Park Center vs Osseo 12-20-19

Made the run out to Osseo High School on this night to take in the game between visiting Park Center; looking to keep its unblemished record intact going up against host Osseo which was sporting a so-so 3-4 record.  This would be my first look at this young Orioles team but, more importantly on this night, Osseo was honoring the 2000 team that won it all that year and it was incredibly cool to see several members of that team show up for the game on this night.  I was lucky to get to speak with both Lauren Podratz and Hana Peljto who were members of that great 2000 team.

Osseo Head Coach Doug Erlien was employing a 2-1-2 zone defense in hopes of clogging up the middle to force the Pirates to take their chances from behind the arc.  But that certainly didn't seem to faze Park Center as they raced out to an early 17-1 lead.  Lanky junior forward T'Naye Griffin started things off when she was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 17:08 mark of the first half and a lay-up in transition by junior do-everything guard/forward Adalia McKenzie at the 16:18 mark made it 4-0.  Another McKenzie lay-up in transition at the 16:01 mark and two more by Griffin - once at the 15:55 mark and again at the 15:31 mark - made it a 10-1 ballgame and the Orioles Erlien called for a thirty-second halt to the action to hopefully cool off this Pirate team and work up some strategy for his squad on transition defense.  Still, Park Center continued with their offensive.  Two McKenzie free throws at the 15:15 mark and a jumper by diminutive senior point guard Aaliyah Ragulen from the left elbow area after a steal in the backcourt at the 15:10 mark made it 14-1.  An offensive rebound and putback by McKenzie at the 14:50 mark pushed the lead to 16-1 and by this juncture, Osseo looked totally discombobulated on both ends of the floor which Erlien was quick to realize and he took a match to a full timeout knowing his team needed it.  The Pirates capped this early tear on one Griffin free throw at the 13:59 mark after she was fouled in a transition opportunity before Osseo finally got its first field goal on this night in the form of a lay-up by freshman guard Aalayah Wilson at the 13:26 mark.  That only prompted an 8-0 push by Park Center as two McKenzie free throws at the 12:50 mark and a "3" from the left wing area by Griffin at the 12:06 mark made it 22-3.  Then eighth-grade guard Alivia McGill; starting tonight for the Pirates as senior sharp-shooting guard Lauren Frost was held out because of a virus, snared a steal and whizzed the other way for a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" ballooned the Park Center lead to 25-3.

The Orioles finally found some semblance of offensive life around the midway point of this first half when they embarked on an 8-0 push that at least cut some of the fat off of this deficit.  One free throw by senior forward Jasmine Choi at the 10:34 mark and two more by eighth-grade guard Ava Holman at the 10:08 mark had the deficit down to nineteen at 25-6 and a Jasmine Choi lay-up at the 9:33 mark had it down to seventeen at 25-8.  Then senior guard Jaiden Kline uncorked a "3" from the left top area with 8:32 left to make even more inroads on this deficit down 25-11.  This little burst seemed to get Park Center's attention as they went back to work to widen up their safety net again.  An offensive rebound for a putback by Griffin with 7:40 left and a routine lay-up by McKenzie with 7:11 left got the lead back up to 29-12 and an offensive rebound and putback by junior reserve guard/forward Chloe Cink got the Pirate lead to 31-15.  McKenzie would add a lay-up in transition with 6:04 left along with a three-point bomb from the left wing area with 4:57 left to get the lead to twenty at 37-17 before Osseo could find some more offensive production.  Kline connected with a lay-up with 4:39 left and a Jasmine Choi lay-up in transition with 3:50 left had the deficit down to sixteen at 37-21.  Kline would also snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 3:22 left and with 1:45 left, Kline would strike again when she made a hard drive for a finish and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" had the deficit down to fourteen points at 40-26.  Sophomore reserve guard Lyric Walters would drain a "3" from the top of the key with 1:27 left and although the Pirates' McKenzie would score on a tip-in with just :00.3 left on the clock that still gave Park Center a somewhat comfy 44-29 lead at the halftime break, the Orioles were staying pesky and weren't going away anytime soon.

