal in the backcourt and got a lay-up out of it with the Park Center bench erupting with whoops of joy as the budding star recorded her 1,000th point in her very young career with the Pirates.  Park Center Head Coach Barb Metcalf emptied her bench after that and the Pirates recorded a resounding 82-41 victory. 

Park Center's McKenzie may have had to work hard in getting that 1,000th point but she showed that she was more than up to the task as she poured in 42 points on this night to easily lead all scorers.  Ragulen was the only other Pirate in double figures with her 12 points.  Coon Rapids was paced on this night by Kehr and her 11 points.