Let the Showdowns Begin

Prologue
One of the things missed with the shortened schedule has been the high profile non-conference games.  Without the events to put the big games together its not quite the same.  But we get a big one tonight as #2AAAA Wayzata visits #1AAA Minnehaha.  Minnehaha has already hosted Duluth East and has a bunch of other really good home games on the schedule.

Game Time
Story of the 1st half is Wayzata's shooting from deep.  18 all at the 7:45 mark as Wayzata has 4 triples and a Camden Heide 3 point play on the ledger.  Plus an excellent call for a backdoor set on the game's opening play.  Soph Spencer Hall off the Trojans bench to bank in a 3.  Wayzata with their biggest lead of the night at 22-18.  Chet Holmgren for 3 off a turnover.  Prince Aligbe dunks another turnover and adds a nice finger roll.  That's part of a 12-3 Minnehaha run to go up 30-25.  Soph Hayden Tibbets 2 bombs off the Wayzata bench to help stop the momentum.  Wayzata 7-14 3s in the half.  Minnehaha leads 38-32 at the break.

Minnehaha not getting into the open floor and making it a dunk fest.  Prince Aligbe with a baseline jumper.  Holmgren picks up his offense with a 3 point play.  56-46 Minnehaha with their biggest lead with 6:10 left.  They'll go to their triangle delay at the 5 minute mark, a standard Redhawks tactic.  Carter Bjerke with a nice up fake on Holmgren, 1 dribble and buries a 3.  That cuts the lead to 59-54 with 2:37 left.  Eddie Beeninga both ends of the bonus and a kickout to Drew Berkland for 3 with 1:37 left.  63-59 Minnehaha.  Wayzata gets no closer.  Minnehaha turns it over but Aligbe blocks that and ends up with a dunk on the other end.  Minnehaha wins 70-63.

Post Game
Wayzata falls to 5-2 with the loss.  Carter Bjerke 5 3s in the game to lead the Trojans with 15 points.  Cam Heide with 7 of his 11 in the 1st half.  Kody Williams adds 10.  Wayzata 11-23 from deep but     only 9-30 from 2 on my sheet.  Yes that's the Chet Holmgren effect, but its also guys like Isaiah Davis and Prince Aligbe and their length too.  Trojans did a reasonable job of not turning the ball over and allowing Minnehaha to turn the game into a dunk fest.  Wayzata returns to Lake Conference play next week with home games vs STMA and the rematch with #3AAAA Hopkins

Minnehaha improves to 5-0 with their 3rd straight win over a ranked opponent.  Chet Holmgren with 19 points.  Prince Aligbe as involved on offense as I've seen him in a while.  He also adds 19 points.  Isaiah Davis with 14 points despite foul trouble.  One notable item here is Donovan Smith being out of the Redhawks lineup with a broken hand.  They hope to have him back for tourney time.  Minnehaha just 2-18 from 3 in this one.  Cold shooting, fairly slow game and they still came out on top.  A big game vs IMG Academy, one of the nation's top programs on Saturday.  Then Edina comes calling on Tuesday

Four Factors

FACTOR	Minnehaha	Wayzata
Effective FG %	49.2%	48.1%
Offensive Rebound %	44.4%	35%
Free Throw Rate	28.8%	35.9%
Turnover %	15.9%	17.2%
Points Per Possession	1.11	0.98

Minnehaha's interior shooting washes out the hot Wayzata 3 point shooting.  Not a surprise in a close game that every category was close.  An offensive rebound here, a turnover there, a good bounce there and the outcome could have flipped.