Elk River vs Park Center 1-7-20

Made the quick run over to Park Center High School on this Tuesday evening for this very important Northwest Suburban Conference showdown between visiting Elk River and host Park Center.  This would be my first look at the Elks this season who were coming into this game with a 8-3 overall record and 2-0 in the conference while the Pirates were coming off their first loss of the season and were sporting an impressive 11-1 overall record and 2-0 in conference play.  In addition to conference implications, this one would also likely have some effect on section seedings for each team's respective section as well.

My gut feeling coming into this contest was that, even though Elk River is a very good and solid team, I somehow expected the Pirates to come out with renewed determination, fire and energy after the disappointing loss to Hopkins just before the first of the year.  To my shock (and likely that of the Park Center contingent on this night), it was anything but that.  Still, the Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a routine steal and lay-up the other way by junior do-it-all guard/forward Adalia McKenzie at the 17:39 mark of this first half.  Elk River would tie the contest on a score in the paint by senior guard Mikayla Kanenwisher at the 17:20 mark and would assume a 4-2 lead when senior point guard Lydia Haack made a daring drive into the lane and finished with a pretty floater at the 16:48 mark.  Still, everything seemed good from a Pirate standpoint when McKenzie connected with a lay-up at the 16:29 mark to tie the contest.  It was here, however, where the first signs of real concern came up for Park Center as the Elks made their first decisive move of this game in the form of a 10-2 run.  Haack would start this run with her lay-up at the 15:31 mark and another lay-up by freshman reserve guard Jordan Langbehn at the 14:51 mark gave Elk River an 8-4 lead.  A Haack lay-up in transition at the 13:10 mark maintained the four-point edge at 10-6 and then strong junior forward/post Johanna Langbehn would connect with a lay-up at the 12:42 mark to push the lead to 12-6.  Another lay-up by junior guard Ellie Maass at the 12:04 mark increased the lead to 14-6 Pirate Head Coach Barb Metcalfe had seen more than enough to know that a stoppage in play was warranted to talk to her team.  Park Center appeared to restore some order to this chaos as a jumper from the right top area by McKenzie at the 11:51 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by Frost at the 10:01 mark had the Pirates back to within striking distance again down 14-10.  A lay-up eighth-grade reserve guard Alivia McGill with  kept Park Center in that four-point range down 16-12 with 8:22 left so, presumably anyway, the sluggish start was hopefully nothing more than a hiccup for the Pirate faithful.

Problem was, however, that someone forgot to tell this Elk River team that they weren't supposed to be doing this on the road against the heavily-favored Pirates and they proceeded to widen the gap again.  Haack wowed everyone in attendance with her coast-to-coast lay-up with 7:42 left and a Johanna Langbehn lay-up in transition got the Elks lead back to eight at 20-12.  Johanna Langbehn would strike again with 6:03 left with another lay-up and a pretty reverse lay-up by junior reserve guard Elly Bahr with 5:09 left gave Elk River their first double-digit lead at 24-13.  The Pirates' McGill would briefly bring her team back into single-digit range again with her offensive rebound and putback of her own miss with 3:42 left but the Elks' Johanna Langbehn continued to terrorize this Park Center team as she connected with yet another lay-up with 2:34 left to push the lead back to double-digits at 26-15.  Haack would add one free throw after getting fouled with 1:26 left and, yes, another Johanna Langbehn lay-up with :29 left gave Elk River a 29-17 lead as both teams headed off to the locker room for the halftime break.

Most of the crowd inside Park Center Gymnasium on this night expected the Pirates to come out with renewed energy and focus and make inroads on this deficit once the second half got underway and, initially anyway, that looked to be the case.  A McKenzie lay-up in transition at the 16:44 mark and a lay-up by fellow junior forward T'Naye Griffin at the 16:14 mark had Park Center back in single-digit range down 29-21 and certainly an eight-point deficit wasn't insurmountable.  Curiously, however, as fast as the Pirates came out with some energy and tenacity, it fizzled just as fast as Elk River steadied the ship and took control of things again.  Johanna Langbehn would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 15:47 mark and a "3" from the right wing area by Maass at the 15:16 mark once again gave the Elks a cozy advantage at 34-21.  A Mikayla Kanenwisher lay-up in transition at the 14:50 mark pushed the lead to 36-21 and once again Park Center's Metcalfe was clamoring for a timeout as her team's hopes for a comeback were quickly going up in flames.  But Elk River had no plans to step off the gas pedal anytime soon.  Haack would drain a back-breaking "3" from the left corner at the 11:57 mark and Haack would also add a lay-up at the 10:53 mark that ballooned the lead to twenty at 41-21.  The Pirates' McKenzie would try and take matters into her own hands as she would drop two free throws after getting fouled at the 10:47 mark and would also connect on a lay-up in transition at the 10:34 mark that had the deficit down to sixteen at 41-25 but then Elk River's Bahr would bang home a "3" from the left wing area at the 9:32 mark to give them a 44-25 lead and by now it was just turning into one of those nights for Park Center.

