Redhawks topple #3AAA De La Salle

Taylor Hanson

Prologue
I gave in and decided to do the highest-profile game I could get to.  Nothing wrong with an easy trip to my favorite building to see Minnehaha host #3AAA De La Salle.  The rare (to find that is, not cooked rare) and tasty BBQ pork sandwich tonight.  mmm, mmm.  DLS girls win huge. Great warmup drills from the DLS boys along with nice enthusiam from assistant Quincy Lewis.  The drills right out of their offense and 2 coaches making passes to get everybody shots.  Well done.  Too often we see just basic drills and free shooting just to occupy the 20 minutes.  Nice to see a team put that 20 minute warmup to good use working on stuff directly applicable to the game.  A bunch of colleges watching too.  Concordia-St. Paul (Taylor Hanson??), St. Olaf, Augsburg and St. Mary's all watching tonight.  DLS lost the 2 games last year 48-40 and 48-42.

Game Time
Right away you can tell this is a different De La Salle offense than last year.  They want to get out and run.  6 all as Bretson McNeal knocks down a corner 3 off a standard DLS baseline out of bounds set.  Then Minnehaha goes on an 8-0 run thanks to a nice Austin Brown assist and floater off a screen/roll to end the run.  14-6 Minnehaha at the 9:35 mark.  De La Salle right back.  Jonah Travis with a 3 point play and a free throw to go with a pair of LaMonte Hall triples.  Its a 10-2 DLS run in 2 minutes to tie the game at 16, 7:36 to go as Minnehaha needs a timeout.  Parker Hines with back to back triples for 8 straight Minnehaha points to counter McNeal scoring 7 straight DLS points.  Melvin Collins drives for a 3 point play and puts back a miss after a turnover to put DLS on top 30-28 at the 4:15 mark.  Travis with a layup from McNeal and then a crazy spin off a flare screen nets him a 3 point play. Collins with a steal for a dunk for a 7-0 run that Minnehaha has to stop with a timeout.  Austin Brown with a big 3 to stop the bleeding right before the half.  39-38 DLS at the half.

Taylor Hanson hot out of the 2nd half gate for Minnehaha as he nails 3 short jumpers early in the half.  48-46 Minnehaha when Travis catches a lob for 2 and nails 2 FTs to put DLS on top 50-48 with 8:52 left.  Hanson with a layup from Hines on a picture perfect screen and roll to tie the game.  Brown with another clutch 3 and Hanson drives for 2 after 2 missed DLS free throws.  55-50 Minnehaha with 5:25 left and DLS needs a timeout.  Its a 7-0 run over 3 and a half.  Travis and Hines trade difficult hoops.  Hanson with a steal but misses both free throws and then Brown misses the front end of the bonus.  That only nets DLS 2 Walter Franklin free throws.  57-54 Minnehaha with 3:11 left when Parker Hines goes to a crazy good spin move and banks with 3 minutes left for a 5 point lead.  DLS misses 2 chances but Minnehaha misses another front end (6 straight misses from the charity stripe).  Travis then misses 2 FTs with 2:25 left and that's the dagger.  Hanson with a post 2 at 2:05 to make the lead 7.  Minnehaha hits their last 8 FTs to seal it.  71-59 Minnehaha pulls the upset

For De La Salle, they fall to 6-2 and out of 1st place in the Tri-Metro West.  Jonah Travis leads the way with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks.  1 of those blocks was pinning a layup to the backboard in the last 30 seconds.  Ridiculous.  He's definitely upped his game and his explosiveness since last season and the summer.  7-14 shooting after starting 1-5.  As he was the only effective offensive option tonight, it would have been nice to see him get more touches away from the basket.  He had pair of plays where he drove from the foul line area and was able to score with his quickness advantage vs Hanson.  Rough night for Jalen Jaspers.  After scoring 25, 20 and 25 points in the 1st 3 games of the season.  He's only averaging 9.4 over his last 5 with tonight's game of 3 points on 1-9 shooting.  Those points came on a late 3 point play.  They'll need him to be a major perimeter scoring option if they want to contend at the highest level.  Melvin Collins gave the Islanders nice minutes off the bench with 7 of his 9 points coming in the 1st half.

For Minnehaha Academy, they improve to 10-3 and stay on top of the Tri-Metro West standings.  Parker Hines leads the way with 24 points.  18 of those in the 1st half to keep Minnehaha close.  He started 5-6 shooting before finishing 8-16.  Austin Brown rock solid with 20 points and didn't wilt under the defensive pressure of DLS.  Taylor Hanson quiet in the 1st half with only 1 FG.  12 of his 18 points were in the 2nd half.  62 of the 71 points from their big 3 scorers.  They hold DLS to 20 2nd half points.

Taylor Hanson photo courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net