Coon Rapids vs Park Center Recap 12-13-19

Got my first look at this Park Center team on this Friday evening as they prepared to take on visiting Coon Rapids in an early Northwest Suburban Conference match-up.  The Pirates were coming into this 2019-20 season with that loss to Spring Lake Park in the Section 5AAAA semifinals fresh on their mind and were looking to make amends this season.  Coon Rapids meanwhile was coming into this season in a rebuilding mode with an incredibly young team (just one senior); dominated by a junior class and looking to play spoiler this season.

Cardinal Head Coach Tom Weko was employing a 2-3 zone defense in hopes of clogging up the middle and forcing Park Center to take their chances from behind the arc; with mixed results at best.  With the game tied at 2-all, however, the Pirates started opening things up with their transition game that also opened up things behind the three-point line as well.  Lanky junior guard/forward T'Naye Griffin's "3" from the right wing at the 16:31 mark ignited a 19-0 run; highlighted by three-point bombs by both senior guard Lauren Frost at the 15:08 mark and by fellow senior guard Kayla Cox at the 14:49 mark.  Frost would snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up at the 14:23 mark and would also connect with a lay-up in transition at the 14:02 mark to make it 19-2 and then junior do-everything guard/forward Adalia McKenzie capped the run with a lay-up at the 13:38 mark that got the Pirate lead to 21-2 and Coon Rapids' Weko had no choice but to call a halt to the action to stop the avalanche his team was getting buried by.  The Cardinals were able to bite into the deficit a bit as a score in the paint by junior forward Macy Holland at the 13:22 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by fellow junior guard Syd Kehr at the 11:00 mark made things look a bit more respectable for the moment down 25-6 but then Park Center mounted another offensive in the form of a 10-0 run to widen the gap even more.  McKenzie started it off with an offensive rebound for a putback that drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" at the 10:32 mark and a lay-up by diminutive senior point guard Aaliyah Ragulen at the 9:31 mark made it 31-6.  Frost would add a drive and lay-up with 8:49 left and a pretty tip-in by the incredibly athletic McKenzie with 8:17 left capped this run before Coon Rapids could get on the board again on a score in the paint by junior forward Ella Giorgi with 7:45 left.  The Cardinals' sophomore reserve forward Jenny Ntambwe would add a score in the paint as well with 7:08 left but this game for Coon Rapids was getting to be a lot like the "I Love Lucy" scene were Lucy has a hard time keeping up with the candy conveyor belt of chocolate-covered cherries.  The Pirates would unleash another run with eighth-grade reserve guard Alivia McGill and junior reserve guard Chloe Cink getting scores in a 13-3 blitz over the course of a little over four minutes as Park Center's lead bulged to 50-13.  To their credit, the Cardinals would get four late scores before the halftime break as junior guard Beni Kalala drained a "3" from the right wing area with 3:37 left and Holland would connect with a lay-up with 2:48 left as well.  Kehr would bang home a "3" from the top of the key with 1:21 left and a short, turnaround jumper by junior forward Nicole Post with :29 left was something of consolation for Coon Rapids but Weko and his staff were still on the wrong end of a bloated 54-23 score as both teams retreated to their respective locker rooms for the intermission.

As if there was any lingering doubt as to how this one was going to turn out, the Pirates quickly took care of that with a 9-2 push to begin the second half.  One free throw by Griffin at the 17:23 mark and a Frost lay-up in transition at the 16:58 mark got the Park Center lead to 57-23.  Griffin would add a lay-up of her own at the 14:56 mark and a routine lay-up in transition by McKenzie at the 14:30 mark made it 61-25.  Then Frost would snare a steal and whiz the other way for a lay-up at the 14:00 mark to make it 63-25 and the Cardinals' Weko called a timeout to try and stop this avalanche that was engulfing his squad.  Interestingly, Coon Rapids came out of this latest stoppage in play with some resolve.  Post would connect with a lay-up at the 13:41 mark and a score in the paint by Giorgi at the 12:29 mark gave the Cardinal faithful a little something to cheer about on this bleak night.  But with the Pirates safely up 63-29 by this point, now it was a matter of closing in on running time and Park Center continued with the deluge.  Griffin would drain a "3" from the left top area at the 12:08 mark and would follow that up a bit later with a score in the paint at the 11:17 mark to make it 68-29.  Two scores by McKenzie - an offensive rebound for a putback at the 10:52 mark and a lay-up at the 10:17 mark made it 72-29.  With 8:23 left, McGill added a lay-up in transition to make it 74-31 before running time finally kicked in with 8:00 left.  Down the stretch, the athletic McGill would add two more scores - a pretty, one-handed shot in the lane with 6:21 left and a steal and lay-up the other way with 5:27 left to make it 80-33.  Coon Rapids would also get some scores down the stretch as well.  Ntambwe got into the paint for a score with 4:50 left and Kehr would add one freebie after getting fouled with 4:02 left.  Giorgi would knock down a short jumper with 1:40 left and would add a lay-up in transition with :23 left but the Pirates took no prisoners on this night as they cruised to an 82-40 victory. 

The final box score on this night shows that it was another stellar scoring performance for Park Center's McKenzie as she led the way with her 29 points and Frost wasn't far behind with her 19 points.  Griffin tallied 13 points on this night and somewhat surprisingly, McGill finished in double figures as well with her 10 points.  Coon Rapids' Kehr was the only Cardinal in double figures with her 10 points on this night.