Minnehaha hosted the Rumble on the River at Minnehaha Academy in a border battle matchup that featured Minnehaha against Onalaska from the neighboring state of Wisconsin. Minnehaha has had one tough schedule the first month of the season. This week was no exception as the Red Hawks are coming off a 92 - 85 loss in overtime to Hopkins High School where Jalen Suggs poured in 41 points.
GAME RECAP
Coming into the contest Minnehaha was hungry for a victory and the buzz around this game was humming. 7 foot Chet Holmgren returned after being sidelined a few games due to injury and 6’3 Hercy Miller made his debut for the Red Hawks after transferring to Minnehaha a few weeks ago. There has been a lot of anticipation for his arrival as he is the son of Master P and will help fill a void at point guard when Coach Lance wants to move Jalen Suggs off the ball to the shooting guard position occasionally.
In the matchup against Onalaska, it was a very good game as both teams battled back and forth and traded leads throughout the first half. At the 2:16 mark, Onalaska took the lead by 5 points but it was short lived as Minnehaha was able to tie the game going into the half at 29-29. Jalen Suggs led his team with 9 points for Minnehaha in the first half while Tyrell Stuttley had 13 points and Carson Arenz ended the half with 9 points, all from three point land.
In the second half of the game, Minnehaha was able to pull away from Onalaska. They controlled the tempo and the pace of the game and scored from all 3 levels making it difficult for Onalaska who tried to stack the box against the drive. When they sent help, Minnehaha was able to make plays and find shot opportunities for shooters. While Onalaska is a well-disciplined team and defend well, the game came down to a few broken possessions caused by Minnehaha’s defensive pressure and playing the passing lane that disrupted Onalaska’s offense. Onalaska will be a team to watch in Wisconsin as they have the senior leadership and talent to make a late run into the playoffs.
TOP PERFORMERS
Jalen Suggs - 6’5” - PG - 2020 - A Minnesota Mr. Basketball candidate finished with 21 points, 4 Reb, 4 ast, 4 steals and showed senior leadership to push Minnehaha pass Onalaska in a tough game.
Chet Holmgren - 7’0” - F - 2021 - Finished with 11 points, 8 reb, 3 ast, 3 blocks. Chet brought what has been missing for the Red Hawks the past couple of games and that was presence on the interior and much needed rebounding. Chet altered many shots in his return balancing out this team.
Donovan Smith - 5’10” - G - 2022 - Finished with 9 points with 3 three pointers. He is one of the best sharpshooters in 2022 class.
Hercy Miller- 6’3” guard, defended the ball applying pressure to Onalaska guards. Once he learns the system he will bring more versatility to the Minnehaha lineup. He finished with 5 pts and 3 steals.
Tyrell Stuttley finished the game with 19 pts, 7 Rebs, and 2 assists and went 8-8 from the free throw line. He was very productive on the inside and perimeter attacking Minnehaha’s defense to put himself in great scoring positions. His physical play kept the game close. Tyrell committed to Minnesota State University Mavericks in Mankato back in Nov. Mankato will be getting one talented player with great strength and athleticism of a College player already.
Carson Arenz finished with 18 points shooting 6-9 from behind the three point line. He always stays in rhythm when he scores. He has a very high basketball IQ that works well in the half court, hitting shots and transition 3’s. Carson is a very good catch and shoot player at 6’4” who does not hesitate to shoot the jump shot contested or not.
Gavin McGrath - 6’9” F/C - 2021 - was a great presence on the inside for Onalaska. A big that moved well and beat other bigs to spots. Very physical and didn’t give up many interior baskets. He may not have had an explosive outburst offensively, but he did all the intangibles things to help his team.