Breakdown Pre-Season: Familiarity is a factor in the fall

You see all kinds of basketball at fall league – some good, some bad, some ugly. Really ugly. That’s understandable given the fact that there are always plenty of new faces trying to figure things out. Chances are the good basketball is being played by teams that have been together for a long time and know their strengths, their systems and each other very well. We saw one such squad Sunday during varsity competition in the Breakdown Fall League: Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.

While Hopkins was blitzing a rebuilding DeLaSalle team, and Becker was putting its well-oiled machine on display, the Knights of LCWM were looking every bit the veteran squad, as well, led by seniors Lexi Cloyd Lexi Cloyd 5'9" | CG Lake Crystal-Wel-Mem | 2021 State MN and Lakesha Carter Lakesha Carter 5'6" | CG Lake Crystal-Welcome | 2021 State MN and sophomore Olivia Harazin Olivia Harazin 5'8" | PG LCWM | 2023 State MN , along with experienced freshman Katelin Flack.

Before we go any further allow me to point out that I have not committed a typographical error in the opening paragraph because there are indeed two ‘LL’s in Wellcome. Curiosity being a powerful thing, Mr. Google and I discovered that the name comes from Sir Henry Wellcome, a pharmaceutical baron who made the first few of his billion dollars by selling invisible ink in the pages of the Garden City (MN) Herald. That was in 1870. Today the school, which is located 15 miles southwest of Mankato, actually serves the communities of Lake Crystal, Butternut, Garden City, Judson, Rapidan and Vernon Center. Now that we’ve got the history and geography part of things sorted out, we are happy to report that the Knights are going to be one heck of a team again this year.

Lexi Cloyd Lexi Cloyd 5'9" | CG Lake Crystal-Wel-Mem | 2021 State MN is one of the finest shooters of the basketball we have seen in Minnesota. Last year Lexi, who is ranked in the Prep Girls Hoops top 125, opened the season with a 34-point game against Minnesota Valley Lutheran and never looked back. She averaged 18 points per game while shooting 41% from beyond the arc on nearly 200 attempts. If you’re a math person you already figured out that’s more than 80 triples. Cloyd is long and smooth, with nice handles and a crafty crossover.

Lakesha Carter Lakesha Carter 5'6" | CG Lake Crystal-Welcome | 2021 State MN is a hard-nosed physical player who knows how to get to the rim and loves to defend. She shot 55% on the season, averaging 19 points and nearly 7 rebounds per game. She, too, was over 40% from three. Carter has a quality overall box of tools but what sets Lakesha apart is her motor and her leadership ability. We have seen it with the Knights and we have seen it on Dan Wolfe’s Minnesota Rise AAU squad where the top-100 prospect was a mainstay. Both Cloyd and Carter will be excellent at the collegiate level.

We first watched Olivia Harazin Olivia Harazin 5'8" | PG LCWM | 2023 State MN play varsity as a tiny junior high point guard with a ton of potential. Well she’s not tiny anymore, and that potential is being realized. Olivia is wiry and strong. She has always had great handles but her shooting has improved dramatically as has her ability to manage the game. This kid is a dynamic player and a standout athlete who can attack the basket or drop long bombs. Currently ranked in the top 60 in the class of 2023, Harazin averaged 11 ppg last season and is an assist machine. Like Cloyd, she has played AAU for Pierre Ellis at Minnesota Nice.

The fourth member of the Knights lineup who impressed on Sunday is freshman guard Katelin Flack. She had an excellent 8th grade season and drew attention for her hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners approach to the game. She is strong and stocky and is afraid of absolutely nobody. Katelin averaged over 8 points and 5 rebounds last season and is coming off a nice summer with the Rise.

Playing in class AA, the Knights won 22 games before falling to Waseca in section play, but with all of that experience they are poised for success once again. At Breakdown on Sunday LCWM scored a nice 34-31 win over Providence Academy and followed that up with an impressive 46-31 victory against Minnehaha Academy. In doing so, LCWM went up against a pair of the brightest and youngest point guard prospects in the state.

The future is now for Mack and Greenway

The journey of 2025 star Addison Mack has been well-documented here as she scored more than 500 points last season as a 7th grader at The Blake School. Mack transferred to Minnehaha over the summer and is now the heir-apparent to Mia Curtis Mia Curtis 5'8" | CG Minnehaha | 2020 State MN , the long-time Redhawk PG who has moved on to Dartmouth. Those are some big shoes to fill, but Mack is accustomed to out-sized expectations. Coach Matt Pryor faces a major rebuilding project at MA following the graduation of Curtis, Tanna Gallo Tanna Gallo 5'6" | CG Minnehaha | 2020 State MN (Augsburg) and Kate Pryor (Boston College softball) who combined for 47 ppg. Minnehaha will need junior Telia Graham Telia Graham 5'10" | SF Minnehaha | 2022 State MN and freshman Jennica Suggs to step up while integrating talented newcomers such as Anissa Longs and Aniyah Reuben Aniyah Reuben 5'10" | SF Minnehaha Academy | 2023 State MN into the lineup.

Providence also has a bright young prospect at the point guard spot. That would be 2026 talent Maddyn Greenway. She takes over from Hailey Hohenecker Hailey Hohenecker 5'2" | PG Providence | 2020 State MN (Sioux Falls) for the Lions, who have also lost Maddie Anderson and 6’3 post Lauren Kettler to graduation. The good news is Providence returns two strong power forward prospects in sisters Maria Counts Maria Counts 5'11" | PF Providence | 2022 State MN (2022) and Grace Counts Grace Counts 6'1" | PF Providence | 2023 State MN (2023), who combined for 21 points and 17 rebounds per game. Unfortunately standout sophomore Kyra Miller Kyra Miller 5'9" | CG Providence | 2023 State MN is out with a long-term injury. Coach Conner Goetz had steered Providence to 26 victories and counting when the state tournament was called off.

Greenway is an uber-athletic, highly skilled talent from Wayzata/North Tartan who is going to be one of the top handful of players in that class. She’s still got a lot to learn, of course, but Maddyn’s high-test motor, super quick feet, and frenetic energy level will help the Lions win a lot of basketball games this winter.