The Pirates would flirt again with another comeback attempt as Frost would make a hard drive into the lane for a finish at the 9:16 mark and McKenzie would connect with a lay-up with 8:37 left that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" had the deficit down to fourteen at 44-30.  A Frost jumper from the right elbow area with 7:32 left kept Park Center in that fourteen-point range down 46-32 but the Pirates simply were unable to find that one spark that might have fostered a game-changing run when they needed it.  Elk River's Maass knocked down a jumper in the lane with 6:38 left and a short turnaround jumper in the lane off of an inbounds pass by Johanna Langbehn with 5:56 left got the Elks lead back to nineteen at 51-32.  Park Center senior guard Kayla Cox would drain a "3" from the left corner with 5:41 mark but now all the Pirates were seemingly able to do was make meaningless dents in a now insurmountable deficit.  The Elks now started getting to the charity stripe with more frequency as Haack would drop one freebie with 5:14 left and Mikayla Kanenwisher would drop one of her own with 4:35 left for a 53-37 advantage.  Mikayla Kanenwisher would drop a pair of free throws with 4:22 left and Elk River would be in the double-bonus with 3:30 left which pretty much sealed the deal as Haack would casually drop a pair of charity stripe shots for a 57-39 advantage.  Haack would drop two more free throws after getting fouled with 3:02 left before the Pirates could cash in on some late scores.  McKenzie would connect with a lay-up with 2:29 left and would also tip-in a missed Frost lay-up in transition with 2:01 left as well.  McKenzie would add one more lay-up with 1:14 left and a short jumper with :14 left but in the end it was way too little way too late as Elk River went back on U.S. Highway 10 and the BNSF's Staples Sub mainline with a huge 65-50 road victory. 

The big takeaway I came with afterward was that, for the most part, anyway, Elk River was completely able to choke off Park Center's lifeline of getting steals for easy transition scores the other way and pretty much relegated the Pirates to playing a slower-paced half-court game which is simply not their style and it paid huge dividends for them on this night.  When I caught up with Elk River Head Coach Jeremy Digiovanni afterward, he too seemed a little amazed at first at what his squad did on this night.  "I told them that one - we had to take care of the ball and two- we had to rebound" and the Elks did that on this night.  Digiovanni added that the big difference in this year's squad is better leadership and the team buying into the concept of true team play.  "We don't have a player on this team who is capable of taking over a game like Park Center does" he said; hence the need for the team to really play together as a team and I thought they did this on this night.  I don't think this team is as good as the 2017 version that went undefeated and won the whole ball of wax with Gabi Haack, Ava Kramer, Sidney Wentland, et al, but they're carving their own little niche and the victory on this night was a statement by this team that you'd better not take them lightly and they're clearly one of the favorites not only in the conference but in Section 8AAAA as well.  Meanwhile, on the Park Center side of things, I think it's safe to say that this team has to take a long look in the mirror and take stock of itself and go back to the drawing board; maybe even back to basics if you will.  Their flaws - if not unmasked in the loss to Hopkins - were clearly exposed in this latest setback.  I think they do recover from this loss but I dare say their swagger took a big hit on this night and they'll have to dig deep to find that same swagger again.  What a night it was for Elk River's Haack as she led all scorers with her 28 points and it's easy to see what an incredibly smart player and leader she has become for this team.  Johanna Langbehn added 16 points but, more importantly, she simply dominated down low on this night and the Pirates had no answers for her whatsoever.  Park Center's McKenzie shouldered most of the load again for this Pirate team with her 27 points and Frost would add 13 points.