Made my annual pilgrammage up to Anoka High School to take in both the Section 3AAA and Section 5AAAA Championship Games on this Friday night. The first game was the Section 3AAA final featuring the third go-around between challenger and #2 seed Park Center against defending champion and #1 seed DeLaSalle. In last year's game, the Pirates got off to a great start and built a double-digit lead on the Islanders only to have it all evaporate in the second half as the Islanders cruised to victory and a berth in the State Tournament. This year's Park Center squad looked to be at least ready to seriously challenge DeLaSalle; certainly more experienced this time around but, at the same time, knowing that they'd have to get out to another great start and then likely have to hold on for dear life.
When Park Center junior sensation Cayla McMorris banged home a "3" from the left corner at the 17:12 mark for a 3-0 Pirate lead, it initially appeared that they were going to get that great start they had hoped for. What they couldn't have known, however, was that, on this night, DeLaSalle simply would be on fire and untouchable. The Islander's sensational strong 5'10" senior Allina Starr got things going as she drained a "3" from the right corner at the 16:38 mark that tied the game. Fellow senior forward Claire Thomas snared an offensive rebound for a putback at the 15:37 mark and then it was Starr again connecting from behind the arc from the right top area that upped the Islander lead to 8-3. McMorris cut the lead to 8-6 when she made good on a drive and finish that got her fouled in the process and the ensuing freebie was made as well. However, a score in the paint by Starr at the 14:17 mark and a lay-up by fellow senior sensation Tyseanna Johnson (who was JUST getting started) at the 13:38 mark made it a 12-6 game and Park Center Head Coach Patty Sorensen called a thirty second timeout just to get her team on the same page. No cause for panic - yet.
But you could see subtle signs that this simply was not going to be Park Center's time to shine on this night. To their credit, however, the Pirates stayed within striking distance even as DeLaSalle gradually extended their lead. Senior Hollie Sorensen drained a "3" from the right wing at the 11:57 mark and after DeLaSalle upped their ante to a double-digit advantage at 23-9 with 9:43 left sophomore McKenna DuBois was able to get a lay-up in transition with 9:03 left and then fellow sophomore guard Hannah Schaub drained a "3" from the right top area with 8:35 left that briefly cut the deficit back into single digits at 23-14. But from that point on, any Park Center inroad was met by more unbelievable baskets from the Islanders. Johnson knocked down a "3" from the right wing at the 7:38 mark and then sophomore Patiance Griffin banged home a "3" from the left corner with 6:41 left that increased the Islander's lead to 30-14. McMorris tried to stem the Islander tide with her own jumper with 6:30 left but it was here that Johnson really shined for the Islanders coming down the stretch of the first half. A score in the paint with 6:09 left, a "3" from the right wing with 5:41 left, a lay-up in transition with 4:40 left plus a "3" from the right top area with 1:54 left all helped to not only increase the DeLaSalle lead to 48-23 but effectively ended any remote hope that Park Center may have had about pulling off the unthinkable. It was just one of those situations where everything DeLaSalle was throwing up was going in and this was punctuated even more when the 5'10" Thomas manged to connect with a jumper just before the buzzer that allowed DeLaSalle to take a prohibitive 53-23 lead going into the locker room.
A white-hot Islander team picked up right where they left off when the second half got underway as the Park Center frustrations continued (it frighteningly reminded me of the 1975 NFC Championship Game where my LA Rams got creamed at home by Dallas in the Coliseum 37-7; yeah, it was THAT bad) and Johnson continued to bask in the spotlight. A drive and finish at the 15:20 mark and another foray into the paint for a finish that got her fouled and allowed her to sink the obligatory freebie at the 11:31 mark upped DeLaSalle's lead to 61-28. A jumper by Thomas with 10:12 left and a score inside by sophomore reserve forward Taylor Toney with 9:19 left kept the margin in the thirty-point range and the game would have gone into "running time" by the 9:00 mark but this Park Center team has a lot of pride and senior Kylie Browen prevented that has she was able to hit a "3" from the right corner with 9:04 left that kept the deficit within thirty at 65-36.
There were a few other bright spots for the Pirates in the home stretch of this one. Schaub was able to hit a jumper in transition with 5:52 left and senior point guard Kate Simonet knocked down a "3" from the right wing with 4;24 left. McMorris, who obviously struggled on this night, got untracked somewhat when she was able to manuever into the paint for a score with 3:30 left but the Islanders were simply bigger, stronger, and speedier than their challengers on this night and they would not be denied. Free throws by Toney with 2:24 left and a score inside by the lanky 6'0" sophomore with 2:05 left made it a 76-46 game. The finishing touches on this resounding victory were put on my senior post Natalie Eull with a jumper from the right baseline area with 1:22 left and a score in the paint by sophomore reserve Anna Podewils with just four ticks left on the clock made the final margin 80-48 that was greeted by roars of approval from a rowdy DeLaSalle student contingent that was vocal all game long. Quite obviously when DeLaSalle brings their "A+ game" they're simply unstoppable and it's tough for me to imagine at this point anybody out there in the Class AAA section that is also making the trip to Target Center this next week having a legitimate chance to stop them.
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