NHR Scout: Minnehaha Academy vs St. Paul Academy
St. Paul Academy at Minnehaha Academy. A Tuesday night double header of girls and boys hoops that started with a “close your eyes it’s ugly” gals contest followed by a fun little across the river rivalry between the Spartans and…
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Continue ReadingSt. Paul Academy at Minnehaha Academy. A Tuesday night double header of girls and boys hoops that started with a “close your eyes it’s ugly” gals contest followed by a fun little across the river rivalry between the Spartans and Redhawks.
Minnehaha Academy is always a fun place to go in the winter. Cruising up East River Road with the Mississippi on your right, the beautiful homes on the left, and the nature of Minneapolis surrounding all of it, it makes for a nice drive. Even when you add a bit of a wintery mix (the parking lot at Minnehaha Academy could use a bit of an ice chipping, but nobody is perfect).
Love the Minnehaha Academy gym too. Has it’s own unique atmosphere and the gym is just big enough for an atmosphere that fits all the fans but small enough to have it’s own unique character.
On the floor the teams combined to put 19 guys into the game and for the most part it was a very competitive match-up. The Redhawks received a tremendous second half performance from Jalen Suggs, Benny Larry did a nice job defensively on Dalante Peyton, JaVonni Bickham had 12/8 despite foul issues, and overall the better team won 70-60 with the Redhawks coming out on top.
Who were the top ten impact players from last night’s game? We rank the top ten of them starting with ten.
- Siegel Howard of Minnehaha (5-ft-8, Fr, G). Not a huge night for Howard offensively (scored twice) but I thought he brought a lot of energy to the floor on both ends. Knocked out a three at a key time and defensively he seemed to pick up the level of play for his team overall.
- Angel Smaller of SPA (6-ft-3, Sr, SG). Angel is a nice role player for the Spartans it seems. Quick off his feet around the glass, hit a couple threes including one with twelve minutes to go that looked like it would give them momentum, and has good size and length at guard. Seems like a late bloomer.
- Kaden Johnson of Minnehaha (6-ft-2, 8th, SF). For a 13 or 14 year old playing at a high level of Class AA basketball, I thought Kaden was very vocal in direction and I liked the directions he gave. His talk on the offensive end pointed out an SPA flaw and led to a three-pointer for himself on a kick-out. Good sized athlete at this young age. Refs didn’t give him a charge I thought that he earned.
- Jose Williamson of Minneahaha (6-ft-4, Jr, F). His point total only says five points but he did a lot more than that. Really liked his ball fake into an attack for foul shot makes and he had one of the best two hand full court outlet passes I’ve seen this year. Love how Jose runs the floor in both directions. Three different times he sprinted the floor and took away a sure lay-up chance and made it tough or the team pulled the ball out. Jose also swatted a shot in the corner and set it ahead for a teammate score. Really like his efforts as a role guy.
- Dalante Peyton of SPA (6-ft-3, Sr, G). Not a good night for Peyton and that is why he is down at six instead of where he usually is. Simply out, he had a terrible time finishing last night and Suggs got the better of him in half two. Peyton scored 11 and was the guy that SPA had to gets plays out of him and the Winona State talent definitely had highlights, but this was not the performance you would usually see from him.
- Emerson Egly of SPA (6-ft-2, Jr, SG). Emerson scored a dozen and played all his roles extremely well. Usually if SPA gets a game like this from him and then gets what they usually do from Hanson and Peyton they win. He did a lot overall. Love how he angles defenders regardless of how quick they are, Emerson can still stop the play because of his court IQ. He guarded both Suggs and Bickham at times and that tells you everything about him plus he took a charge at one point. Offensively he brought the ball up some, made a pretty one dribble ten-footer off the glass, had a pair of kickout assists, and hit a late trey. Did a lot all over the court.
- JaVonni Bickham of Minnehaha (6-ft-6, So, PF). First off, congrats to Bickham on scoring 1,000 points already in his career. Younger player ever at Minnehaha to get a 1,000. The thing I thought he did better than I’ve seen him do in the past is step to his man and make a strong box-out hit and then after the board he did a great job of clearing players with his pivot, his backside, and his elbows at. Was in foul trouble so he had 12 points and eight rebounds overall. Had some power scores around the rim that could not be dealt with.
- Benny Larry of Minnehaha (5-ft-11, Sr, SG). Benny’s performance on the defensive end was outstanding. He does a great job deep in a stance, laterally exploding to beat guys to spots, his hands are very active, and Benny is one of the best at limiting space to his opponent. Add in the charge he took, the eight points he scored, and the all around energy he played with and I thought Benny was one of the key components to the victory.
- Kent Hanson of SPA (6-ft-5, Sr. F). Why is Hanson coveted? One of the most productive players without the ball in the state of Minnesota. The two best things I saw him do all night were: three-quarters front Bickham and either force the passer to go elsewhere or he deflected or stole the pass intended for Bickham (that happened three or four times) and his cutting to the basket off the ball is outstanding as Kent scored three times with beautiful cuts when Bickham lost him on defense. Kent also made a trey, had a nice throw-down in transition, and rebounded with a lot of energy.
- Jalen Suggs of Minneahaha (6-ft-1, 8th, PG). Suggs was fine in the first half running the offense but the impact he made in the first 18 was nothing compared to what he did in the second 18. In the second half Suggs took over the game. To state his impact in the biggest way let’s put it like this: Jalen gave up four years to Peyton but completely outplayed the D2 signed guard to give his team the win. Suggs had an early second half run scoring seven points on the move and each basket was an attack complete with a touch in on the move. The body control of Suggs is so outstanding that it magnifies both his ability to use skill after contact and his ability to separate to create because he is always on balance. Jalen reads defenses like he’s 18, not 14, and most of his 26 point explosion came in the second half (most of it getting a guy on his hip after the corner turn and then completing the play).