Section 5AAAA Quarterfinal Game - Mounds View vs Park Center 2-28-18

Made the short drive over to Park Center on this somewhat unseasonably warm last day in February to take in one of the Section 5AAAA Quarterfinal games taking place on this night - this one between visiting Mounds View out of the Suburban East Conference and host Park Center of the Northwest Suburban Conference.  The Mustangs were coming into this game off of a somewhat so-so season; only 9-19 overall but interestingly two of the wins they have this year were over conference champ and tenth-ranked Cretin-Derham Hall and they got the fifth-seed in the section.  The Pirates were 19-9 overall and although they won their division in the Northwest Suburban Conference, it's been a very up-and-down and inconsistent season for a program that's been able to get to the State Tournament the last four seasons.  As such, they garnered the fourth-seed in this section and the 4/5 game in any section is usually the most unpredictable.  And not knowing much about Mounds View either made them all the more dangerous I suppose.

Indeed, Mounds View showed how dangerous they could be right from the get-go as junior forward Lizzie Kauls hauled in the opening tip and whizzed in for an easy lay-up at the 17:56 mark to help the Mustangs draw first blood and a lay-up by lanky sophomore forward Lindsey Becher at the 17:32 mark increased the lead to 4-0.  Park Center would cut the deficit down to one point as freshman guard/forward Adalia McKenzie drained a "3" from the right corner at the 16:33 mark but the Pirates would have a devil of a time handling a tall, long opponent.  Mounds View would embark on a 6-1 push as a Lindsey Becher lay-up at the 16:21 mark got the lead to 6-3 and another lay-up by senior guard Grette Schmidt at the 15:10 mark got the lead to 8-4.  Schmidt would strike again at the 13:52 mark with a short jumper from the left side that gave the Mustangs some breathing room with a 10-4 advantage.  Park Center managed to cut things down to a single possession on a "3" from the top of the key off the glass by senior guard Sommer Blakemore at the 13:24 mark but getting things even again was proving problematic and when Mounds View's Schmidt stretched her team's lead to 12-7 on a lay-up at the 13:09 mark, new Pirate Head Coach Barb Metcalf had seen enough and called a timeout to try and come up with a plan to stop all those back-door lay-ups the Mustangs were getting.  That stoppage in play seemed to revive Park Center as they managed to close the gap to one point.  McKenzie snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 12:32 mark and a Blakemore lay-up in transition at the 12:07 mark now had the Mustang lead down to 12-11.  Mounds View would manage to create some more breathing space as two free throws by junior reserve guard/forward Chloe Whalen at the 11:53 mark and two more by senior guard Sara Wendt at the 11:13 mark got the lead out to 16-11.  Again the Pirates made a move to close to within a single possession as senior guard Meghan DuBois made a hard drive into traffic for a finish at the 11:02 mark and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" now had the deficit down to two points at 16-14 and most in attendance at Park Center Gymnasium on this night thought that the Pirates were now in position to quickly take control of this game.

The Mustangs, however, surprised everybody by responding and extending their lead.  One Lindsey Becher free throw at the 10:40 mark after she was fouled in trainsition got the lead to three points and a Schmidt lay-up at the 9:32 mark got the lead to five points at 19-14.  Then it was Lindsey Becher astonishing everyone by getting a big block on the defensive end and scooping up the loose ball for an easy lay-up the other way with 8:46 left that got the lead to 21-14.  Park Center though resisted the temptation to panic and instead hunkered down to close things up again.  Senior reserve forward Charo Nickens connected with a lay-up in transition with 8:01 left and freshman forward T'Naye Griffin did the same with 7:38 left to cut the deficit down to three points at 21-18 and now Mounds View Head Coach Ashlie Anzel now felt compelled to take a timeout to not only get her squad calmed down a bit but also to give them a chance to collect their collective breaths as well.  Just like before, the Mustangs recovered and tried to rebuild their lead.  Whalen was able to connect with a lay-up off of an inbounds pass with 7:25 left to make it a 23-18 game and an offensive rebound by Lindsey Becher of her own miss with 5:43 left got the lead to six points at 25-19.  A Schmidt lay-up with 4:32 left maintained that six-point edge at 27-21 and Mounds View looked to be in decent shape.  But the Pirates would close this first half on a 7-2 run.  Blakemore connected with a lay-up in transition with 3:29 left and drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw with 3:29 left had Park Center back in single-possession range again down 27-24.  An offensive rebound and putback by Blakemore with 1:15 left kept the Pirates in that three-point range down 29-26 and a DuBois lay-up in transition with :54 left now had Park Center down by only one at 29-28 as both teams headed to the locker room for the halftime break.  So while it looked as if the Pirates finally had their vaunted transition game going again down the stretch, they still had a lot of work to do on the defensive end and they still needed to clean up a lot of missed easy shots and lay-ups as well.

