As Minnehaha Academy kept having players run up and down the floor during the second half against St. Croix Lutheran in the Class 2A, Section 4 championship game, it was clear there were two main factors to its 86-59 victory: depth and defense.
“Our depth all season long has been our strength. We finally got everybody back healthy and our depth just took over in the second half,” Minnehaha Academy head coach Matt Pryor said. “The tempo we play at is really tough for teams to compete with us for two full halves.” The Redhawks (24-5, 5-1) needed every bit of their depth tonight, as two players got in early foul trouble and Telia Graham missed a large chunk of the second half with a finger injury. Despite those setbacks, every player stepped up and executed their role to help the Redhawks clinch a berth in the state tournament.
Minnehaha Academy is heading to the state tournament after an 86-59 victory over St. Croix Lutheran in the Class 2A, Section 4 championship game.
The key to the game was Minnehaha’s defense, as it forced turnovers early and often to create transition baskets. They forced 27 turnovers with Berit Parten leading the way with five steals. The offense was led by the trio of Charita Lewis, Angel Hill and Addie Mack. They scored 20, 19 and 18 points respectively to account for 57 of the Redhawks’ (24-5, 5-1) 86 points. Aniyah Reuben set up a few of those points, as she finished with a game-high five assists.
Laura Hauge led the way for the Crusaders (25-3, 12-0), as she scored a team-high 19 points. Haley Orvik added 10 points and five rebounds.
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