Winona 55 Byron 42: Five Things to Know

<p>Winona knocked off Byron 55-42 in a game that took some time to get going, but was ultimately won by Byron.  Here are Five Things to Know.</p> <p><strong>One.  Defense</strong>.  The halftime score was 13-8 and it wasn’t a game where teams were stalling, it was simply offenses that had a terrible time getting going against some good defensive efforts.  Winona is only using a six man rotation right now but somehow that six man rotations mixed in two zones that were extremely active covering a lot of ground and contesting shots all over the court.  The Winhawks defense limited Byron to 3 of 17 shooting in the first half, and one of those three Byron’s scores was an accidental bank shot!  Byron shot 15 of 42 for the game which isn’t good but it was a solid 12 of 25 shooting second half.  But when Byron did get going, Winona switched from a 2-3 zone to a 1-2-2 and the switch worked. </p> <p>How did Byron make only three first half shots and still only be down two scores at the half? Caden Christensen is a 6’1 senior for the Bears and he did an outstanding job on Winona’s star [player_tooltip player_id="958646" first="Jasper" last="Hedin"].  Jasper shot 1 of 12 for the game.  Caden kept his body in front of Hedin and the Bear help defenders that collapsed on Hedin’s attacks also did a great job.  Hedin had five assists and grabbed a dozen boards so his contributions were solid, but Christensen’s individual defense was excellent. </p> <p><strong>Two.  Bryan Cassellius</strong>. Winona 6’1 180 pound junior Bryan Cassellius is averaging 13 a game this year.  The wing plays with some swagger and he scored in multiple ways:  Cassellius hit two threes, attacked the cup and made 6 of 8 foul shots, he scored in transition, and Bryan used a quick first step and body control at the cup to complete possessions.  On a day when most players couldn’t shoot, Bryan made half his 14 field goal attempts and scored a game high 20 points.  Bryan is a solid second option and stepped up when Byron sent so much attention Jasper’s way.  Bryan should be one of the top players in the Big Nine next season. </p> <p><strong>Three. Rough Shooting Games</strong>.  I can’t get through this without mentioning how rough of a shooting game it was for so many.  Winona shot 4 of 25 in the first half while Byron shot the 3 of 17 from the field.  We mentioned that Jasper shot 1 of 12 and fellow Winhawk Marcus Winter was 3 of 10 from the floor.  On the other side of the floor, James Durst was 2 of 12 from the field and [player_tooltip player_id="958741" first="Jaxon" last="Marine"] scored on 2 of 8 attempts.  With Max Dearborn in foul trouble and [player_tooltip player_id="962258" first="Isaac" last="Dearborn"] out this year, there just wasn’t enough offense for Byron to counter.  </p> <p><strong>Four.  Can Winona Get to State? </strong>They could, but so could Austin, so could Kasson-Mantorville, and so could Winona’s opponent this Saturday, Stewartville.  Austin is having a down season but is still the one seed in a section that is as wide open as any.  Stewartville has the odd opportunity of losing the second best senior in state last year (Will Tschetter), moving up a Class, and having a better chance at going to state despite not being as good of a team.  But even without Will, the Tigers are still quite strong.  When it comes to Winona, Shane Sharmach is a solid ball handler while Hedin, Cassellius, and Marcus Winter are solid wing scorers.  Winter had two putbacks late in the game that secured the win.  Winona isn’t a very deep team and really doesn’t have a big, but they have enough to make it to state. </p> <p><strong>Five. Byron Youth</strong>. I think Byron has a chance to be really good the next three years.  Getting [player_tooltip player_id="962258" first="Isaac" last="Dearborn"] will be huge because he is such a big part of the playmaking for his team.  Isaac will be a senior next year while Max Dearborn will be a sophomore and Max appears to be one of the better shooters in the 2025 class.  Between those two and [player_tooltip player_id="1297889" first="Tyler" last="Connelly"], a sophomore who had a really nice season, there is strong talent returning for the Bears.  </p>