Redhawks take over in 2nd half

Prologue
The fun of a small league for power teams is the ability to go get high quality non-conference games.  Tonight is 1 such example as #7AAAA Hopkins visits #1AAA Minnehaha.  This is the 6th straight season that the teams will meet.  4 meetings in the Augsburg holiday tournament and 1 on each campus.  Hopkins with wins in the last 4 meetings and 5 of the 6.

Game Time
Jaelen Treml gets the early assignment guarding Chet Holmgren.  Hopkins hanging around down 9-5 after 4 minutes.  Trent Finney with a putback and a Mercy Miller dunk off a turnover push the Redhawks lead to 19-10.  Hopkins rallies back.  Jack Hernandez with a straight away three ball and another bucket.  Tristan Lee fouled on a 3 and makes all 3 FTs.  Max Wilson off the bench with a 3 ball and a drive for 2.   The Hopkins run is 15-4 over 4 and a half minutes.  28-25 Royals at the 5 minute mark.  Hopkins already with a bunch of fouls and Minnehaha takes advantage.  They shoot 14 FTs the rest of the half.  Hopkins turns it over 4 times in that stretch.  Minnehaha shoots 20 FTs in the half but only makes 11.  Hopkins 6-14 from 3.  We're tied at 35 at the break.

Minnehaha comes out with a purpose to start the 2nd half.  Holmgren to the spin for 2 and he'll grab a miss and slam that home.  9-0 Redhawks run to start the half.  Due to some early Treml foul trouble, Jack Hernandez got the task of guarding Holmgren and did a reasonable job.  But a short bench and fouls mean somebody pays.  Its Hernandez as he fouls out with 12:38 left and the Minnehaha lead now 47-37.  Holmgren swallows a shot on 1 end and dunks on the other.  He'll grab a miss and go coast to coast with 7 minutes left.  63-47 Minnehaha out running and running away.  Chet inhales another miss and throws the lob to Prince Aligbe with 5:25 left.   Fun and Gun, this one is over.  Minnehaha wins 78-59.

Post Game
Hopkins falls to 8-4 on the season.  2 losses to Minnetonka by a total of 3 points in there is eye catching.  Max Wilson scores 14 points off the bench.  Tristan Lee 11 of 11 from the charity stripe and 13 points.  Jack Hernandez 7 points all in the 1st half.  Not a great matchup for him guarding Holmgren but he worked at it and did a respectable job. Hopkins hosts Edina on Friday.  Then another non-conference showdown vs #2AA Minneapolis North next Tuesday.  They finish the year with 3 on the road including a trip to #8AAA De La Salle.

Minnehaha improves to 10-1 overall with the only loss being to IMG.  All 5 starters in double figures for Minnehaha.  Chet Holmgren with 19 points to lead.  Isaiah Davis another very solid outing with 17 points.  He continues to show a consistent game. Prince Aligbe scores 15 points.  Hercy and Mercy Miller add 11 points each.  A couple more fun non-conference games coming up.  #6AAA Hibbing visits on Saturday.  Then #1AA Waseca is in town next Tuesday.  #2AA Minneapolis North, #5AAA Richfield and #5AAAA Chaska finish the schedule.

Four Factors

FACTOR	Minnehaha Academy	Hopkins
Effective FG %	64.6%	42.7%
Offensive Rebound %	51.6%	19.4%
Free Throw Rate	58.3%	21.8%
Turnover %	25.7%	24.3%
Points Per Possession	1.11	0.84

Minnehaha shoots a crazy 29-48 overall.  Hopkins shoots 10-29 from 2 thanks to the Chet Holmgren factor.  Czar's Law now 76-14 on the season. Hopkins actually won the turnover battle after being behind in that category at half.  With the great defensive pressure Minnehaha can apply you won't see that happen very often this season.  Minnehaha with a big 28-12 edge in free throw attempts, but the edge was all in the 1st half (20-5).