Kerwin Walton and Jalen Suggs Battle Foul Trouble in Hopkins/Minnehaha OT Thriller

Minnehaha Academy's Jalen Suggs shoots the ball over the head of Hopkins' defender Sawyer Shrake. Suggs led all scoring with 41 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out of the game early in overtime. Photo by Cheryl A. Myers, SportsEngine
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December 17th, 2019 at the Lindbergh Center in Hopkins, the #1 and #5 overall prospects in Minnesota (via 247Sports) faced off. Jalen Suggs, (#1 in Minnesota — #10 nationally) of Minnehaha Academy played Kerwin Walton of Hopkins (#5 in Minnesota, #94 nationally).

Foul trouble was a problem early for both stars. Hopkins decided to sit Walton in the first half, while time caught up with his foul count. Minnehaha decided to play Jalen most of the half, with two fouls. That means Walton scored just two points while Suggs subbed out for small amounts, but scored 15 in the first half on his way to a game high 41.

While Walton sat, Jaelen Treml went to work for Hopkins. He scored 23 points off the bench, and carried Hopkins, with Walton sitting. The 2021 guard is ranked 19th by PrepHoops.com and is a promising Junior.

Hopkins also got contributions from Senior transfer from Osseo Cornell Richardson (11 pts), an impressive dunk from promising prospect Andre Gray (8th overall Minnesota), and Elvis Nnaji (Zeke’s younger brother) contributed 7 points and 6 rebounds.

Minnehaha, missing #4 National 2021 prospect Chet Holmgren, got a good contribution from Isaiah Davis, 15 points but promising 2022 prospect Prince Aligbe had just 9 points, and shooter Donovan Smith had 7.

Minnehaha Academy got a star game from start to (almost) finish, from Suggs. He fouled out early in OT, but not before that he poured in 41 points and grabbed more than 10 boards. Suggs scored in numerous ways, pull-up 3’s, a ridiculous dunk that sent the crowd into a frenzy, a tip dunk, and the James Harden way of getting lots of points without the clock moving, FREE THROWS. He missed the shot at the end of the 4th though, with the game tied, and a chance to send Hopkins home with a loss in regulation, before fouling out early in OT.

Walton came alive in the 2nd half and showed off his impressive shooting stroke, that has all the big schools all over the country coming for him. He hit multiple 3’s, and drove past Prince Aligbe for a thundering slam. Walton was the catalyst that brought Hopkins, who trailed by as much as 10, back; and pushed his team to an OT victory, despite sitting most of the first half with foul trouble.

Ryan Schmidt | Minnesota Sports Fan

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