Park dominated the first half against visiting Irondale and that was enough to secure a 42-31 victory Wednesday night in Suburban East Conference girls basketball.
The Wolfpack improved their …
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Park dominated the first half against visiting Irondale and that was enough to secure a 42-31 victory Wednesday night in Suburban East Conference girls basketball.
The Wolfpack improved their record to 3-13 in the SEC while keeping Irondale winless in the league at 0-15.
The Wolfpack are now 9-15 on the season, Irondale just 3-19.
“We came with a lot of really energy tonight and I just think we really encourage these kids to play hard, to match or beat the energy of the other team,” said Park head coach Stephanie Tolkinen. “Started out a little slow but I think they figured it out a little bit. I think, just the hustle on defense, and Raimee Ashfaq dealing with No. 13 (Belle O’Brien, 15 points) most of the night, just really having to defend that. The girl is very talented and I think Raimee just, she just buckled down and battled in there with (Olivia) Czarnota came in too and did a good job on her. So when you cannot take care of but make her earn everything she’s getting. She was tired. She has to work pretty hard so those two in the paint did a really nice job.
“And I think overall our team defense, was pretty good,” Tolkinen continued. “Kids are hustling all over the place trying to make plays. Knock down some timely shots Had some nice steals from defense. I just think the team effort was there tonight. The kids played really well together and I think they kind of looked more for each other. I think it was good team basketball tonight.”
Both Park’s offense and defense were working early and the Wolfpack had gained a 23-10 edge by the end of the first half. The second half was more even and Irondale put a scare into the Park faithful more than once.
The Wolfpack saw their 23-10 halftime advantage shrink to 33-28 with 5:27 to play as Irondale outscored Park 18-10 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. But Park righted the ship with some tenacious full-court defense and several clutch baskets down the stretch to earn the victory.
Junior guard Tea Alvarenga led Park with 13 points, Czarnota scored 11 and Gracie Smith 9.
“I think we did well getting our energy back up, even through diversity,” said Alvarenga. “I think we fought hard and kept the energy up and we played fast, even though there were times we got down.”
“I think right now at this point we are playing our best (basketball), but I also think we can improve,” said Smith. “There is so much more improvement that we can make. I think once we start all sharing the ball and we all know we can all do the same thing everybody else can do that will bring us to high.”
Park wraps up the regular season Friday with a home game against Forest Lake (17-6, 10-5), starting at 7 p.m.
Park 65, Burnsville 56
Graycie Smith torched the nets for 27 points, Olicia Czarnota scored 20, and the visiting Park Wolfpack outscored host Burnsville 36-26 in the second half to take a 65-56 victory Tuesday night.
Burnsville led 30-29 at the half, but the Wolfpack turned it around in the second, outscoring the Blaze by 10.
While struggling in the Suburban East Conference this season with a 2-13 record. The Wolfpack have found a lot of success in non-conference contest, going 6-2 so far this season.