Park Center appeared to have things well in hand - at least initially anyway - once the second half got underway.  A McKenzie drive and finish at the 16:43 mark and a short shot by McGill at the 16:11 mark got the Pirate lead to 48-31 and a short running jumper in the lane by Griffin at the 15:49 mark grew the lead to nineteen at 50-31.  Whether it was a false sense of security with a sizable lead or just a natural letdown isn't quite sure but this young and determined Osseo team was able to throw a bit of a scare into their heavily-favored opponent over the next four and a half minutes.  A Kline lay-up at the 14:56 mark got the lead down to seventeen and a "3" from the right wing area by Wilson at the 14:20 mark cut further inroads into this deficit with the Orioles down 51-36.  One Jasmine Choi freebie at the 13:47 mark and two more by Kline at the 13:36 mark had the deficit down to fourteen at 53-39 and Kline would inflict more damage when she banged home a "3" from the left corner at the 13:04 mark that reduced the deficit down to eleven at 53-42.  A Jasmine Choi lay-up at the 12:16 mark kept Osseo in that eleven-point range down 55-44 and one free throw by Holman who was fouled at the 11:09 mark slashed this once-sizable deficit down to ten points at 55-45 and hope suddenly grew for the home team and their fans and the members of the 2000 state championship team in attendance as well. 

This nice run by the Orioles, however, quickly got the attention of Park Center as the Pirates swiftly dug in their heels at this point and slowly but surely built their safety net back up.  An offensive rebound and putback by McKenzie at the 10:56 mark sparked a key 11-1 Park Center run that effectively killed off any hopes the Orioles may have had at this point.  Griffin would connect with a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt and draw a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" upped the Pirate lead to fifteen at 60-45.  Two McKenzie charity stripe shots at the 9:08 mark and a drive and lay-up with 8:17 left grew the lead to eighteen at 64-46 and two Ragulen free throws after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 7:57 left got the lead to twenty at 66-46.  McKenzie would then go to work to widen the gap even more.  One free throw with 7:07 left and two more after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 6:19 left had the lead at 69-48 and a McKenzie steal and lay-up the other way with 6:03 left now had the lead at 71-48.  Griffin would add two free throws after getting fouled with 5:39 left and another routine lay-up in transition by McKenzie with 5:01 left now had the lead to twenty-five at 75-50.  Sophomore reserve forward Shadaizhalynn Chatman also got some quality minutes down the stretch for Park Center as well as she would drop one free throw after getting fouled with 4:10 left and would also snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 3:31 left to get the Pirates lead to 78-52.  One last hurrah for McKenzie on this night with her steal and lay-up in the backcourt with 2:44 left as Park Center was able to patch up a rough spot midway through this second half and put it in cruise control the rest of the way for an 80-58 victory. 

When I caught up with Park Center Head Coach Barb Metcalfe afterward, I asked her if she was ever concerned once Osseo managed to reduce the deficit down to ten points midway through the second half.  "No, but we've been battling a 'bug' all week and we didn't even practice yesterday.....I just wanted them to take the day off."  Indeed, Frost was held out of action on this night as pointed out earlier and despite the hiccup the Pirates experienced midway through the second half, they managed to find a second wind and close the deal when things were arguably a little dangerous for them.  Meanwhile for Osseo, Erlien admitted to me right off the bat that this team of his is incredibly young for the most part but you have to admire how they kept fighting even after they got down so big early on.  They're not "there" - yet anyway - but I have a feeling that this is going to be an incredibly dangerous team in the Northwest Suburban Conference and a group you will not want to take lightly and woe to the opponent who looks at this Orioles team and chalks up an automatic "W" on paper.  It's no surprise when you look at the box score for this one and see that it was McKenzie's whopping 40 points that not only easily led all scorers but paced the Pirate attack on this night as well.  Griffin, too, had a very good evening as she tallied 23 points.  Osseo leaned heavily on Kline as she led the way for the Orioles on this night with her 18 points while Jasmine Choi finished with 13 points and Wilson was right behind with her 12 points.