Park Center Holiday Showcase - Hopkins vs Park Center 12-28-19

Got over to Park Center High School in the late afternoon on this icy, dreary Saturday after Christmas; thankfully in plenty of time as the marquee match-up on this Saturday night at Park Center Gymnasium for the Park Center Holiday Showcase featuring #1 Hopkins taking on #3 Park Center in easily one of the hottest tickets in town and, not surprisingly, it was SRO (standing room only) as this place was as packed and electric of any of the times I've been at this venue for any game.  Both teams were undefeated and both teams featured genuine superstars - Hopkins senior guard Paige Bueckers; bound for UConn and Park Center junior guard/forward Adalia McKenzie - both who can absolutely light it up when it comes to scoring.

After the Royals took a 2-0 lead at the 17:34 mark of the first half on a score in the paint by lanky sophomore forward Maya Nnaji, the packed house in Park Center gymnasium got a treat when, at the 17:00 mark, the Pirates' McKenzie had the ball and had Hopkins' Bueckers guarding her.  It was a magical one-on-one moment that McKenzie got the best of when she put on an incredible spin move for a finish to tie the game at 2 with the crowd going wild.  But the Royals would soon quiet this crowd as they embarked on a key 13-2 run to widen the gap considerably.  Freshman forward Taylor Woodson connected with a lay-up at the 16:45 mark and a short, pull-up jumper by Bueckers in transition at the 16:30 mark got the Hopkins lead to 6-2.  One free throw by Woodson after she was fouled at the 15:46 mark and a Woodson lay-up in transition at the 14:54 mark increased the lead to 9-4 and a Nnaji lay-up at the 14:24 mark pushed the lead to 11-4.  Then freshman guard Sunaja Agara connected with a lay-up in transition at the 13:52 mark to make it 13-4 and Pirates Head Coach Barb Metcalfe knew she had a problem and called a timeout in hopes of making some adjustments to stop this run.  Still, the Royals would cap this run on a pretty drive and finish by Bueckers at the 13:35 mark to make it 15-4 before Park Center could finally plug up a few holes on defense and start making some inroads.  McKenzie would make a hard drive for a finish at the 13:26 mark and do an encore at the 12:59 mark to at least keep the deficit at nine at 17-8 and a lay-up in transition by junior forward T'Naye Griffin at the 12:21 mark cut the deficit to seven at 17-10.  McKenzie would continue to put the load on her shoulders as she would connect with a lay-up in transition at the 11:14 mark and knock down a jumper from the free throw line area at the 10:34 mark to keep the deficit at seven at 21-14.  Then senior sharp-shooting guard Lauren Frost made a hard drive and finished off the window at the 10:02 mark to get the deficit down to five at 21-16 and when McKenzie made one of her trademark steals for a lay-up the other way at the 9:35 mark, she not only about brought the house down but, more importantly, got the Pirates back to within a single possession again - albeit the hard way - down 21-18.

A McKenzie lay-up in transition with 8:57 left in the first half kept Park Center in good shape down 23-20 before the Royals could widen their gap a little bit.  Sophomore reserve guard Alayna Contreras dropped two free throws after getting fouled in a transition opportunity with 8:04 left and two more by Nnaji after she was fouled with 7:37 left increased the Hopkins lead to 27-20.  Agara would make a hard drive along the right baseline for a finish with 6:51 left to maintain the seven-point lead at 29-22 before the Pirates could make another move.  McKenzie would drain a "3" from the top of the key with 6:41 left and a lay-up by eighth-grade reserve guard Alivia McGill with 6:20 left suddenly pulled Park Center back to within a single possession down 29-27.  The Royals responded to this with another push to widen the gap again.  Agara got into the paint for one score with 5:50 left and a Woodson lay-up with 5:27 left got the Hopkins lead back up to six at 33-27 and the lead would expand to eight when Woodson connected with a lay-up in transition with 5:11 left at 35-27.  A Contreras jumper from the free throw line area with 4:29 left maintained the eight-point lead at 37-29.  The Pirates would attempt to chip into that lead as a Ragulen jumper along the left baseline with 4:49 left and a Ragulen "3" from the left corner with 4:16 left reduced the Park Center deficit to five at 37-32 but then the Royals stepped on the gas again.  Bueckers knocked down a jumper from the right elbow area with 3:51 left and then Woodson wiggled into the paint for a score and drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw with 3:08 left got the Hopkins safety net back to eight points at 42-34.  A routine drive and finish by Bueckers with 3:00 left increased the Royals lead to double-digits at 44-34 before Park Center could whittle it back down again.  Two McKenzie free throws with 2:53 left and a short jumper by Griffin with 2:36 left had the deficit back down to six points but Hopkins was not about to let its opponent get too close again.  Nnaji was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:24 left and a Bueckers "3" from the right wing area with 1:27 left got the lead to nine at 49-40.  A dagger "3" delivered by senior guard KK Adams from the right corner with 1:08 left got the lead to twelve at 52-40 and Bueckers would cap this 10-4 push down the stretch with a jumper from the free throw line area that allowed the Royals to take a somewhat sizable 54-42 lead into the locker room at the half. 

