Getting their 400th coaching wins were Coach Chad Johnston (left) and Dale Kockelman 9right) while Morgan Hennen scored her 1,000th career point Friday night.

Coaches win 400th; Morgan Hennen scores 1,000

It was a magical night at Canby Friday.
The Vikings were rolling over Canby, 79-53 — but the fans were watching Morgan Hennen and her quest for 1,000 points — plus, hanging in the balance was the 400th career win of Coaches Chad Johnston and Dale  Kockelman.
For Morgan Hennen it was a magical night. With 11:16 left in the game and Hennen with 22 points — two shy of 1,000 for her career, she suddenly went down hard on the floor.
Knowing she had just two more points to go, the crowd reacted with a collective sigh as Hennen’s ankle forced her to be helped to the bench.
“That was the first I knew about being that close (to 1,000), said Morgan Hennen.
The coaching staff taped her ankle and put her back in the game.
She responded with a soft bucket, was fouled, scored her 25th point of the game on a free throw and came right back out of the game again.
“Obviously, if she have been seven or eight points away we wouldn’t have done that,” said Coach Johnston. “But with just two points to go we made that decision.”
It turned out to be extra special for Morgan Hennen since her sister Abby had scored her 1,000th point just a couple of weeks ago.
“Honestly, I didn’t know it at the time that I was just one bucket away. They taped my ankled and the adrenaline was flowing so I didn’t feel any pain,” said Morgan Hennen.
“We knew coming into the season this was going to be something special — that we’d do it in the same year,” Morgan Hennen said.
Now, with an ice pack wrapped around her ankle, she threw out her best special and stood for a round of pictures with her coaches, family and fans.
On top of the sore ankle, Morgan also had four fouls and she was trying to stay on her feet and stay out of foul trouble at the same time.
For Coach Johnston, he’d had celebrations when he and Kockelman won their 200 and 300th games. But, “From 200 to 400 they flew by pretty fast,” said Coach Johnston. The two have been coaching together for 18 and a half years.
“We’ve had great kids and Dale and I have been together since day on. We did it together and I’m proud of that.”
Her acknowledged the fact, “You’ve got to have the athletes. Naturally, as a coach you’ve got to do the right things, but its having the good athletes,” he said.
Minneota’s long record for winning tournament games, going to state tournaments and extending their seasons has helped Johnston and Kockelman get to the magic plateau quicker than usual.
“Going to state helps you get more wins in a season,” said the coach.
“We’ve been fortunate. We’ve had a lot of good seasons,” said the coach.
As for her special game, Morgan Hennen said, “Things were falling for me tonight. I knew we needed to score early, “so she took the ball to the hoop from the beginning.”
She had 15 points by halftime and Coach Johnston began to think about something really special happening — the 1,000th point of Morgan Hennen and the 400th coaching win coming in the same night.
It was also a great night for Natalee Rolbiecki, who scored 15 points that led her Coach to says, “She’s doing really special things right now.”
Abby Hennen, who led the team with 10 rebounds, scored 13 points and Abby Rost put in another 14 for the visiting Vikings.
They ran their undefeated record to 6-0 and are still ranked No.1 in Class A in the state of Minnesota.
MNNEOTA (2’s, 3’Ss, FT, F, TP) McKenzie Tolk 0 0 0-0 2 0; Morgan Hennen 9 2 4-5; 4 25; Natalee Rolbiecki 4 1 4-5 3 15; Abby Hennen 5 0 3-8 4 13; McKenna Yost 0 1 0-2 1 5; AbbyRost 5 1 1-5 0 4; Kennedi Jurrens 0 0 1-2 0 1; Ireland Stassen 3 0 1-2 2 7; Jeren Rost 0 0 1-2 2 1; Hailey Kimpe 0 0 0-0 0 0. Totals 26 5 14-25 18 79.
CANBY (2’s, 3’s, Ft, F, TP) McKenzie Ruether 0 1 0-0 4 3; Jayla Hulzebos 1 1 1-2 3 6; Hannah Jelen 4 0 7-8 3 15; Kaylee Johnson 4 0 1-4 2 9; RyAnn Hansen 2 1 3-4 3 10; Maya Wente 0 0 0-0 3 0; Morgan Noyes 1 0 0-1 0 2; Charlotte Wright 2 0 0-0 0 4; Aidyn Bruns 1 0 0-0 1 2. Totals 15 3 12-19 19 53.
Score by Halves:
Minneota     42    37  —  79
Canby          32    21  — 53
Stats:
SHOOTING: Minneota 31 of 65 for 48 percent; Canby 18 of 42 for 41 percent.
FREE THROWS: Minneota 14 of 25 for 56 percent; Canby 12 of 19 for 63 percent.
REBOUNDS: Minneota 35 (Abby Hennen 10; Jeren Rost, Abby Rost, Morgan Hennen 4 each, Jurrens 3, Stassen 2, Rolbiecki 1); Canby 24 (Hansen 6, Wente, Johnson 4 each, Jelen, Bruns 3 each, Ruether, Noyes 2 each).
TURNOVERS: Minneota 12; Canby 22.
STEALS: Minneota 14 (Morgan Hennen 4, Rolbiecki 3, Abby Hennen 3, Stassen 2, Jeren Rost, Abby Rost 1 each); Canby 4 (Johnson, Wente, Noyes, Wright 1 each)
BLOCKS: Minneota: Rolbiecki 1.
B SQUAD: Canby 46, Minneota 37 (Minneota 4-1).
 

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