Pirates tame Cougars late

Prologue
It a Northwest Suburban showdown as Centennial visits Park Center.  A perfect mix for the Walking Taco tonight with the salsa, sour cream, lettuce and cheese.  20 more ounces of beverage on the tally as well.  A small crowd on hand.  Remember that the Pirates needed a late Quinton Hooker free throw to survive the 1st meeting.

Game Time
Centennial center Quin Peterson with 8 early points.  His post bucket is the last field goal in a 7-0 Cougars run.  16-9 Centennial at the 11:03 mark.  Park Center right back with a 9-1 run of their own.  Quinton Hooker for 3 and then a steal and dunk to cap the run.  18-17 Park Center at the 9:05 mark.  5 in a row for Treyton Daniels as Park Center goes to halftime with a 32-31 lead.

Dan Becken to Pierre Roddy for a 3 point play as Centennial takes a 5 point lead.  Roddy adds a layup at the 12:30 mark for a 42-37 Cougars lead.  Then a critical sequence.  Centennial turns it over and Park Center misses a layup.  Centennial comes back and gets a great look from the right corner but the 3 goes off the back iron.  Josh Matthews makes a 3 coming back for Park Center.  A 6 point swing and Park Center is within 42-40 and a little momentum rather than down 8 with Centennial having all of the momentum.  Matthews again on the drive and Hooker knocks down a shot. 44-42 Park Center back on top with 6:20 to play.  Becken with a 3 but then he goes ice cold while the rest of the roster is already 

Becken gets Hooker in the post and misses 2 chances.  He's fouled on the 2nd and misses both free throws.  He misses 2 other bunnies and Centennial misses 4 more free throws.  So that's 4 bunnies and 6 straight free throws that Centennial can't convert on in the last 6 minutes of a tight game.  Hooker converting one of the misses (a blocked shot) into a drive.  Then Hooker with another drive to the rack for an easy 2 and an assist to Jake Tanner for 3.  That closes a 20-3 Park Center run over 8:15.  Park Center does give up 6 late free throws thanks to fouling a couple of 3 point shooters.  Treyton Daniels closes it out for the Pirates with 5 of 6 free throws and a dunk.  Park Center wins 66-54.

Post Game
This game was there for the taking for Centennial.  They make only 2 field goals in the last 12:30.  Center Quin Peterson with 11 of his 15 points in the first half, but didn't get many good deep touches in the 2nd half against a small Park Center lineup.  Pierre Roddy leads with 19 points, 11 in the 2nd half.  Dan Becken 8 points on 3-14 shooting on my sheet.  When the top scorer can't get shots to fall, its tough to win.  After losing 4 of 5, the Cougars had rebounded with 3 wins in a row before tonight.  They fall to 8-10 overall, 5-8 in the NW Suburban.  This was the start of a nasty stretch of their schedule.  5 of their next 6 games are Champlin Park, at Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Armstrong and at Osseo.  They'll be fighting with Irondale for the 6 seed in 5AAAA unless they go on a big run during that stretch of games.

Park Center improves to 16-1 and 12-0 to stay on top of the NW Suburban.  Quinton Hooker visibility frustrated with his off night.  But if an off night is 22 points (8-19 FGs) and 6 assists, that's an awfully good bad night.  Treyton Daniels with the closing points to finish with 19 on the night.  Josh Matthews 10 of his 12 in the 2nd half.  Devin Buckley 3 points early, but saw limited minutes in the 1st half and was at the end of the bench for the entire 2nd half.  The big rematch at Osseo is on Tuesday.  A win for Park Center in that game would likely seal the conference title and the top seed in section 5AAAA.