Minnesota Valley Lutheran Rolls to 24-3
Thursday night Minnesota Valley Lutheran scored the first ten points of the game against Mayer Lutheran and never looked back. The end result was a lopsided 77-38 victory for Jake Kettner, Dunwa Omot, and the Blue World Order! The quick…
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Continue ReadingThursday night Minnesota Valley Lutheran scored the first ten points of the game against Mayer Lutheran and never looked back. The end result was a lopsided 77-38 victory for Jake Kettner, Dunwa Omot, and the Blue World Order!
The quick MVL lead was more about a blitz than it was a halfcourt dissection (that came later). Quick Mayer Lutheran turnovers resulted in a pair of Kettner floaters and quick Jace Marotz deep paint scores .
A momentum killing time-out worked for Mayer Lutheran who stepped on the floor and scored the next three baskets closing the gap to single digits. Also in that time Kettner had a short struggle missing four straight field goals. The game then changed when the versatile talents of Kettner led to a personal 10-0 run on his own and a 39-21 lead.
Jake jumped a bad pass going the other way for a sprint out lay-up. That score was followed by a Crusader poor closeout opening Kettner to the middle for a finger roll. The highlights of the run were two step back three-pointers made in rhythm. Had a mix-tape guy actually ventured more than five miles out of the metro they would of caught Kettner’s dribble separation crossover into a stepback three against a defender tripping all over himself.
Dunwa OmotJake had 19 at the break while Dunwa Omot scored eight. Omot is a 6-foot-3 junior that is comfortable shooting the ball at the arc. Dunwa had two first half threes building points for the 39-23 lead.
The MVL first half was more about transition push and individual efforts but half two was halfcourt dominance. Kettner began things with a transition three but his score was followed by the pass & cut combos between Matthew Munsen and Mason Cox followed by a Kyreis Harrison to Omot reverse score. All of a sudden it was 60-30 and fans began looking at their watches. When it’s 9pm on a Thursday a blowout isn’t worth losing some desired sleep over.
Jake Kettner left the game with just under seven minutes on the clock scoring 24 points on 10 of 19 shooting with four threes. His all around talent was too much for Baden Noennig who is a really good agile defender for Mayer, but he is better off against forwards than against a shooting guard like Kettner. Jake also added four boards, four steals, and four assists.
Dunwa Omot is a player to keep an eye on. The junior had 17 points with four rebounds making seven of his 13 field goal attempts. Omot is long, skilled, and very active as a junior wing. Catch him playing 17u this year because his name will be heard often. Jace Marotz was your active off-ball scorer putting 18 on the board and the Mason Cox double-double attempt was one score short (8 points, 10 boards).
For Mayer Lutheran it was a tough day but Baden Noennig has had a fantastic career. There is no reason he should hang his head. Baden will play at Upper Iowa next year giving them a 6-foot-6 forward that can move his feet with effort defending most forwards and bigs. Baden has improved his shooting range allowing him to score 19 points a game both actively in the paint and with face-up skill, and Noennig has an explosiveness to him which should make him an effort rebounder and high percentage paint finisher.
Back to MVL, they now face New Ulm Cathedral in a senior rivalry game. The Blue World Order has the best player in the game in Kettner and some improved teammates, but the Greyhounds are the deeper shooting team with three-point weapons all over the court.
MVL and Cathedral split the previous games this year 94-87 and 76-73. A year ago Cathedral swept MVL with three straight victories (77-60, 70-58, and 59-53). MVL swept Cathedral in 2016-17. It’s a rivalry that will draw out a bunch of fans. MVL is the higher ranked team and has the best player, but Cathedral has won four of the last five games.
Cathedral and MVL play Monday night at Gustavus.