Park Center finally got its first lead of the ballgame in the early moments of the second half as DuBois connected with a lay-up in transition after a steal at the 17:12 mark but that lead was short-lived.  The Mustangs' Sara Wendt banged home a "3" from the right wing area at the 16:36 mark to take a 32-30 lead and a score in the paint by junior forward Lizzie Kauls at the 15:40 mark kept Mounds View out in front 34-32.  Then it was Mustang senior reserve guard Mia Wendt drilling a "3" from the right corner at the 15:02 mark that stretched the lead to five points at 37-32.  Park Center responded on a 4-0 push as the Pirates got their transition game going again.  One lay-up in transition by Blakemore at the 14:27 mark and another one by DuBois at the 13:59 mark cut the deficit down to one point at 37-36.  The Mustangs were able to get a bit more space when Sara Wendt drained a "3" from the left wing area at the 12:46 mark but Park Center embarked on another 4-0 push to get things tied up thanks to McKenzie as she connected with a lay-up at the 12:32 mark and followed that up a bit later with a hard drive for a finish at the 11:59 mark to make it 40-all.  Mounds View would retake the lead on a Lindsey Becher lay-up at the 11:47 mark but you could start to see the signs that the Mustangs were starting to run low on gas now that Park Center had its transition game going and had the tempo of the game going its way as well. 

A 6-0 Pirate run midway through the second half changed not only changed the complexion of this one but got Park Center into the lead for good.  A drive and finish by McKenzie at the 11:14 mark not only tied the contest at 42-all but helped ignite a 12-2 Pirate run.  A Blakemore drive and finish at the 10:32 mark put Park Center out in front at 44-42 and two Blakemore free throws at the 10:11 mark increased the lead to four points at 46-42.  McKenzie then connected with a lay-up with 8:55 left that also drew a foul and her ensuing "and one" pushed the lead to 49-44.  Griffin would add one free throw with 8:11 left and a lay-up in transition by sophomore guard Lauren Frost with 7:57 left suddenly had the Pirates up 52-44 and Mounds View's Anzel clearly saw this one getting away from her squad and called a halt to the action to try and reverse her team's dwindling fortunes.  The Mustangs managed to reduce the deficit down to five points as one Lindsey Becher free throw with 7:00 left and a Kauls lay-up with 6:40 left had Park Center's lead down to 52-47.  The Pirates though would embark on a 6-0 push that finally gave them some real cushion.  Diminutive sophomore guard Aaliyah Ragulen drove into traffic for a finish with 6:22 left and a Frost lay-up in transition with 6:03 left got the lead up to nine points at 56-47.  Then a hard drive along the left baseline and finish by Blakemore with 5:04 left had Park Center in very good shape up 58-47 and it seemed unlikely that the Mustangs would have anything left in the tank that would allow them to get close again.  But Mounds View had absolutely nothing to lose here and they rolled the dice and managed to make things interesting down the stretch.  Two free throws by sophomore guard McKenzie Galvin with 4:54 left and a Galvin lay-up with 4:21 left got the Mustangs back in single-digit range again down 58-51.  Then Park Center committed a rather egregious error when Mounds View's Sarah Wendt drained a "3" from the left corner and was fouled in the process and her ensuing "and one" completed a four-point play to get the deficit down to five points at 60-55.  The Pirates likely realized that they were in no position to try and simply run out the clock so they kept attacking.  McKenzie made a drive for a finish with 2:34 left and a Blakemore drive into the lane and finish with 2:07 left increased Park Center's safety net at 64-55 and the Mustangs' Anzel called another timeout.  Although things looked hopeless by this point, Mounds View again tried to make inroads.  Two free throws by Lindsey Becher with 1:42 left and two more by Sara Wendt with 1:12 left had the deficit down to five points again at 64-59 and the Mustangs had a golden opportunity when Park Center's Frost; perhaps trying to be a bit too fancy with a crossover dribble, nearly lost the ball but recovered just enough to draw a foul and Mounds View's best chance to crawl back to within a single-possession went out the window.  Frost dropped both obligatory free throws to push the Pirate lead to seven at 66-59.  Mounds View would cut the deficit to five points again when Lindsey Becher knocked down a jumper along the left baseline with :58 left and a Schmidt lay-up with :45 left gave perhaps a flicker of hope for the Mustangs down five at 68-63.  Park Center's Blakemore, however, was quickly fouled and she came through with two big insurance free throws with :38.6 left to get the lead to seven points at 70-63.  The Mustangs would make one last foray when Sara Wendt got a steal in the backcourt and got a lay-up out of it with :15 left but it would not be enough.  Blakemore would add one more insurance freebie for the Pirates with :12.4 left as Park Center escaped with a hard-earned 71-65 victory to advance to Saturday's semifinals against top-seeded Centennial. 

It was definitely the two-headed monster of Blakemore and McKenzie that saved the Pirates on this night as Blakemore led all scorers with her 27 points while McKenzie finished up with 19 points.  You certainly could not fault Mounds View for their effort on this night and they had a very balanced attack with Sara Wendt leading the way in her last high school game with 19 points while Lindsey Becher tallied 16 points and Schmidt had 12 points in her last high school game.  Again, the Pirates in many ways continue to be their own worst enemy with several missed "bunnies" and lay-ups and there's absolutely no question that they'll have to clean that up when they face Centennial at 1:00 P.M. up at Anoka High School with second-seeded Champlin Park vs third-seeded Roseville to follow at approximately 3:00 P.M.