Big Monday: Minnehaha Academy Balance is Impressive

<p>Big Monday in Minnesota once again had a lot of excitement. National TV, a big win out west, and some excellent metro performances.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_1042665" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/09/D94A5FMX4AUwl-m.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1042665 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/09/D94A5FMX4AUwl-m-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="850702" first="Prince" last="Aligbe"][/caption] <p><strong>The Redhawks Look Outstanding</strong>.   At times I feel like people have taken Minnehaha Academy’s talent level for granted, or at least people have been distracted by other things forgetting how good this group is. The national headlines, the big highlight games, the video packages, all of it is fun but last night was a strong reminder of the base of the Redhawks.</p> <p>We were all aware that there was a big talent gap between Minnehaha Academy and Stewartville. The 24 point gap in the 87-63 score was not a surprise. That said, Stewartville’s difficulty to get the ball to [player_tooltip player_id="567035" first="Will" last="Tschetter"] in decent spots, their difficulty in getting through the Redhawks pressure, and their struggle to defend all the Minnehaha options was very clear.</p> <p>At one point Minnehaha Academy had 17 assists on 22 field goal makes including six different players combining for nine threes at halftime! Minnehaha Academy is playing very good basketball right now at the right time of year. Player by player here are some quick things I feel like needed to be pointed out:</p> <p><strong>Mercy Miller</strong> (freshman).   There is a confidence and skill level to Mercy at the age of 15 that is rare. Mercy is the player that started the early Minnehaha Academy run by hitting three early threes (scored 16 points for the game). He then totaled six assists including several rapid outlets and reversals plus a behind the back feed that was timed to a cutter perfectly. On an elite team Mercy is scoring 11 points a game.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="680229" first="Hercy" last="Miller"]</strong> (senior). Hercy took just five shots but he made the best of them with two open floor dunks, a pair of threes, and a jumper going at the cup. Five of five from the field for a dozen points. His trapping defense may have made the biggest impact of the game though as Miller’s quickness to defensive angles forced a number of turnovers.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="957130" first="Isaiah" last="Davis"]</strong> (senior). I think Davis has to be one of the more reliable players in the senior class. He doesn’t force shots, he scores actively off the ball and Davis takes open jumpers. Nothing is forced, always in motion. An athletic off ball scorer that plays well off his teammates. Also the type of athlete that can guard about three different positions in high school so you can use him with a variety of others. Scored 14 last night.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850702" first="Prince" last="Aligbe"]</strong> (junior). We continue get quite the mixed bag of quality production from Prince. He is commonly the lead guard for the team meaning his ball handling is very solid for a small forward plus he builds assists with smart passes had six last night. Mixed in a couple jumpers (two threes) with two dunks, a lay-up, and an attacking mid-lane make. Grabbed seven rebounds using that strong body and is commonly a solid defender.<strong> </strong></p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850707" first="Chase" last="Carter"]</strong> (junior). Came off the bench to score four times for the Redhawks. Twice Prince touches in shots off of back to the basket moves and twice scored moving off the ball.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Holmgren vs Tschetter</strong>.   I was a huge fan of Lance Johnson deciding to have <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="532574" first="Chet" last="Holmgren"] defend [player_tooltip player_id="567035" first="Will" last="Tschetter"]</strong>. It was a one on one type of situation, let’s see what each guy can do. We knew that wasn’t going to happen the other way as Stewartvile doesn’t have the athletes throughout their starting five to move with the Redhawks so a zone was used.</p> <p>Last night was a great example of why [player_tooltip player_id="532574" first="Chet" last="Holmgren"] is the greatest defensive force in high school basketball. Greatest in Minnesota since Joel Pryzbilla and likely the greatest force ever after watching Chet deny passes consistently on the wing and inside. The broadcast said Chet was the greatest defensive force in high school basketball since Anthony Davis. In my few games watching Anthony in high school and several in AAU, I don’t think he changed the game quite as much as Chet did as Chet is the better shot blocker but Davis was so agile that he did things that few 7-footers have ever been able to do.