Park Center Holiday Showcase - Minnetonka vs Park Center 12-27-19

Made the quick run over to Park Center on this Friday evening to take in the marquee match-up on this first day of the Park Center Holiday Showcase that featured Minnetonka out of the always-tough Lake Conference going up against host Park Center out of the equally-tough Northwest Suburban Conference.  This would be my first look at the Skippers this season under Head Coach Leah Dasovich who has had considerable success at the helm of this Minnetonka program.  Park Center meanwhile was trying to keep its unblemished record intact and tonight had all the makings of a pretty good contest.

The Skippers certainly started out strong enough in the opening minutes of the first half as lanky eighth-grade forward Emma Dasovich connected with a lay-up at the 17:45 mark and Emma Dasovich would strike again a minute later at the 16:45 mark when she snared an offensive rebound for a putback and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" had Minnetonka up 5-4.  That lead would grow to 7-4 when equally-lanky 6'3" junior forward Sophie Haydon connected with a lay-up in transition at the 15:57 mark.  The Skippers; employing a 2-1-2 zone defense in hopes of keeping the high-octane Park Center team out of the paint seemed to work initially anyway but it wouldn't be long before the Pirates started getting into their groove.  Diminutive senior point guard Aaliyah Ragulen's "3" from the left wing area at the 15:27 mark pushed Park Center back out in front 8-7 and one free throw by do-everything junior guard/forward Adalia McKenzie at the 14:52 mark and a McKenzie drive and finish at the 14:32 mark got the Pirate lead to 11-7.  One free throw by fellow junior forward T'Naye Griffin at the 14:22 mark and a pretty coast-to-coast lay-up by McKenzie at the 13:31 mark coupled with a McKenzie lay-up in transition at the 12:56 mark capped this startling 12-0 Park Center push before the Skippers could stop some of the bleeding when sophomore guard Desiree Ware made a hard drive for a finish at the 12:56 mark that drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" cut the deficit to 16-10.  Minnetonka crept to within a single possession when junior guard Piper Terry drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 11:57 mark down 16-13.  One Ware freebie at the 10:07 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by Haydon at the 9:23 mark kept the Skippers in good shape down 18-16 and a lay-up in transition by the deceptively quick Ware with 8:13 left had this game tied at 18 so, at least for the moment anyway, Minnetonka had weathered the first storm it encountered.

The Skippers would keep this one deadlocked at 20 when Haydon snared an offensive rebound and putback of her own miss with 6:50 left and although Park Center's McKenzie pushed her team ahead at 22-20 with her drive and finish with 6:24 left, this Minnetonka team was proving to be quite resourceful as one Ware free throw with 6:11 left and two more by Emma Dasovich when she was fouled with 5:02 left pushed the Skippers out in front 23-22 and two more by Ware when she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 3:56 left had Minnetonka up 25-24.  With 2:33 left, Ware uncorked a "3" from the left wing area to give the Skippers a 28-26 lead before Park Center finally got things going again and closed out this first half with a 7-0 push.  Senior sharp-shooting guard Lauren Frost drained a "3" from the right wing area with 2:02 left to get the Pirates back out in front 29-28 and with 1:36 left, Frost would strike again as she snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up to get the lead to 31-28.  With just :00.6 left, McKenzie connected with a short jumper in the lane that had Park Center feeling a little bit better about itself as they took a 33-28 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Skippers had thus far anyway of staying within striking distance and certainly a five-point deficit was hardly an insurmountable gap to conquer.  But Park Center wasted little time once the second half got underway of widening this gap.  A routine lay-up in transition by McKenzie at the 17:30 mark of the second half got the lead to six at 35-29 and that lead increased to seven when McKenzie drained a "3' from the left corner at the 16:49 mark.  Frost would snare another steal and dash the other way for a lay-up at the 16:00 mark and a "3" from the top of the key by Griffin at the 15:22 mark got the Pirate lead to nine at 43-34.  Minnetonka would momentarily close the gap back to seven when Piper Terry made a hard drive for a finish at the 15:08 mark but then Park Center would get consecutive scores to push the lead to double-digits.  Ragulen unleashed a "3" from the right wing area at the 14:31 mark and a lay-up in transition by Griffin at the 14:02 mark pushed the lead to 48-36 and the Skippers' Leah Dasovich clearly saw this one getting away from her team and called for a halt to the action to try and make some quick adjustments.  Minnetonka was able to come out of this stoppage in play and got the deficit down to ten points at 48-38 when Ware connected with a short jumper in the lane off the glass at the 12:54 mark but the Skippers would have to absorb some more blows from Park Center.  McKenzie drilled a "3" from the right wing area at the 12:14 mark and Frost would connect with a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt at the 10:25 mark to get the Pirate lead to 53-39 before Minnetonka could make some more inroads again.  Junior reserve forward Molly Oehme got into the paint for a score at the 10:02 mark and then Ware gave the Pirates a dose of their own medicine when she craftily snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 9:33 mark to reduce the deficit to ten at 53-43 and the Skippers would finally manage to get back into single-digit range when eighth-grade reserve guard Tori McKinney connected with a jumper from the free throw line area off the glass with 8:58 left and Ware would make a hard drive into the lane for a finish with 8:26 left to at least give the Minnetonka faithful a glimmer of hope down 56-47.     

The Skippers managed to give themselves at least a fighting chance staying in single-digit range as one Emma Dasovich freebie with 7:32 left and a Piper Terry jumper from the left elbow area off the glass with 6:53 left reduced the deficit to seven at 57-50.  But it was here where Park Center stepped on the accelerator again and put this one out of reach for good.  Two McKenzie free throws with 6:40 left and a lay-up in transition by Frost with 5:08 left increased the Pirates safety net to eleven at 61-50 and when McKenzie got one of her trademark steals and lay-up the other way with 4:46 left to make it 63-50, Minnetonka's Leah Dasovich clearly saw the handwriting on the wall and called a timeout in hopes of preventing the inevitable.  But Park Center would embark on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to put the daisy on this one for good.  Frost was able to snare an offensive rebound of her own miss for a putback with 3:55 left and a McKenzie "3" from the right wing area with 3:35 left got the Pirate lead to 68-52.  A Frost lay-up in transition with 2:22 left and a "3" from the left top area by senior guard Kayla Cox off of an inbounds pass with 1:43 left pretty much sealed the deal with Park Center enjoying a 73-52 lead.  The Skippers would get three late scores as a McKinney lay-up with 1:20 left and two more by Emma Dasovich - one with :56 left and another with :22 left helped make some dents but the Pirates would walk off the floor with a 75-58 victory in their pocket. 

A look at the box score reveals that McKenzie's 34 points on this night led the way for Park Center (what else is new?) while Frost added a pretty spectacular night as well pouring in 22 points.  On the Minnetonka side, the Skippers leaned heavily on Ware with her 21 points to lead the Skippers on this night while Emma Dasovich added 12 points and Haydon tallied 10 points.