St. Michael-Albertville Stuns Maple Grove: Five Takeaways

In Nate's game two of the day, we drove from St. Paul to Albertville to watch the St. Michael-Albertville Knights (8-3) get a massive win over Maple Grove (8-2). The game was never really close, as the Knights took a 29-8 lead into halftime over a shocked Maple Grove Crimson team. The Crimson were able to close the gap a little to within 12, but the Knights of St. Michael-Albertville were too deep to give the game away. Here are my five takeaways from my second of three games on my "Basketball Road Trip" I took this Friday from the Twin Cities back to Central Minnesota. <strong>Don't Let the Size Fool You: <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/emma-miller/">Emma Miller</a> Can Play</strong> One of the key players off the bench for the STMA Knights today was<strong> <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/emma-miller/">Emma Miller</a></strong> (2021). Standing at just 5'1, she didn't let the bigger guards of the Maple Grove Crimson overwhelm her at all. Her elusive speed, quick drive to the basket, and quick passing startled the Crimson defense as she showed up well off the bench with 9 points. <strong>"Double-Double" Award</strong> The brightest spot in the Crimson's lost in my opinion was the play of <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/jordyn-lamker/">Jordyn Lamker</a> </strong>(2021) who was the only player on either side with a double-double today. Lamker was very impressive as she battled hard with STMA's <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/vanessa-alexander/">Vanessa Alexander</a> (2020) for those key boards. She was certainly the top forward on both rosters in this one as she battled with 6'0 Alexander very strongly. T<strong>essa Johnson is a Player to Watch in the Lake Conference: For A While</strong> <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/tessa-johnson/">Tessa Johnson</a></strong> (2023) is going to be on many scholarship schools watch lists before her career as a Knight is finished. She can stroke it from deep, can run the floor well and is only going to improve with the plenty of time she has left in the Knights program under head coach Kent Hamre. Her #3 spot in the 2023 prospect rankings is well-deserved after watching her performance today. <strong>It Was Too Late, But <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-schulte/">Abby Schulte</a> Can Shoot</strong> <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/abby-schulte/">Abby Schulte</a></strong> (2020, NDSU Commit) took a while to get in her groove but finished with 16 points to lead the scoring for the Crimson of Maple Grove. Her shots started falling in the 2nd half, but unfortunately, the 8 total points in the first half cost the Crimson to go to 8-3 on the season. She is a very versatile guard that will do great things for the Bison next season. <strong>Game MVP: <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kendall-cox/">Kendal Cox</a>, St. Michael-Albertville</strong> <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/kendall-cox/">Kendal Cox</a></strong> (2021) was on her A-game today. She shot the ball extremely well to dominate the Crimson in the first half. She was also catchy on the boards as she brought down 6 on the night for the victorious Knights. She showed her top 25 prospect ranking in the 2021 class in this huge win over Maple Grove where she was the star of it all. Maple Grove (8-3) will get back home to take on the Andover Huskies (5-6) to face <strong><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/player/sydney-white/">Sydney White</a></strong>, who is averaging over 19 ppg for Andover on Tuesday, January 7th at 7 PM. St. Michael-Albertville (8-3) will get a week off and play Buffalo (6-6) on the road in Buffalo on Friday, January 10th at 5:45 PM.