The Week That Was #8: Heyer, Jakway make headlines

We knew [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] was going to be great. It was obvious right from the get-go. [player_tooltip player_id="302286" first="Audrey" last="Jakway"]? Not so much. This week both big power forwards were making headlines as Heyer – the University of Minnesota-bound senior from Chaska – and Jakway (one of the most-improved juniors in the state) lead our rather lengthy recap of an action-packed Week That Was #8. WHAT WE WATCHED It was a veritable buffet of basketball this week with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Our goal is always to keep tabs on all of the various levels and there were several different flavors on the menu over the past seven days. On Monday we watched an unbelievably exciting game between two low-profile private schools most folks don’t pay much attention to. On Tuesday it was a classic private vs public, metro vs outstate match-up. That was followed by a couple of big-school showdowns, two Division 1 college games and finally a D2 encounter to wrap up our viewing for the week. <ul> <li>Monday – Mounds Park Academy at New Life Academy</li> <li>Tuesday – Royalton at Providence Academy</li> <li>Wednesday – Prior Lake at Minnehaha Academy</li> <li>Thursday – North Dakota State at St. Thomas</li> <li>Friday – Wayzata at St. Michael-Albertville, Hopkins at Eden Prairie</li> <li>Saturday – North Dakota at St. Thomas, Bemidji State at Concordia-St. Paul</li> </ul> GAME OF THE WEEK When I say the contest between New Life Academy of Woodbury and Mounds Park Academy of St. Paul was exciting, I mean it sincerely. You’ll get the picture when I tell you that with 3:20 remaining in the game NLA trailed MPA 55-39 and ended up winning. Their remarkable sprint to the finish began with a long three-pointer by senior Kaitlyn Groeneweg whose rocket seemed to light a fire under her team. Suddenly the Lions were mounting all kinds of defensive pressure, forcing turnovers and dropping bombs and there was nothing the Panthers could do to stop a tidal wave of momentum in what turned out to be an 18-2 run. The final two minutes were truly remarkable. With 1:47 on the clock, Groeneweg nailed another three from the corner. At 1:35 Megan Selgado buried an NBA triple. At 1:13 Selgado did it again. And at the 44-second mark Kaitlyn made her third triple to tie the game at 57-all, which is how the second half concluded. If you’re keeping track at home that’s four threes by one team in 63 seconds. With just 8 seconds remaining in the first overtime and the score tied at 62, MPA junior [player_tooltip player_id="302286" first="Audrey" last="Jakway"] had the ball outside the arc where she put a nice move on her defender and eluded two more Lions on her way to the basket. Jakway, who was having a career night, put up a soft left-handed scoop shot that kissed the glass and came down onto the top of the rim. It took two complete revolutions before falling away to send the game to a second OT. In the extra extra stanza Jakway fouled out at the 2:41 mark. With just 11 seconds remaining, Mounds Park sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id="339146" first="Nora" last="Pederson"] buried a three-pointer to close the gap to just one but Groeneweg sealed the deal at the free throw line for a 71-69 New Life win. Groeneweg’s four triples had been the difference and also enabled her to tie the school record for career three pointers made with 186. What a game! PLAYER OF THE WEEK [player_tooltip player_id="302286" first="Audrey" last="Jakway"] – 2023 forward, Mounds Park Academy As well as Audrey played on Monday it’s a shame her team didn’t get the W. The 6’0 forward finished the night with 40 points, 26 rebounds and 5 assists. She followed that up 24 hours later by scoring 32 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists against Heritage Christian Academy. Those are some seriously impressive numbers but we should not be surprised. Over the past two years Jakway has worked tirelessly to improve her game. She has gotten quicker, enhanced her ball-handling ability, and added an awful lot of range. Along the way we have seen Audrey’s confidence soar as she transitioned from a small-school post player with college aspirations into a potential scholarship-level stretch 4. Jakway first entered the Prep Girls Hoops prospect rankings last June at #149. In the fall she had improved enough to earn a jump to #81. When the rankings are updated again next month look for Audrey to keep on moving in the right direction. She’ll play this summer on the top Minnesota Suns 2023 Blue Star squad. DEFENSE WINS One of the most entertaining teams in the state right now is Providence Academy. 