</p> <p>Chet’s ability to contest Tschetter’s shots on the block, shots at the arc, and attempts on the move was something Will had never seen before (that’s the same situation for all that face Chet). To get his 19 points Will had to step back deeper on the perimeter to hit his four threes (Will was 4 of 8 at the arc). Tschetter had a lot of trouble getting shots over Chet around the paint which led to the 6 of 19 shooting. Will did score 19 points with nine boards and four assists.</p> <p>Holmgren’s stat line was once again a lot of everything. The biggest highlights were the shots outside the arc and that spin move baseline that covered about ten feet. It was amazing to watch as Chet was so far from the basket when he made the move but still covered a load of ground for the dunk. Throw in the put-backs and a few low post moves and it was Holmgren for 18</p> <p>Chet had 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting, eight boards, five assists, four blocks, and three steals. Another full stat stuffing day.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> [caption id="attachment_1063600" align="alignright" width="150"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/nolan-stier-stewartville-2021.jpg"><img class="wp-image-1063600 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2020/10/nolan-stier-stewartville-2021-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /></a> [player_tooltip player_id="956149" first="Nolan" last="Stier"][/caption] <p><strong>Take Notice! His Name is [player_tooltip player_id="956149" first="Nolan" last="Stier"]. </strong>The talk of the game was the new name that everybody across the state saw, Stewartville 6-foot-3 guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="956149" first="Nolan" last="Stier"]</strong>. Stier had a monster recent games scoring 30 points versus Kasson-Mantorville but for the most part he’s been hovering around 11 points a game for the season. Last night Nolan stepped up to put on a show in front of the state.</p> <p>The four threes showed off his normal shooting range but there were some athletic plays that grabbed the attention of everybody. The pair of quick bouncing blocks against a player that had been jawing with him is what many latched onto. For me it was the two times that Stier attacked the rim challenging Holmgren and actually got to the opening to finish before Holmgren could get a hand on the ball.</p> <p>Athletically [player_tooltip player_id="956149" first="Nolan" last="Stier"] went directly at Minnehaha Academy and they had trouble keeping him in front.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="850739" first="Teigan" last="Martin"] Dominance</strong>. Mayer Lutheran physically dominated Lester Prairie 83-60 last night led by the junior [player_tooltip player_id="850739" first="Teigan" last="Martin"]. Martin is listed at 6-foot-7 and he was going against 6-foot-3 Bulldogs. In addition to the height advantage, Martin also is a much stronger player than anybody he faced so Martin took balanced shots all night.</p> <p>What was impressive was that the majority of Teigan’s 19 attempts, were face-up jumpers. And even more impressive was Teigan’s ability to finish everything facing the cup from five feet out to the arc. His jumper looks more comfortable coming out of his hand and rarely did he seem bothered by the contesting defenders. If this is the type of shooter Martin is regularly he is a nice face-up four man who is athletic enough to be receiving division one football interest.</p> <p>Martin wasn’t the only Crusader that physically diced the Bulldogs. <strong>Elijah Jopp</strong> (13 points and 11 rebounds) and <strong>Isaac Hahn</strong> (18 points and nine rebounds) seemingly moved wherever they needed to on cuts and attacks for regular production. Hahn seemed to be cutting to the rim for lay-ups throughout the night while Jopp was the board and go guy. They put talented Bulldog junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="958838" first="Jack" last="Behning"]</strong> on the bench early with foul trouble (had 10 points but fouled out early) and they made life tougher for Concordia-Moorhead committed <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="774825" first="Zach" last="Jackson"]</strong> who was having to create through multiples all night long.  Freshman Trever Schauer is a name to know for the Bulldogs. He hit his season average of a dozen points a game.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Richfield vs Brooklyn Center</strong>.   Brooklyn Center is still winless but sophomore Quayvant Douglas is doing everything he can to try and give his team a chance. Douglas scored 34 points last night and is averaging 26 points a game. Richfield won 106-75 and it was another full scoring night from [player_tooltip player_id="774836" first="Lamar" last="Grayson"] who scored 28.</p>