One thing that Hopkins opponents usually have to find out the hard way is the old saying, "Give them an inch, they'll take a mile."  And that's precisely what Park Center had to find out the hard way once the second half going as the Royals came out firing on all cylinders - particularly from behind the arc - as they torched the Pirates with four three-point bombs in the span of two minutes that pretty much decided how this one was going to go the rest of the way.  Agara started this deluge with her bomb from the left corner at the 17:25 mark and then Adams would do likewise from the same spot at the 16:55 mark to get the Hopkins lead to 60-44.  Agara would find the range again from the left wing area at the 16:04 mark and then Nnaji drained one from the left top area at the 15:29 mark that now had the Royals up safely at 66-44.  A Woodson steal and lay-up the other way at the 14:07 mark capped this decisive 14-2 run to make it 68-44 before Park Center's McKenzie tried single-handedly to bring this one back in vain.  She would first drop one free throw after getting fouled at the 13:53 mark and would connect with a lay-up at the 13:27 mark.  McKenzie would also snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up at the 13:03 mark but now the Pirates were only making dents in an otherwise sizable deficit down 68-49.  And that deficit only grew as Bueckers now went to work for Hopkins.  The future UConn Husky would first connect with a lay-up at the 12:48 mark and would repeat the feat less than a minute later; this time drawing a foul and knocking down the "and one" for a 73-49 Royals lead.  Two Becker free throws at the 11:12 mark made it 75-51 before Park Center's McKenzie took her queue and lead a run for her team.  She would first drain a "3" from the right wing area at the 10:59 mark and would follow that up with a lay-up in transition at the 10:29 mark to reduce the deficit to nineteen at 75-56.  McGill would add a lay-up of her own as well at the 10:03 mark but again, this was only making dents in an already sizable deficit which was frustrating for the Pirates and some of this frustration spilled over at the 9:06 mark when senior guard Kayla Cox was whistled for a technical foul. 

As such, Hopkins was able to maintain the spread it had earned with that early barrage of three-point bombs down the stretch of this game.  After Bueckers got one free throw to go down after the technical foul, Nnaji would get into the paint for a score with 8:26 left to make it an 80-58 game.  The Pirates certainly hadn't lost their fighting spirit; particularly McGill as she connected with a lay-up in transition with 7:46 left and two Griffin free throws with 6:51 left got Park Center back within twenty down 80-62 but the Pirates were going to need a substantial run to get back into this and it just wasn't happening against Hopkins on this night.  McKenzie would add one free throw with 6:33 left and a lay-up in transition with 6:00 left to cut the deficit to seventeen at 82-65.  Park Center's Metcalfe would also call a timeout to try and set up some strategy but the Royals calmly went about the process of putting the bow tie on this one.  One Woodson free throw with 4:56 left and another one by Adams with 4:12 left had the Hopkins lead at 86-67 and an Adams jumper from the free throw line area with 2:44 left made it 88-72.  Then it was time for insurance free throws down the home stretch as two by Bueckers with 1:50 left and one more by Woodson with 1:39 left and another one by Bueckers with 1:16 left made it 92-77.  Woodson would add one of her own after getting fouled with 1:11 left and pairs of free throws by Bueckers with :38.2 left and by Adams with :20.8 left allowed Hopkins to head back home with a convincing 97-79 win. 

After watching this one, I don't think there's too much of an argument that Hopkins is clearly #1 with a smorgasbord of teams - including Park Center - trying to catch them.  A lot of people attribute that to the presence of Bueckers who is, without question, likely the best player to come out of the state of Minnesota yet.  I would make the argument, however, that it wasn't so much Bueckers that beat Park Center on this night.  Rather it was her supporting cast that beat Park Center.  Sure, Bueckers tallied 30 points on this night to pace the Royals attack but look at box score on this and it displays a telling story:  Hopkins had FOUR other players in double figures as well.  Woodson finished with 21 points and Nnaji wasn't far behind with her 19 points.  Agara had 12 points and Adams had 11.  When you have that kind of a balanced scoring attack, that's just tough for anyone to beat.  Now look at the Park Center side of things.  McKenzie poured in 42 points to lead all scorers while Griffin added 12 points and Ragulen had 11 points.  To me, that's the story right there.  But before anyone goes shedding any tears for the Pirates, know and understand that this team likely learned a few lessons on this night the way any tennis player would after getting boatraced (God knows I have).  They'll recover from this and delve into the meat of Northwest Suburban Conference play and be just fine.  But there are still some things they need to work on - notably rebounding and boxing out - if they are to avoid another Spring Lake Park-like upset once sectional play arrives.