8th grader [player_tooltip player_id="252381" first="Maddyn" last="Greenway"] continues to set the world on fire and the Counts sisters – senior [player_tooltip player_id="57963" first="Maria" last="Counts"], junior [player_tooltip player_id="148338" first="Grace" last="Counts"] and freshman [player_tooltip player_id="296515" first="Hope" last="Counts"] – are high-quality performers night in and night out. Meanwhile sophomore guard Brooke Hohenecker is shooting lights out and 7th grader Emma Millerbernd has captured our attention. We went to see the Lions on Tuesday when they hosted Royalton, which boasts 2024 post [player_tooltip player_id="215981" first="Kylie" last="Waytashek"]. Providence got the jump early but the Royals managed to stay within shouting distance. The score was 32-23 at the half. When play resumed, however, PA did to Royalton what New Life had done to MPA: buried them. Except the Lions did it with defense. Providence came out pressing and pressing and pressing some more. They used their superior speed and athleticism to swarm the Royals ball-handlers and the turnovers came quickly and often. PA opened the second half with a three by Hohenecker and Greenway quickly followed with one of her own. By the time Maddyn scored on a stylish reverse layup three and a half minutes into the second period, the Lions led by 19. Then came more steals and more transition baskets and more... well you get the picture. By the time the PA sprint was done midway through the half, the Lions had pulled off a 32-2 run! They went on to win it 69-32 and Greenway finished the game with 29 points. During the defensive onslaught I couldn’t stop thinking how much it reminded me of the way Hopkins plays. Everyone talks about the Royals offensive exploits but really the big blue machine has won a ton by turning defensive pressure into offensive pleasure. It’s not surprising that PA would do the same considering that long-time Hopkins coach Brian Cosgriff is now an assistant for the Lions. Not to take anything away from head coach Connor Goetz, who has done a very nice job of building a high-quality program, but on Tuesday you could definitely see Cosgriff’s influence in action. Those first 5 minutes of the second half were right out of the Hopkins playbook. While the Lions were very good last year, making it all the way to the state championship game, now that they’ve dialed up their defense several notches we should not be at all surprised in March if PA takes home the Class 2A state championship trophy. [caption id="attachment_276564" align="alignnone" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-276564" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/04/IMG_9261.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> Photo: Kelly Cutler <a href="https://x.com/cutlerka" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>[/caption] MILESTONES “Have you seen the 8th grader at Chaska?” Those words from a friend were my introduction to [player_tooltip player_id="12714" first="Mallory" last="Heyer"] some four years ago. Well we have seen her plenty ever since. Mallory (photo above) has had an incredible run as she established herself as a force in the Class of 2022. From the key role she has played in Chaska’s rise from young hopefuls to Class 4 A state champions to her AAU exploits on a very good Minnesota Fury UAA squad, Heyer has been fun to watch. To see her be part of the elite foursome of Minnesota seniors now headed to the U is the icing on the cake. This week Heyer achieved another milestone as she scored 30 points Thursday in a win over St. Louis Park to reach 2,000 for her career. In doing so she joined alumna Courtney Boylan as the second 2,000-point scorer in program history. Boylan went on to play at the University of Michigan. There were plenty more milestones this week: [player_tooltip player_id="177728" first="Olivia" last="Olson"] of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, the #1-rated prospect in Minnesota’s Class of 2024 and a member of Team USA, had 29 points on Friday night against St. Louis Park to reach 1,000 points in her young career. [player_tooltip player_id="178265" first="Kadence" last="Hesse"] is another talented sophomore who recently became the first player in the Class of 2024 to announce a college choice. On Thursday the Southwest Minnesota State commit and 16th-ranked player in her grade, scored 26 points in a win over New Ulm Cathedral to reach 1,000 for her career. This week’s other 1,000-point scorers included: <ul> <li>Maddie Young – 2022 guard, Cloquet</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="57936" first="Kaila" last="Youngs"] – 2022 wing, Orono (MSU-Moorhead)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="182112" first="Jordyn" last="Sutton"] – 2022 forward, Rochester Century</li> <li>Maddy Wulkan – 2022 guard, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108344" first="Chloe" last="Brunsberg"] – 2023 forward, Southwest Christian</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="108298" first="Taylor" last="Woodson"] – 2023 forward, Hopkins</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="109138" first="Leah" last="Dengerud"] – 2022 guard, Totino-Grace</li> </ul> One more milestone we should mention belongs to Chatfield coach Brian Baum, who notched his 400th career win. <img class="alignnone wp-image-338611 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/10/235-Tori-Oehrlein-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" /> INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES <ul> <li>Junior guard Kaitlan Jones of Heritage Christian Academy scored 38 points on Tuesday in a loss to Mounds Park Academy.