The high noon showdown at Williams Arena on this day would be the much-anticipated showdown between fifth-seeded Stillwater and fourth-seeded Park Center. These two teams met back in November with Park Center winning a close game by a score of 75-69. The Ponies, however, cruised through the Section 4AAAA tournament and handily defeated East Ridge to earn their berth to state. The Pirates meanwhile had a slightly tougher time but still got the job done in Section 5AAAA and got a solid win over Centennial in the section final to earn their first state trip since 2017.
Given the styles of each team, you knew both teams were going to be getting up and down the floor at every opportunity and the Ponies sure seemed to be making the most of their opportunities early on; building an early 5-0 lead on the strength of a three-point bomb by speedy junior point guard Alexis Pratt. Fellow junior guard Gianna Carr would add a "3" of her own a bit later as Stillwater had an 8-2 lead by the 15:00 mark of the first half. Sophomore guard Amber Scalia would connect on a lay-up in transition at the 14:39 mark to extend Stillwater's lead to 10-2 and Park Center Head Coach Barb Metcalfe would subsequently call a timeout to get her squad regrouped. Still, another Scalia lay-up in transition at the 12:40 mark had Stillwater up 16-4 and a Pratt "3" at the 10:57 mark gave the Ponies a sizable 21-6 advantage. Park Center finally got back into single-digit range again down 21-12 by the 9:22 mark and a jumper by senior guard Lauren Frost at the 9:03 mark cut the deficit down to seven at 21-14. Stillwater's Scalia would knock down a jumper to put the Ponies up 25-14 and a drive into the lane and finish by senior forward Liza Karlen with 6:49 left upped Stillwater's lead to 30-14 and once again, Park Center's Metcalfe was forced to burn another timeout in hopes of finding some quick solutions. The Pirates' problems were compounded by the fact that Stillwater was getting second and third opportunities on their offensive possessions while the Pirates thus far were limited to a one shot and done deal. Stillwater's Pratt would connect with a lay-up with 3:21 left to make it 37-18 and a Pratt offensive rebound and putback with 2:09 left made it 39-18. Pirate eighth-grade guard Alivia McGill would get a couple of jumpers to go down in the last two minutes to trim the deficit and junior standout Adalia McKenzie would drain a "3" from the left wing with :25 left but the Pirates were still on the wrong end of a 39-26 score at the half. A quick check of the stats at the halftime break showed that Stillwater's Pratt was doing the most damage thus far with her 13 points while Liza Karlen wasn't far behind with 10 points. On the Park Center side, it was McGill's nine points leading the way and clearly the Pirates had a lot of work to do to get back into this one.
Park Center appeared to get a lift when senior guard Kayla Cox got a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt at the 16:32 mark of the second half thanks to the pressure defense the Pirates are famous for. A score in the paint by McKenzie at the 16:02 mark had the deficit shrunk down to eleven at 41-30 and a lay-up by senior guard Lauren Frost got Park Center into single-digit range shortly thereafter. Alarmed, Stillwater would get their lead back up to eighteen after senior forward Grace Cote nailed at "3" at the 14:03 mark at 50-32 and the Pirates were clearly back at Square One again. Cote would nail another "3" at the 13:00 mark to make it a twenty-point game at 53-33. Park Center's McKenzie would respond with consecutive baskets but trailing 55-38 by the 11:37 mark, the Pirates could ill-afford to be satisfied with simply trading scores with their opponent. By the 10:09 mark, Stillwater's lead was at twenty again at 58-38 and it was becoming clear that the Pirates were getting outworked, outrebounded and outhustled by a hungrier opponent. That lead would grow to 62-38 with 8:11 left and a pretty drive/fake and lay-up by Stillwater's Pratt at the 6:52 mark would make it 64-40. Cote would drain a "3" with 5:05 left for a 71-42 lead. Park Center could only make incremental dents down the stretch as Stillwater rolled into the semifinals with a resounding 82-52 victory.
It was certainly a disappointing outing for the Pirates on this day and Park Center's Metcalfe called the first half "the worst half of basketball we played all year". Still, a comeback was a doable proposition and the fact that the Pirates climbed back to within single digits early on in that second half did provide hope. But Metcalfe noted that things quickly got away from her squad and, unbeknownst to me, it's possible that McKenzie may not have ben 100% for this game. Meanwhile, on the Stillwater side, I asked Head Coach Willie Taylor about how I thought his team looked exceptionally "hungry" on this day. "They'd better be!" he laughed. But he was proud of the effort his team gave this day and Pratt and Liza Karlen who were in the press conference as well both thought that this team's chemistry has only become better as this season has progressed......McKenzie's 18 points would lead the way on this day for Park Center while Pratt had an outstanding day for Stillwater as she led the way with her 23 points.
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