What Park Center lacked in height against Richfield, the Pirates made up for in hustle.

Defending champion Park Center defeated Richfield 72-57 in the Class 3A quarterfinals on Wednesday at modified Mariucci Arena. The Pirates started just one player taller than 5-foot-5 but didn’t sell themselves short.

“They’re a big team but we ran them,” sophomore guard Ann Simonet said. “We knew that’s what we had to do.”

Richfield, boasting three starters 5-10 or taller, got a strong performance from Kyla Adams. She scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

But the Spartans did not dominate inside. No. 2 seed Park Center (23-7) scored two more points in the paint and grabbed one less rebound. The Pirates made life difficult on Richfield by forcing 21 turnovers.

“They’re just scrappy kids,” Pirates coach Chris VanderHyde said.

Sophomore forward Mikayla Hayes maintained her role as what VanderHyde called “the center point of our offense.” She led Park Center with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Simonet added nine points, seven rebounds and a team-high four steals.

Park Center’s confidence overcame the moxie shown by a Richfield (15-15) team which reached the state tournament despite a sub-.500 regular season record. Spartans’ coach Kesha Ross Bradford said her girls “played their hearts out. But we weren’t in a good rhythm today.”