PARK CENTER 71, WAYZATA 62
Two unbeaten teams faced each other on a rare Wednesday night contest. #4AAAA Park Center became the second team in two years to beat #2AAAA Wayzata thanks to long distance sniping (ten 3s) and the high octane energy of Adalia McKenzie. (Hopkins is the only team Wayzata lost to last year—-three times).
PC trailed 53-47 with 6:25 left in the game. The Pirates finished with a 22-9 kick. McKenzie would not be denied and ignited the surge with two free throws followed by a lay up off a Lauren Frost steal. The dynamic junior had ten of the Pirate points down the stretch not to mention four d stops and two distributions (total 31 Club contributions in that window 16). Just looking at the stretch numbers (pp100 style) PC had the superior hand 160.0 to 64.3. Part of that Pirate pinnacle was due to 12/18 free throw shooting.
It looked earlier on that McKenzie was going to spend more time on the bench than in the game. She picked up less than 30 seconds in the game (17:34) and had her second two minutes later. She stayed in with two—-skating on thin ice. She avoided potential issues until the eight minute mark and then was forced to watch from the bench the last eight minutes of the first half. Wayzata led at that point 22-21. The PC starting unit is more that one player. Three others reached the double digit mark and all five (plus one off the pine) connected from downtown. Kayla Cox delivered three 3s to lead PC. The Trojan long distance game needed directory assistance as they failed to connect once.
The Trojans made their living inside with Jenna Johnson and Annika Stewart combining for 41 points. Wayzata was 25/34 in the prime paint neighborhood. PC wasn’t bad in that vicinity going 6/8. But then again there were shadows present. PC won the lay up battle 7/18 over 2/8.
One other PC advantage came at the line with 13 more attempts than Wayzata. PC shot a free throw every 12.77 touches; Wayzata every 37.56 touches. T’Naye Griffin attempted eight free throws for PC, one less than the entire Wayzata team.
The last team Wayzata lost to, during a regular season contest, was Minnetonka on February 20, 2018.
| PARK CENTER | WAYZATA | |
| POINTS | 72 | 62 |
| REBOUNDS/OFF | 37/13 | 39/12 |
| TURNOVERS | 14 | 19 |
| 2FGA/% | 29/48.27 | 50/56.00 |
| 3FGA/% | 29/34.48 | 14/0.00 |
| FTA/% | 22/59.09 | 9/66.7 |
| PP100 | 98.6 | 86.1 |
| TOP SCORER | Adalia McKenzie 27 | Jenna Johnson 23 |
TRENCH PLAYER: Adalia McKenzie with 27 points, 128.6 pp100; 39 score in the 31 Club.