Spring Lake Park vs Park Center 2-21-20

Made the short run over to Park Center High School on this Friday evening for the last regular season game as host Park Center prepared to take on visiting Spring Lake Park.  This would be my first look at the Panthers this season and who could ever forget their stunning upset of Park Center in last season's Section 5AAAA semifinal game?  Although the Panthers would go on to lose to Centennial in the Section 5AAAA Championship Game, they were showing that their strong finish last year was no fluke as they were coming into this contest with a sparkling 9-2 conference record and 18-7 overall and were in second place in the West Division right behind their opponent on this night.  Park Center meanwhile was 10-1 in conference play and coming off the big road win at Maple Grove earlier in the week.  For the Pirates, the objectives were clear:  Win tonight and win the Northwest Suburban Conference title outright and cement the claim to the number-one seed in Section 5AAAA.  This was also Senior Night as well making this contest that much more emotional as seniors Aaliyah Ragulen, Lauren Frost and Kayla Cox were honored before the start of the game. 

Perhaps riding that wave of emotion helped Park Center get off to the kind of start they were hoping for as they built an early 7-0 lead.  Cox would drain a "3" from the left wing at the 17:52 mark of this first half to get things started and junior sensation guard/forward Adalia McKenzie provided the other scores of this early run with a short jumper from the left side at the 15:54 mark and a pretty coast-to-coast lay-up at the 15:33 mark.  But this early drive of the Pirates may have been slowed somewhat by the 2-3 "match-up" zone defense that Spring Lake Park Head Coach Randy Eatherton was employing on this night and that allowed the Panthers to claw their way back into this contest.  One free throw by junior forward/post Madi Ngene after she was fouled at the 14:04 mark and a Ngene lay-up at the 13:28 mark reduced the deficit to four and still another Ngene lay-up at the 12:51 mark had the Panthers back within a single possession down 7-5.  Senior guard/forward Joelle Talso would add one free throw after she was fouled at the 12:15 mark and Spring Lake Park would assume their first lead of this game when junior reserve guard Taylor Falvey connected with a lay-up in transition at the 11:04 mark.  That quickly got the Pirates attention and they responded with an 12-2 push.  Frost would snare a steal and race the other way for an easy lay-up at the 10:33 mark to put Park Center back out in front and an offensive rebound and putback by McKenzie with 8:56 left still had Park Center up by one at 11-10.  Frost would connect with another lay-up with 8:29 left and when Frost was able to grab an offensive rebound for a putback of her own miss with 8:10 left to give the Pirates a 15-10 advantage, Spring Lake Park's Eatherton knew his squad likely needed to be calmed down a bit and called a timeout in hopes of doing so. 

Still, Park Center was able to stretch its lead to 19-10 as eighth-grade guard Alivia McGill connected with a short turnaround jumper off the glass with 6:27 left and McKenzie was able to snare a steal of an inbounds pass in the backcourt and get an easy lay-up out of it with 6:20 left.  The Panthers were able to stop some of the bleeding on a Ngene lay-up with 6:07 left but Park Center finally established a double-digit lead when Ragulen connected with a jumper from the left wing area and McKenzie added a lay-up in transition with 5:22 left to make it 23-12.  But before the Pirates could get too comfortable with this newfound cushion, Spring Lake Park set out to again claw their way back into this one.  Freshman reserve forward Kylie Diaz would come up big as she would connect with a lay-up in transtion with 5:14 left and with 4:37 left, Diaz would connect with a lay-up that drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" had the deficit cut down to six at 23-17.  Diaz would also add two more free throws after getting fouled with 3:20 left and then slender junior guard Macy Smith would come up big with a three-point bomb from the left wing area with 2:38 left that had the deficit cut down to a manageable four points at 26-22.  Thirty seconds later, Ngene would snare an offensive rebound for a putback that brought the Panthers back to within a single possession down 26-24 and a Ngene score in the paint with 1:18 left kept Spring Lake Park in that two-point range down 28-26.  Both teams would add some flair of their own down the final home stretch of this first half.  Park Center's McKenzie would snare a steal in the backcourt and drive in for a finish with :49.6 left and Spring Lake Park senior guard Julia Levahn would drain a "3" from the left corner with :41 left to cut the deficit down to one point at 30-29 and although the Pirates would get a bit more breathing room when Frost buried a cold-blooded "3" from the left corner off of an inbounds pass with just :00.4 left to take a 33-29 lead into the locker room at the half, Head Coach Barb Metcalfe and her staff had to know that they were in a ballgame and these tricky Panthers weren't going anywhere. 

