Section 5AAAA Championship Game - Park Center vs Roseville 3-8-18

Made my annual early March Thursday night pilgrimage up to Anoka and Anoka High School to take in the Section 5AAAA Championship Game that featured teams of two well-known girl's basketball powerhouse conferences - Park Center of the Northwest Suburban Conference and Roseville of the Suburban East Conference.  The Pirates advanced to this championship game by virtue of its huge upset of top-seeded and #3 Centennial last Saturday and the Raiders likewise as they unexpectedly toppled highly-regarded and second-seeded Champlin Park in the second game on Saturday.  The Pirates were looking for their fifth-straight state tournament appearance while the Raiders; who haven't been to the big stage since 2007, were hungry for an opportunity to return.

Indeed, Roseville sure looked hungry in the opening moments of the game despite the fact that both squads suffered turnovers on their initial possessions.  Sophomore forward Jayda Johnston's free throw at the 16:59 mark and a Johnston score in the paint at the 16:41 mark had the Raiders up 3-0 and a lay-up in transition by freshman post Tamia Ugass boosted that lead to 5-0.  Park Center senior guard Meghan DuBois finally broke the Pirates early drought with a lay-up in transition at the 15:54 mark but Roseville got the lead to 7-2 on two Johnston freebies at the 14:05 mark.  Park Center was able to get back into single-possession range on a "3" from the right corner in transition by flashy sophomore guard Lauren Frost at the 13:00 mark and one free throw by freshman sensation guard/forward Adalia McKenzie at the 11:56 mark kept the Pirates in that three-point range down 9-6.  Roseville was able to establish a bit more breathing space as a lay-up in transition by Ugass at the 11:21 mark to the lead to 11-6 and a jumper from the left wing area by junior guard Jada Hood at the 10:38 mark maintained the five-point edge at 13-8.

Park Center was looking for that same spark that got them going against Centennial last weekend and a "3" from the right corner by freshman reserve guard T'Naye Griffin at the 9:53 mark again allowed the Pirates to close to within a single possession down 13-11.  A jumper from the top of the key just inside the arc with 8:53 left in the first half by Frost kept Park Center in that two-point range down 15-13 but an 8-0 Raider run stretched things out again.  A score in the paint by Ugass at the 8:34 mark got the lead to 17-13 and a "3" from the left wing by junior guard Kaylee Nelson with 8:08 left suddenly had the lead up to seven at 20-13.  Then it was Hood draining a "3" from the left wing area with 5:58 left that gave Roseville their first double-digit advantage at 23-13.  The Pirates could have been in some serious doo-doo right then and there but they instead hunkered down and found enough magic to go on a 10-0 run of their own to get things knotted up by the halftime break.  Frost nailed her second three-point bomb of this game - this one coming from the left top area with 2:04 left to cut the deficit down to seven points and then McKenzie connected with a lay-up in transition with 1:38 left that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" with 1:38 left slimmed the deficit down to four points at 23-19.  McKenzie then also got a huge steal on Roseville's ensuing possession and she dashed the other way for a lay-up that suddenly had the gap down to two points at 23-21.  With time running down in the first half, DuBois made a daring drive into traffic and drew a foul with just :02.2 left and the future Concordia St. Paul Golden Bear knocked down both free throw attempts to forge a 23-23 tie as both teams shuffled off to their respective locker rooms for the intermission.  For the most part, it seemed as if Roseville was doing its part to try and keep this a half-court game if possible plus the fact that they were getting rebounds on the offensive end to get second- and third-looks.  Park Center though managed to finally get its patented transition game going down the last few minutes of the first half to get this one tied up and it looked as if momentum definitely rested on the Pirates side.

Both teams traded blows in the opening minutes of the second half in an effort to try and gain the upper hand.  An Ugass lay-up at the 17:27 mark pushed Roseville ahead 25-23 but that was bettered by Park Center's DuBois as she unleashed a "3" from the right corner at the 17:14 mark to push the Pirates out in front for the first time on this night at 26-25.  Ugass would strike again for the Raiders at the 16:59 mark with her lay-up that tilted the edge back in favor of Roseville at 27-26 but a lay-up by Park Center's McKenzie at the 16:36 mark shoved the Pirates back out in front by a 28-27 count.  An odd occurrence took place on the Raiders ensuing possession when the ball was knocked out of bounds as a technical foul was called on a Park Center play as she allegedly shoved a Roseville player after the whistle blew.  I was busy writing notes in my notebook when the incident supposedly took place and I was totally taken aback when the Raiders' Johnston was at the charity stripe all by herself.  Johnston would get one of the two free throw attempts to go down to tie the game at 28 a piece and when Roseville got the ball back, Johnston would promptly get fouled again at the 16:02 mark but this time around she was unable to cash in on either opportunity so this left the door open for the Pirates.  On Park Center's ensuing possession, senior forward Charo Nickens drilled a "3" from the left corner at the 14:56 mark that put the Pirates out in front 31-28.  Roseville would come right back, however, as Johnston would get sent to the line again at the 14:09 mark where she got both free throws to go down to slim the deficit down to one point at 31-30 and after a foiled Pirate possession, Roseville sophomore reserve guard Tianna Iserman drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 13:22 mark to push the Raiders back out in front 33-31.  Not to be outdone, Park Center's DuBois came right back on the Pirates' ensuing possession and she banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 13:00 mark that again shoved Park Center out in front 34-33 and it looked like maybe the Pirates were just waiting for the moment when they would catch a big spark like they did last Saturday and put their opponent in their rear-view mirror.

