St. Paul Highland Park vs. Minneapolis Southwest: Five Takeaways
MINNEAPOLIS— In our second game of the day at the MLK Challenge from Kennedy Hall at Augsburg, we saw two teams, one from the Minneapolis City Conference in Minneapolis Southwest, and another from the St. Paul City Conference. Here are…
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Continue ReadingMINNEAPOLIS— In our second game of the day at the MLK Challenge from Kennedy Hall at Augsburg, we saw two teams, one from the Minneapolis City Conference in Minneapolis Southwest, and another from the St. Paul City Conference. Here are my five takeaways from game #2 of my day at Kennedy Hall in Minneapolis.
Morgan Jones Collects Boards, Again.
I was in game 2 of the season of watching the St. Paul Highland Park Scots and Morgan Jones (2021) left me another good impression. She was crushing it on the boards especially in the first half where she ended with 8 on my tally. She’s not the tallest forward I’ve ever watched at 5’8, but she plays with a chip on her shoulder that can be strong inside even against bigger frontcourts.
Top Senior Forward I Watched
Minneapolis Southwest Lakers forward Becca Murphy (2020) was one of the top shot blockers I watched yesterday. She used her size to get quite a few rebounds and get a hand upon the smaller Scots roster from Highland Park in St. Paul. You are going to hear about the young guards that the Lakers have in the next few takeaways, but Murphy certainly was a top producing forward for the Lakers inside and could also hit a three as well.
Two Unknowns from the Scots
Catie Carlson (2020) and Dejonae Johnson (2020) are both seniors I don’t recall getting many minutes in my first game watching Highland Park this season but were the top scorers for the Scots this time around. Carlson was effective from behind the three-point line on multiple occasions and I felt was a talent that could jive well in a different offense vs. the disciplined pass-first offense the Scots run. Johnson was another inside threat off the bench with 11 points that I think earned herself more minutes in games coming up for the Scots.
Another Johnson We Already Know, Virginia Johnson Virginia Johnson 5'10" | SF Mpls Southwest | 2023 State MN .
Virginia Johnson Virginia Johnson 5'10" | SF Mpls Southwest | 2023 State MN (2023) is a player we’ve watched at PGH Minnesota turn over a new leaf this season. (click here for Grant’s look on Johnson from September). Johnson, who’s been a part of the Lakers varsity team since 7th grade, showed off a two-way punch yesterday, by driving the bucket but also knocking down a fair share of three-pointers. Her growth spurt has also sparked a good rebounding ability yesterday as a tall 5’9 guard. Johnson’s a player to watch rise up in the Minneapolis City Conference, for the next three years or so.
Player of the Game
Josie Igherighe Josie Igherighe 5'7" | CG Cooper | 2022 State MN (#114, 2022) gets my nod for player of the game in this one. 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in a great stat line across the board. What impressed me most was her dribble to the bucket which was her most utilized play on the Scots. I like to calls guards like this “driving buckets” as Josie put that on display at Augsburg yesterday.
St. Paul Highland Park (8-5) got a win tonight against St. Paul Johnson (0-10) 65-28 and will play a tough test against St. Paul Humboldt (12-4) this Thursday at Humboldt. I think that game could be interesting, as I saw Humboldt beat St. Paul Harding tonight by only 16 points, in which I witnessed the Scots of Highland Park beat them by 40 points just a few weeks ago.
Minneapolis Southwest (9-6) will get a cupcake game with Robbinsdale Cooper (2-12) tomorrow at 7:00 PM at Southwest. Cooper sits as the only team from the Northwest Suburban-West without a conference win this season.