The Pirates were able to grow their advantage to six at 35-29 early in the second half when McKenzie knocked down a jumper from the left wing off of an inbounds pass at the 17:34 mark but, sure enough, right back came this resourceful Spring Lake Park team.  Talso would knock down a short jumper at the 17:04 mark to reduce the deficit to four points and now foul trouble was starting to plague the Pirates as well.  Cox collected her fourth foul of the evening at the 16:06 mark and the youngster; McGill, picked up her third a short time later at the 15:46 mark.  That aspect alone seemed to open up a door for the Panthers and they went right to work.  Levahn banged home her second trey of the ballgame; this one coming from the left top area at the 14:54 mark to reduce the deficit to one at 35-34 and less than a minute later, Talso would unleash a "3" of her own - this one from the same left top area as well that had this contest deadlocked at 37 a piece.  Park Center's McKenzie would then step to the forefront and get her team back into the lead with a score in the paint at the 13:55 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way at the 13:01 mark that also drew a foul and resulted in the obligatory free throw to give the Pirates a 43-37 advantage.  By now, however, McKenzie also picked up her third foul of the night but Park Center's Metcalfe decided to keep her in the contest; trusting McKenzie's basketball instincts.  But not even McKenzie could prevent this never-say-die Panther team from clawing their way back into the thick of things again.  Sophomore guard Avery Dunbar would connect with a lay-up at the 12:45 mark and draw a foul in the process and would also cash in on the ensuing "and one" to get the deficit down to three at 43-40.  Smith would sink two freebies of her own at the 12:17 mark after getting fouled that shrunk the deficit to one point at 43-42 and the Park Center situation became even more worrisome when Frost had to temporarily leave the game with an apparent shoulder injury.  As such, the Panthers' Talso would knock down two more charity stripe shots after getting fouled at the 11:20 mark and one free throw by Ngene at the 10:22 mark coupled with a Smith drive into the lane and finish at the 9:47 mark kept Spring Lake Park in that one-point range down 48-47.  Talso would then put the Panthers back out in front when she was foueld at the 9:22 mark to make it 49-48 and there was now some genuine worry and concern throughout the partisan Park Center crowd. 

The Pirates' McKenzie would connect with a lay-up in transition with 8:18 left to put the home team back in front but then Spring Lake Park's Levahn would strike again from three-point land with a bomb from the right corner with 7:25 mark to put the Panthers back out in front 52-50.  Soon thereafter, however, Park Center looked to have the ship guided into somewhat calmer waters when Cox drained a "3' from the right wing area with 7:04 mark to put the Pirates back out in front 53-52 and then McKenzie would go back to work.  She first knocked down a jumper from the left wing area with 5:26 left and followed that up with a lay-up in transition with 5;12 left to make it 57-52.  Another McKenzie lay-up with 3:12 left coupled with an offensive rebound and putback by McGill with 2:34 left now had Park Center up by nine at 61-52 and most of the onlookers inside Park Center Gymnasium likely thought that the Pirates were now out of the woods with this latest run and could probably close out a hard fought win.  But Spring Lake Park had vastly different ideas and when Smith buried a "3" from the left wing area with 2:03 left to reduce the deficit down to six at 61-55, Eatherton would call a timeout to set up strategy for the home stretch.  With 1:41 left, the Panthers got into the double-bonus as Ngene would get one free throw to go down to reduce the deficit to five and after a foiled Pirate possession, Talso would get fouled with 1:22 left and she calmly knocked down both attempts to get Spring Lake Park back to within a single possession down 61-58.  With 1:05 left, things looked a bit safer for the Pirates when McGill was fouled and she got one free throw to go down to make it a two-possession game at 62-58.  But then Park Center suffered the biggest blow of all a little more than ten seconds later when McKenzie drew her fifth and final foul of the night; much to the chagrin of the Pirate faithful inside Park Center Gymnasium.  With :32.7 left, Spring Lake Park's Levahn would get fouled and get the front-end to go down at least to get the Pirates back to within a single possession again down 62-59.  Both teams would come up empty on their next possessions and with :13.5 left, Park Center's Ragulen would get fouled and this is where the Pirates really had their best chance to finally put the daisy on this God-forsaken game but Ragulen could only get one of the two free throw attempts to go down making it a four-point game at 63-59.  With just :06.8 left, the Panthers' Smith would get fouled and she calmly dropped both to get the deficit down to two points at 63-61.  Spring Lake Park would immediately foul Pirates sophomore reserve forward/post Shadaizhalynn Chatman but, here again, the Pirates managed to leave the door ajar as Chatman could only get the front end of the two free throw attempts to go down to make it 64-61.  Spring Lake Park's Eatherton immediately called timeout on the defensive rebound and set up one last-gasp play in hopes that it would work.  It did.  The Panthers inbounded the ball to Talso who dribbled it down to her range from three-point land and with just :00.2 left on the clock, she drained a bomb to level this game at 64 a piece as the Spring Lake Park contingent erupted in jubilation.  This thing was going an extra five minutes. 

