Maple Lake Overpowers Minneapolis Henry: Five Takeaways
MAPLE LAKE– Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota was in Maple Lake last night for the non-conference battle between the Irish of Maple Lake (4-7) and Minneapolis Henry (1-10) in which Maple Lake got a 64-30 victory. This game started off interesting, as…
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Continue ReadingMAPLE LAKE– Prep Girls Hoops Minnesota was in Maple Lake last night for the non-conference battle between the Irish of Maple Lake (4-7) and Minneapolis Henry (1-10) in which Maple Lake got a 64-30 victory.
This game started off interesting, as Minneapolis Henry was tagged with a technical foul for not submitting their rosters 10 minutes before tipoff and didn’t show up on the court until one minute left of the 20-minute warmups the Maple Lake Irish took full advantage of. In the first half, Maple Lake took full advantage and held the Patriots to only 8 points to end the first half. Minneapolis Henry hurt themselves with turnovers in the first half, with getting a large amount of traveling called against them. Minneapolis Henry improved in the second half as they only trailed by 11 points to Maple Lake in the 2nd half-point margins. See my five takeaways from last night.
Hustle is Important Win or Lose
Although this year has been a struggle for the Patriots of Minneapolis Henry, they still keep hustling regardless of what the scoreboard says. Two players that showed solid hustle throughout the game for Henry were Asia Pegues (2024)and Sahara Hinton (2024). Pegues was one of the Patriots top scorers in the first half and was one of the leaders in the team points category. Hinton kept getting after rebounds and was another good team points player for the Patriots last night.
Under the Radar All-Around Guard Award
Kate Latour (2020) who only averages about 5 ppg for the Maple Lake Irish, gets my nod for best under the radar performance. She was strong rebounder as a 5’6 guard, the leader of team points, and was very close to scoring in double digits points-wise almost double her average. As one of only two seniors on this Irish team, look for her to improve as a player to watch in the Central Minnesota Conference.
Patriots MVP/”The Banker”
Lanise Hunter (2023) was one of the top scorers from last night’s contest in Maple Lake with 16 points (unofficial). Her best playing was in the second half when she showed confidence with her mid-range and three-point shot after a bumpy first half from the Patriots. She banked free throws and three-pointers multiple times and heard the loud cheers from the Patriots bench and the away gymnasium when she would hit a shot. At only averaging 5.8 ppg, she was a nice surprise and gets my Patriots MVP and a new nickname “The Banker”.
Top Forward from Last Night
Grace Heying (2020) was a consistent first half contributor for the Irish. She has a good range and could drive the bucket and shoot the three as one of Maple Lake’s tallest players on the floor. Heying had an average shooting second half but was a key in the rebounding department. She gets “Best Forward” from this non-conference battle last night.
Overall Game MVP
If you were to ask me in the first half about MVP, I would have probably said Grace Heying, the Irish’s top scorer would get that nod but my game MVP goes to Megan Lind (2021). The 5’7 junior was a definite stat sheet in the second half and finished in double digits and was bouncy on the boards and collected some key team points as well.
Maple Lake (4-7) will stay home and get hopefully back to back wins as they get back into Central Minnesota Conference play and plays hosts to Paynesville (1-12) on Thursday at 7:15.
Minneapolis Henry (1-10) will head to Northeast Minneapolis for a Minneapolis City Conference matchup with Minneapolis Edison (3-10) who features Giana Johnson who is averaging just under 15 ppg for the Tommies. That game will also be played tomorrow at 7 PM.