Park Center boys basketball defeats Totino-Grace

The Eagles made a run to start the second half and take the lead, but the Pirated defense held them late

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The No. 1 Park Center Pirates defeated the No. 6 Totino-Grace Eagles 68-65 Thursday night at Totino-Grace high school.

Park Center jumped out to an early lead in the first half and took a six point lead into the half, 28-22. 

Totino-Grace came out in the second half firing. The Eagles scored the first eight points of the half prompting Park Center to call a timeout. After the timeout it was back and forth for the rest of the game, but ultimately, was Park Center held on to win. 

Park Center's Cash Chavis led all scorers with 28 points, including the last six points of the game for the pirates.

Defense the key for the Pirates

Park Center came into this game on a 38-game winning streak dating back to last season. This win streak can mostly be attributed to their high-flying offense, but tonight it was the defense that stepped up for the pirates. 

“Our guys did not play well offensively; I'll be the first to tell you that” Park Center head coach James Ware said. “But we played super hard on defense, and I’m super proud of them because of that.” 

The Pirates set the tone early in the game forcing multiple turnovers, which culminated in easy baskets as they got out to an early lead thanks to that swarming style of defense.

"We’re scoring a lot because we guard hard, it leads to easy baskets, lay ups and open threes," Ware said. 

That swarming style of defense is what gave the Pirates the lead at the half, and that was what ultimately got them the win tonight. The biggest play of the game for the Pirates came, fittingly, on the defensive end. Totino-Grace had a chance to tie the game with just over a minute to go, but senior guard Chavis stole the ball from the eagles and took it the other way for the finish, which made it a four point game with under a minute remaining. 

“Late game toughness wins games and our guys showed that tonight and I'm really proud of them for that,” Ware saod. Totino-Grace had a chance to tie it at the last second down by three, but it was the Pirates defense that came up clutch, not allowing the eagles to get up a shot as time expired.

Eagles fight till the end

These two teams faced off last month. It was a game that saw Park Center pull away late as it would win the game by 15 points. 

This time around, the Eagles went toe-to-toe with the Pirates for the full 36 minutes. Senior guard and future Ohio State Buckeye Taison Chatman kept his team in the game going head to head with Pirate guard Cash Chavis. 

Chatman scored 26 points, including the first eight points of the second half, which gave the Eagles the lead for a brief moment. Chatman, alongside senior Patrick Bath, gave their team a chance to win at the end. Bath would finish with 16 points on the night. 

“All of the seasoned, older guys showed up tonight and showed their leadership for us, and I'm really proud of them for that,” Totino Grace head coach Nick Carrol said. 

While the Eagles didn't come away with the win, these types of games late in the season vs quality team will prepare them well for the state tournament.

“Anytime that you bring your best and they bring their best, it puts us in a position where we're going to be prepared for sections, definitely.” Carrol said.

Park Center will look to continue its undefeated season as they take on Champlin Park next Wednesday. Totino-Grace will look to bounce back on Saturday versus Elk River.