Despite the emotional blow of not being able to close things out in regulation and despite the fact that their main scoring machine - McKenzie - was now relegated to the bench after fouling out, the Pirates appeared to recover just enough to grab at least a small lead.  Frost; back on the floor after having left earlier with that injured shoulder, was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback at the 3:38 mark to give Park Center a 66-64 advantage.  The Panthers would come up empty on their first two possessions in the overtime period but Smith finally did venture to the foul line with 1:47 left and got both attempts to go down to get this one tied back up again at 66-all.  The Pirates' Chatman would get fouled on Park Center's next possession with 1:36 left but was only able to connect on one of the two attempts so now the Pirates were clinging to a precarious one-point advantage at 67-66 and the nightmares of what happened in the Section 5AAAA semifinal game last season came full circle as Spring Lake Park would drive a stake into the heart of the Pirates on Senior Night.  With 1:01 left, the Panthers' Smith would launch and deliver a cold-blooded "3" from the left wing area to put Spring Lake Park back into the lead at 69-67.  Park Center would come up empty on its next possession and with :36 left, Smith would get fouled but she could only get one of the two free throw attempts to go down; thus leaving the door slightly open for the Pirates.  With :29.8 left, Park Center's Ragulen would get fouled and she knocked down both attempts to reduce the deficit to one at 70-69.  But the Pirates now needed to foul and preserve clock as well and with :17.3 left, Spring Lake Park's Talso would get sent to the charity stripe where she got both free throw attempts to go down to make it 72-69.  Now out of timeouts, Park Center was reduced to its last lifeline.  They quickly got the ball downcourt but getting somebody a clean look behind the arc was quickly proving to be akin to pulling teeth from a lion.  With just :05 left on the clock, the Pirates' Ragulen got what was probably the best look she was going to get from the right top area but her attempt would get deflected by the Panthers and the clock would run out and Spring Lake Park would escape with a thrilling 72-69 overtime victory. 

In the aftermath that was half bedlam and half disbelief and solemn, I was finally was able to catch up with Spring Lake Park's Eatherton who was gracious in victory.  He pointed out that Park Center would still probably get the number-one seed in Section 5AAAA while his squad would be in the 3/4 position as it was last year.  But he couldn't help feel a bit giddy about his squad as well.  He was particularly impressed with how they hung together and never got rattled; particularly when they were down 7-0 early on.  You watch this Spring Lake Park team play and you can easily see how they never get rattled or get down on themselves.  They're very smart with their half-court offense and incredibly patient and their 2-3 "match-up" zone defense probably bothered the Pirates a lot more than they're willing to admit.  Winning the Section 5AAAA title is probably going to be a bridge too far for this Spring Lake Park team.  At the same time, however, they're probably the LAST team you want to see yourself paired up with and, just like last year, they're capable of doing some serious damage and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see a rematch between these two teams next weekend.  On the Park Center side, what can you say?  They had dozens and dozens of opportunities to close this one out and either missed free throws (WHY has free throw shooting become such a lost art anyway????) or other gaffes kept this one just out of reach.  You can blame the officials all you want or the fact that McKenzie wasn't there for the overtime period which obviously would have made a difference.  What makes this loss devastating beyond the obvious is that this loss; coupled with Maple Grove's win over Centennial, gives the Crimson an outright Northwest Suburban Conference Championship.  Plus the fact that Park Center, Spring Lake Park and Elk River wound up tied for first place in the West Division with identical 10-2 conference records.  But here's an even more worrisome thought:  One could make the argument now I think that Spring Lake Park is effectively in Park Center's head with this latest loss to the Panthers.  Hey, it happens.  It's happened to me as a tennis player when someone seemed to have (or still does :p ) my number even when I know I'm the "better" player.  Somehow, Park Center has to get over this mental hurdle and find a way because it's quite possible these two teams could meet up again next week in the Section 5AAAA semifinals.  Spring Lake Park had an incredibly balanced scoring attack on this night with Smith's 20 points leading the way and Ngene was a beast in the paint on this night with her 15 points.  Talso was right behind with her 14 points and Levahn added 10 points.  Park Center's McKenzie easily led all scorers with her 31 points on this night despite fouling out while Frost had 12 points and Ragulen had 11 points.