The last of 7 games that I saw yesterday (Saturday, January 4) in the Breakdown Southern Minnesota Hoops Fest was also the best. Undefeated, #1-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s outlasted the tough, home-standing Byron Bears 49-46 despite playing without point guard Jaleel Donley. Benilde seemed to be on the way to an easy win, taking leads of 9-2, 14-4 and 18-7 as Jalen Wilson scored 9 of his 14 points in the 1st 12 minutes. But, sparked by a pair of 3s by Will Brian on consecutive possessions around 4 minutes of the 1st half, got back within 5 at 20-15, 22-17 and then 24-19 at the half. It was a rugged defensive battle as Benilde made 10-of-29 FG and Byron just 6-of-19, half of them 3s.
Benilde’s D was an aggressive, physical, overplaying man. They dared Byron to go weak side, a bait that Byron on the whole was reluctant to take. Benilde often stepped out behind screens to impede the dribblers’ progress. Physical contact was more or less constant. But Byron is a tough, experienced team. They did turn the ball over 17 times, Benilde just 9, but just as often Byron kept grinding and grinding and eventually found a man for a good, open shot. The simple fact is they missed a bunch of open shots. Byron’s leading scorer Max Dearborn, for example, shot just 3-of-16, and lots of his misses came on perfectly good shots. Colin Hanson led Byron in scoring in this game and shot 4-for-10. Brian was also in double figures, but made just 4-for-12 and failed to score in the 2nd half.
Byron’s defense was only slightly less aggressive and physical as Benilde’s but no less effective. They even tried a little bit of match-up zone but went back to the man down the stretch. In any event, after his fast start, Wilson scored just 5 points over the final 24 minutes on just 2-of-7 shooting. But, A.J. Stuttley, adjusting to his role as the 1 in Donley’s absence, took charge. He scored 19 points in the 2nd half after scoring just 2 in the 1st. His 5-of-17 shooting from the field was pretty typical in this game, but he compensated by getting to the FT line an making 11-of-12 in the 2nd half. Byron just didn’t have anybody who could keep him out of the lane.
After trailing early, Byron finally caught up at 31-all at 10:30 on a post-up 2 by Dearborn. Stuttley answered with a 3, but Fisher Kruckeberg saw that 3 and raised ’em a 3 to make it 34-all. Benilde scored the next 8 and Byron never caught up again, though they made it a one-possession game at 46-43 at 3 minutes. Dearborn had a 3 to tie it a minute later, but missed. Stuttley scored 11 points inside of 8 minutes, including 6 straight from 5:30 to 1:30 to hold off the Bears.
I have no info regarded Donley’s status. Benilde wouldn’t mind getting him back, I’m sure, as the fall-off in the Red Knights’ talent behind Stuttley and Wilson is not something that the average basketball fan could miss. Luckily, they are heading into a slightly easier schedule, not playing a ranked opponent until (at) Alexandria on January 25 and Orono on January 30. Having seen 7 of the top 10-ranked teams in Class AAA, frankly I would pick Mankato East or DeLaSalle ahead of Benilde without Donley. If Donley is 100%, well, then, it’s a crap shoot.