But to the shock of the large Park Center contingent on hand inside Anoka Gymnasium on this night, that spark never materialized and the Pirates went stone cold for five minutes and this gave Roseville the opening they were looking for.  A Johnston lay-up at the 10:55 mark sparked an 11-0 Raider run that changed the course of this one for good.  A Nelson lay-up at the 10:25 mark got Roseville's lead to 37-34 and an Ugass score in the paint at the 9:55 mark got the lead to five points at 39-34.  Then Nelson found the range from downtown as she unleashed a "3" from the left wing area with 8:31 left to stretch the lead to eight at 42-34 and then a Johnston lay-up in transition with 7:59 left got the lead to double-digits at 44-34 and Park Center Head Coach Barb Metcalf had finally seen enough to know that a stoppage in play was warranted to get her squad calmed down and refocused.  The Pirates finally got a bit of a reprieve when senior guard Sommer Blakemore snared a steal of an inbounds pass and connected with a lay-up with 7:25 left but they were going to need to string together a series of scores to change the complexion of this one and when they needed a big shot that might have given them a spark or a burst of energy, it simply wasn't there on this night.  And the Raiders were in no mood either to let their opponent back into this one.  Hood banged home a "3" from the top of the key with 7:02 left and after a foiled Park Center possession, Hood made a hard drive for a finish with 6:35 left to get the lead to thirteen at 49-36.  Scores in the paint by sophomore reserve forward Josie Haug with 5:53 left and by Ugass with 4:44 left pushed the lead to sixteen at 53-37 and two Ugass free throws with 2:58 left made it an eighteen-point game at 55-37.  The Pirates would cut into this cushion on pairs of free throws by Blakemore with 2:40 left and by Griffin with 2:10 left but they simply were unable to put together a serious drive that could have threatened.  As it was, with time now their enemy, the Pirates had to resort to fouling to preserve what little clock remained.  Roseville's Nelson knocked down two free throws with 1:36 left for a 57-41 lead and two more by Hood with :55.8 left maintained the Raider safety net at sixteen points at 59-43.  Park Center's Blakemore would connect on an obligatory lay-up with :49 left but Hood would add two more insurance free throws for the Raiders with :43.2 left and Roseville was able to melt the rest of the clock away and claim the Section 5AAAA crown with a 61-45 victory.

While the Roseville contingent and student section were obviously jubilant afterward, my heart couldn't help but break for Park Center seniors DuBois, Blakemore, Nickens and Jaelyn Two Hearts as well.  The trio of DuBois, Blakemore and Nickens was the last connection to the great runs that the Pirates had between 2014-2017 when they went to four straight state tournaments and won two Class AAA titles in 2014 and 2015.  And the pain and heartbreak was clearly evident on the players faces during the awards ceremony and afterward.  I managed to catch up with Park Center's Metcalf afterward who reflected on this game with bittersweetness.  She was quick in agreement that when Roseville went on that key 11-0 run that that definitely turned this one around and she also agreed with me when I mentioned that I thought that the Pirates gave up too many offensive rebounds to Roseville on this night that gave them second and third chances.  Metcalf pointed to some other factors that took the wind out of her squad's sail on this night as well.  She felt that the team may have been affected mentally on the questionable technical foul in the early moments of the second half and the fact that Roseville was simply able to be more physical on this night got to them as well.  "We've got to get better on that front during the off season" she said.  Additionally, she put a bit of the blame on Mother Nature as well as the Pirates missed a day of practice when school was called off on Monday thanks to Winter Storm Quinn that had the Twin Cities metro area scrambling beforehand.  It forced the team to condense a couple of practices together and naturally Metcalf wishes that they would have had more time to prepare.  Park Center had only two players in double-figures scoring-wise on this night with McKenzie leading the way with 11 points while DuBois had 10 points.  Roseville on the other hand had four players in double-figures that helped pave the way to their victory.  Johnston simply had another fantastic outing and she led all scorers with her 16 points while Ugass tallied 14 points and both Hood and Nelson finished with 13 points.  Congratulations to Roseville on your Section 5AAAA title!