Brainerd Steps Over Sauk Rapids-Rice: Game Recap/Five Takeaways
PGH Minnesota stayed inside the 320 area code on Tuesday night to watch the game between Brainerd and Sauk Rapids-Rice. We’ll dive into a brief game recap and go into some takeaways in the Warriors dominating win over the Storm…
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Continue ReadingPGH Minnesota stayed inside the 320 area code on Tuesday night to watch the game between Brainerd and Sauk Rapids-Rice. We’ll dive into a brief game recap and go into some takeaways in the Warriors dominating win over the Storm 80-38.
Recap
This game got going quickly for the Warriors, as they were firing on all cylinders out the gates. Sauk Rapids-Rice showed their inexperience with some costly turnovers throughout the first half and it continued into the second half. Their bright spot was the low post with Shayna Payonk (2020) who was the only Storm player in double figures with 10 points. At the half, the leading scorer for the Warriors was Olivia Tautges (2022) with 17 points and Erika Lane (2021, #56 in PGH MN rankings) with 9 points to lead the Storm 46-15 at the break.
The second half was a similar result to the first, but where the points came from was different. Brainerd got a great second half out of Autumn Miles (2020) who chipped in 10 points for the Warriors. As for Sauk Rapids-Rice, an underclassmen player that played well was Mackenzie Felche (2023) who had 8 points on the game and showed a nice stroke from the 3 point line. They also got a good game out of Adyson Froilland (2021) until she had to leave the game in the 2nd half due to an injury.
Five Takeaways
Best JV Players I Saw
In a way to build the future of girl’s basketball, I usually get to JV games around 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half. I watched good showings from guard Kylie Johnson (2022) of Brainerd and center Emily Schloe (2021) of Sauk Rapids-Rice who both scored double-digit points for their respective teams.
The Young Storm
Nine. That’s how many freshmen and sophomores are on this Sauk Rapids-Rice varsity roster. They did get a nice showing from Mackenzie Felche (2023) but she was the only one that made some noise on the court from what I watched. I think it will be another rebuilding season, but with the amount of freshman and sophomores getting varsity minutes, it should help them out in 1-3 years.
Two Stars from Brainerd
The magic number is 30. That’s how many points Olivia Tautes (2022) and Erika Lane (2021) scored combined on Tuesday night in Sauk Rapids. Sauk Rapids as a team scored 38 points. Although Lane started the game with a couple of turnovers and one shot that went short of the rim, she took off after those few early mishaps showing why she is in the PGH Minnesota power rankings for the class of 2021. As for Tautes, she gets my diamond in the rough nod of the night as she is not someone we’ve had on our radar at Prep Girls Hoops, but showed that she is something to watch for in the 2022 class.
My Hustle Player of the Game
That goes to Autumn Miles (2020) of Brainerd. She displayed extraordinary hustle when going for loose balls or getting physical rebounds and also shooting lights out from deep. She also had an excellent 2nd half of this one and rose the Warriors to a large victory.
Don’t Worry About the Score, Keep Playing Hard
This Sauk Rapids-Rice team only has two seniors one being Shayna Payonk (2020) who although down by a large margin of points never stopped working the post inside. She was also a player who came alive well in the 2nd half of this one and gets my nod for MVP of the Storm in this one.
Nate’s Next Game Stop: Monday, December 2nd. Kimball at Foley.