Rise brought home Midwest Gold
By winning the Midwest Cup in Ames, Iowa this weekend D1 Minnesota Rise improved to 13-9 on the season. The short handed six Rise players led their team to a 5-0 weekend.
Rise rolled through pool play by smacking Ignit 57-18, they beat up one of the Wisconsin Playmakers teams 75-57, and then took out Iowa Pump N Run 67-56. This led the D1 Rise to bracket play where the purple and black slid by Tryon Gym 71-68 and then won the title game 56-50 over Iowa Intensity 56-50 in the championship.
The Rise Iron Six this weekend? That was Uhana Ochan and Damani Hayes of Mankato East, Jake Kettner of Minnesota Valley Lutheran, Alex Raichle of Owatonna, Tate Hebrink of Austin, and I believe Austin Weckwerth from Sibley East.
Damani Hayes was the Rise leading scorer and rebounder on the weekend producing 52 points in the games along with 31 boards. Hayes and Hebrink shared event MVP honors with Tate scoring 48 points in the five games plus leading the team in assists (17) and steals.
Also, sophomore Jake Kettner continues to improve playing up with this team. The 6-foot-3 guard scored 44 points against an older level of competition.
Prep Hoops Iowa writer TJ Rushing watched the Minnesota Rise a few times and this is what he saw from the southern Minnesota talent starting with the semi-final:
“Mankato East wing Damani Hayes was having his way in the paint throughout this semifinal match, getting to the free-throw line with regularity en route to a team-high 17 points.”
Then in the title game Rushing wrote the following after Rise took home the gold.
“The Minnesota squad was firing on all cylinders in this one after a sluggish start, and used a nice run midway through the second half to take control and never let up.
“Coach’s son and 2019 guard, Jake Ketner, was great while scoring a team-high 14 points. Mankato East forward Uhana Ochan had the dunk of the weekend, he flew and slammed it hard to ignite the second half run — it was a remarkable play, and definitely one of the best dunks I’ve ever seen at the high school level.”