</li> <li>Also on Tuesday, senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="109180" first="Bobbie" last="Bruns"] of Blooming Prairie had a school-record 37 points in a win over Randolph. She added 6 assists and 5 steals giving her a direct role in 49 of BP’s 59 points.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="178277" first="Jordan" last="Zubich"] continued her offensive assault as the Top 10 sophomore from Mountain Iron-Buhl had 35 points and 8 assists in a win over North Woods.</li> <li>Also up north, Mesabi East senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="147457" first="Kora" last="Forsline"] put up 34 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the Giants’ victory over [player_tooltip player_id="109156" first="Natalie" last="Mikrot"] and Moose Lake-Willow River.</li> <li>Another player who had a 34-point game this week was senior forward [player_tooltip player_id="109165" first="Ella" last="Runyon"] of Hill-Murray in a win over Two Rivers, which is the new name for the former Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="322999" first="Jocelyn" last="Land"] continues to impress in her first season in Minnesota for 13-2 Holy Family. The sophomore power forward had three consecutive double-doubles this week. On Monday against Glencoe-Silver Lake Jocelyn scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds, on Tuesday she went 27 and 17 against Delano and on Friday Land followed that up with 26 and 10 versus Southwest Christian.</li> <li>2026 phenom [player_tooltip player_id="205310" first="Tori" last="Oehrlein"] of Crosby-Ironton (photo above) is something special. This week she had her third consecutive game over 30 points, the 6th time this season she has scored that many or more. Tori’s season high was 42 against Virginia and she’s now averaging nearly 28 ppg. She’s also contributing 12 rebounds, nearly 5 assists and 4 steals. Remember we’re talking about an 8th grader!</li> <li>Senior post [player_tooltip player_id="109167" first="London" last="Salberg-Thornton"] continues to have a breakout season after transferring from Hopkins to Maranatha. The Briar Cliff commit scored 31 points in a win over St. Agnes.</li> <li>On Tuesday Waconia’s Top 40 two-headed monster of seniors [player_tooltip player_id="109135" first="Ava" last="Stier"] and [player_tooltip player_id="109148" first="Audrey" last="Swanson"] combined for 57 points in an 82-77 win over New Prague. Swanson, who has committed to Southwest Minnesota State, scored 30. Stier, who has signed with MSU-Mankato, had 27.</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="30163" first="Adeline" last="Kent"] of Becker scored 29 points in a win over North Branch on Tuesday. On Friday, the University of Tampa commit played a crucial defensive role for the Bulldogs as they held North Dakota-bound senior [player_tooltip player_id="30162" first="Mikayla" last="Aumer"] of Cambridge-Isanti to a season-low 11 points. That takes some doing!</li> </ul> AT THE NEXT LEVEL The move up to Division 1 for the University of St. Thomas has been terrific for us. Now, instead of having to trek to Fargo or Grand Forks or parts farther afield we get to see many of the top Minnesota graduates live and in person performing at the next level. On Thursday we watched 2017 graduate Erin Norling of Delano score 34 points for the Tommies in a quality win over North Dakota State, a game in which 2021 graduate Jade Hill of Minneapolis South had 22. NDSU is led by 2018 graduate Heaven Hamling of Grand Rapids and 2020 product Abby Schulte of Maple Grove. On Saturday the Tommies fell to North Dakota as the Fighting Hawks extended their winning streak to four games. UND was led by 2019 Minnesota Miss Basketball Kacie Borowicz of Roseau along with Olivia Lane of Pequot Lakes, Jolene Danninger of Andover, plus Centennial alumnae Claire Orth and Jodi Anderson. Erika Lane of Brainerd is also a member of the Fighting Hawks. COMING UP Monday is Martin Luther King Day and that means we’ll be in the gym all day. After St. Catherine University booted the annual tournament due to COVID-19 concerns, several of the teams have migrated over to Holy Family in Victoria. It’s a solid four-game offering and we plan to be there live: <ul> <li>2:00 p.m. – Red Wing vs Mahtomedi</li> <li>3:45 p.m. – Minnetonka vs Holy Family</li> <li>5:30 p.m. – Fridley vs Hutchinson</li> <li>7:00 p.m. – Spring Lake Park vs Eden Prairie</li> </ul> The rest of the week features some great match-ups, as well. On Tuesday it’s Hopkins at Wayzata and Stillwater at Roseville in Class 4A while 2A offers Providence at Minnehaha and Goodhue at Caledonia. Thursday you won’t want to miss Eden Prairie at St. Michael-Albertville. Friday’s most promising game is Waconia at Benilde-St. Margaret’s while Saturday offers Minnehaha at St. Peter. Have a great week! Top photo: Junior forward [player_tooltip player_id="302286" first="Audrey" last="Jakway"] of Mounds Park Academy