Austin 76 Winona 57: Five Things to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Austin Packers improved to 6-3 on the season last night with a controlling 19 point victory over Big Nine opponent Winona. Here are five things to know from last night's game!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. Ater is a stock riser</strong>. Six-foot-4 [player_tooltip player_id='1288822' first='Ater' last='Manyuon'] has been creating highlights all year but seeing it live gives you a whole new perspective. Last night he scored on 12 of 14 shots and it was a combination of four threes, five explosive dunks, and three creative dribble attack finishes. The ground Ater covers with his first step is eye popping, his bounce is as explosive as just about anybody in the state, and he made four threes. When it comes to agility and explosiveness the potential is very high. Keep a close eye on Ater. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. The Low Post Battle</strong>. I really enjoyed Austin 6'5 senior [player_tooltip player_id='1288836' first='Buai' last='Duop'] going against 6'6 junior [player_tooltip player_id='2364156' first='Jackson' last='Harvey']. Harvey certainly won the battle of the glass as he grabbed 15 offensive rebounds! Duop - who had eight boards - did a great job getting his length to Harvey forcing a number of deep post misses. Buai has a really nice touch around the basket and some good footwork. He had 17 points while Jackson had 14. Duop's low post positioning experience gave Harvey some problems but the size and strength on the glass of Harvey gave Duop issues. Good match-up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Austin Team Basketball</strong>. I really liked the way Austin moved the ball and how different players played within their roles. Jacob Herrick - a 6'5 senior wing - had a great game and was very important to the Austin win. His box score scoring total of five really does not reflect his defense and his smart plays on offense. He had seven assists and was even smarter on offense than that total shows. Manny Guy gave Austin a third guy scoring (had five baskets) and Atriel Terry was the best Austin rebounder. Several different players contributed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. Winona Shooting Struggles</strong>. Winona lost by 19 but they had their chances. Harvey had troubles around the paint, [player_tooltip player_id='1361823' first='Charles' last='VandeBerg'] scored 16 points but he took 20 shots to get there and had trouble scoring on the attack, and after a really nice start Bryan Cassellius missed 11 shots and finished 4 of 16 from the field. All three are very good players and have been solid but they struggled from the field and this game could have been closer. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Big Nine Standings</strong>. This was an important win for Austin who has two Big Nine losses, but everybody in the league has at least one loss. Mankato East is 5-1 with Northfield at 4-1, and then Austin, Winona, Mayo, Century, and Owatonna all have two losses. This league is usually open but only two a few teams, this year the league looks open to half o the league. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->