Minnehaha veterans finish their long careers at the top

Over the past five years, Minnehaha Academy has had a tremendous amount of success on the basketball court thanks to core group of four outstanding players who have been key pieces since they were all in junior high school. The Redhawks have suffered through some painful losses, too. On Saturday night all of those memories came together in one last big hurrah as seniors Taytum Rhoades, Nevaeh Galloway and Avery New went out on top by winning Minnesota’s Class AA state championship. Minnehaha defeated Caledonia 72-63 to end a 5-year run of state tournament appearances in the best way possible. Most amazing, though, is the fact that they did it after their star point guard fouled out with more than 8 minutes left in the game. Minnehaha’s first-year coach Matt Pryor was in disbelief as he left the court having just won a state title at the age of 26. “If you had told me beforehand that Mia Curtis was going to foul out and we were still going to win, I would have said, ‘Not a chance,’” Pryor told the assembled media afterwards. “But these girls stepped up in big-time moments in a big-time game and that’s what you need.” [caption id="attachment_34054" align="alignleft" width="285"] Longtime Minnehaha coach Josh Thurow (left) handed the reins to his protege Matt Pryor this season. Pryor is a former Redhawk who now owns a state championship at age 26. (Photo courtesy of Minnehaha Academy)[/caption] The headline performance of the game belonged to Rhoades, a long, athletic guard who can score in every imaginable way and wears her heart on her sleeve. Taytum picked up her 4th foul just three minutes into the second half yet somehow managed to avoid the dreaded 5th while having the game of a lifetime. She finished with 29 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Rhoades was 7-for-13 from the field and 14 of 15 at the free throw line. “Credit to Taytum being able to go out and play with four fouls the way she played,” Pryor said. She wasn’t the only one in foul trouble. Starting guard Tanna Gallo picked up her 4th about a minute after Rhoades. Curtis then fouled out having scored 18 points by making 6 of 9 threes. Let’s just say that at that point the Redhawks were up the proverbial creek with nary a paddle in sight. “We thought we had them where we wanted them,” said Caledonia coach Scott Sorenson. Gallo, Pryor rose to the occasion Minnehaha was up 9 in the first half before Caledonia senior Ashley Schroeder was awarded three foul shots with just 1.6 seconds left. She hit them all to cut the margin to 6 points. Caledonia had shot just 17 percent in the first half, but they were still in it thanks to 16 made free throws. The Warriors scored the first 7 points of the second half to take the lead less than two minutes in. From there it went back and forth until a 10-0 Caledonia run and Curtis’ early exit put the Warriors in the driver’s seat. Or so it seemed. Then Gallo hit the first of her two pivotal three-pointers and the Redhawks launched an 11-2 run of their own. Caledonia pulled to within three in the final minute before Minnehaha closed it out with 4 free throws. Gallo had her finest hour when it really mattered. Junior Kate Pryor did the same. She scored all 10 of her points in the second half and was crucial in curtailing Caledonia sharpshooter Katie Tornstrom. Kate had one more crucial role to play – calming down her head coach, who was getting pretty whipped up over the way the game was being officiated. Of course, Kate can be a little more blunt with the coach than the rest of her teammates since she is also his little sister! Caledonia saw its 22-game win streak come to an end as the Warriors finished the season with a record of 26-5. Tornstrom had 19 points and 16 rebounds on the night. Schroeder played all 36 minutes, had 21 points and was 11-for-11 at the line. Kaitlin Conniff went 16 and 9, while Heidi Bolduan turned in another strong performance. In the end it wasn’t enough. Fifth time’s the charm It’s hard to imagine what the Minnehaha team will look like next season. I mean, these kids have been the core of the program for so long. You can go all the way back to the 2014-15 season to measure their impact. Back then it was point guard Sarah Kaminski (George Mason) running the show with coach Josh Thurow barking instructions from the sidelines. Curtis was a 7th grader finding her way but showing signs of greatness. Rhoades, New and Galloway were already a big part of the team. Taytum made 22 threes that year, and had 45 assists and 23 steals. The four players contributed 15 points per game and a half dozen rebounds. The Redhawks didn’t win state in 2015, bowing out in the semifinals to Sauk Centre. In 2016 they were knocked out in the opening road by New London-Spicer. In 2017, Sauk bumped Minnehaha out in the opening road again. In 2018, it was more of the same as the Redhawks fell to Norwood-Young America. That’s four tournaments and one win. Last week Minnehaha rolled over St. Peter, snuck past Paige Meyer and upstart Albany, before saving their best for last against Caledonia. Chances are the only year that will be remembered is this one. Of course, these Redhawks have lived through some struggles off the court, too, which make some disappointing basketball results seem quite trivial. On August 2, 2017 there was a deadly explosion at Minnehaha Academy. The blast killed school secretary Ruth Berg and custodian John Carlson, and left a good portion of the campus in ruins. The team wasn’t able to play a home game for an entire year, and the difficult memories of that day will live on forever. Somehow it only seems right that this group of Redhawks should go out on top. “It’s amazing,” said Rhoades, who now moves on to Minnesota-Duluth. “Not many people get to end their high school career with a win.” Top photo: The Minnehaha Redhawks were pretty happy when they captured their section for the fifth year in a row. They had much more to celebrate a week later. (Photo courtesy of Minnehaha Academy)