The Best: Minnehaha Academy wins Class AA
Without a senior in their starting line-up the Minnehaha Academy Redhawks played a mature Class AA State championship game and brought him gold versus Crosby-Ironton.
MVP. Jalen Suggs. I cannot stress enough how much this young man has grown from last year to this year. Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. He’s a freshman who just scored 22 of his team’s 47 points in a state title game on 8 of 16 shooting plus four boards, three steals, and three assists.
Now, for the second straight day Jalen has taken over the game in the second half in mature ways. Last night he shut down an opposing top scorer, tonight he did two things that really stand out: 1) defensively he made plays again with a huge help over block and a steal that saw him pick-off a pass and then go coast to coast for a score, 2) offensively made the perfect decisions to stretch the defenders and finish off the opponent.
Offensively Jalen led the team against a C-I halfcourt match-up zone that they stretched to the max. Jalen’s ball movement was exceptional against the zone and his attacks when the defenders were slow in rotation bit like a shark. His quick burst into the lane led to basket finishes before the defense could even rotate to try and make a play. He had two late scores, a coast to coast finish, and a game completing dunk that completed the game. Incredible. And he has three years left.
Top Offensive Player. Noah Gindorff. If I’m being completely honest I had no idea Noah was this good on the hardwood. His left handed touch with range as well as his physical play around the basket could have got him a basketball scholarship if he wanted. Had 15 blocks in the event, scored 15 points for the second straight game, and blocked four shots. If he gets bored in the winter he could help the NDSU hoops team as a walk-on. NDSU football coach may not want him missing weight training though.
Top Defensive Player. Minnehaha Academy backcourt. At the half the Redhawks had held the C-I backcourt to 1 of 12 shooting. The Rangers backcourt and wings simply couldn’t find space. You take the Gindorff stats out and C-I shot 5 of 28 from the field. Most of those shots were over the arms of Suggs, Kaden Johnson, Terry Lockett, and Lorenzo Smith. Fantastic Defense.
Top Underclassmen (after Suggs). Terry Lockett. For the first 20-22 minutes of the game the freshman point guard was the Redhawks MVP. Terry got his dozen points early and had two huge three-point makes deflecting Ranger momentum. Terry was just as valuable to this win as he was their offensive threat early. Fantastic shooter and I love how he gets out of his attack move and calmly completes plays.
Top Bench Player. Lockett. You have to remember that he didn’t even start the game. Terry made his impact after getting a look at the opponent from the bench. Lorenzo Smith had a tough day shooting and Lockett picked him up with his production.
Top Glass. JaVonni Bickham. This game did not have many possessions. C-I had only 50. And on eight of those Bickham won his team possession with a strong defensive board. He dealt with foul trouble so he played only 26 minutes and in those 26 minutes C-I had 35 possessions. JaVonni earned possession for his team eight times with boards. Very important.
Best Story Going Forward. Youth. The Redhawks lose one guy that plays, Jose Williamson. And Luke Burnham will step into his spot without missing a beat. They return everything else. This could be a run of four titles in four years as the talent is there. Minneapolis North is now in AA though so those could be great battles. Watch out for St. Cloud Cathedral too as they lose just one guy.
Other. Summer Basketball. When you go to spring and summer tournaments you often see Kaden Johnson, Suggs, Lockett, Smith, and others, they are all on the same team together. Not just in high school, but in AAU. That is year round basketball with the same group. That’s a serious edge.