Hayfield/Schaeffer Academy's Lily Morrisey checks lots of boxes

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Jan. 1—HAYFIELD — That Hayfield and Schaeffer Academy were able to get together last year and co-op for girls basketball put a smile on lots of faces.

Among those still smiling brightest is Schaeffer's Lily Morrisey. Basketball is the sport that the athletic 6-foot senior does best. The thought of being without it — which would likely have been the case had Hayfield not been up to bringing on the Schaeffer players last year and this one — would have made for a depressing couple of winters for Morrisey, one of the top forward/centers in southeastern Minnesota.

The affable Morrisey was brought up to play basketball, her father — 6-foot-7 Adam Morrisey, a former Luther College player — having shown her the finer points of the game since she was a little kid.

"I was pretty excited about this season, especially as well as we came together last year and blended so well," said Lily, whose Vikings finished 15-11 last year. "I knew this was going to be a good season. I knew we were going to get off to a good start and have lots of wins."

Morrisey's predictions have all come true. Hayfield/Schaeffer Academy is 7-2 and regarded as one of the better teams in state Class 1A. The Vikings — who have seven seniors — have some quality wins under them, including beating a couple of teams that are considered Section 1, Class 1A contenders this year, Lewiston-Altura (67-46) and Triton (76-66). The losses have been to Class 2A team Goodhue and No. 7-ranked Class 1A team Mayer Lutheran.

On a Hayfield/Schaeffer team that is balanced, it's still tough to find a player who has been as impactful as Morrisey.

Her stats are robust: 18.1 points, 5 blocked shots and 7.2 rebounds per game. Among the three players who have come over from Schaeffer and make the 40-minute drive to Hayfield for daily practices — Morrisey, Sophia Gommels and Maddie Buehler — it is Morrisey who turns heads.

She does that especially as she turns back shots. In less than two seasons, the long armed and perfectly timed jumper is on pace to easily become Hayfield's all-time shot blocker. Morrisey blocked 91 shots last season (a single-season school record) and already has 45 blocks this season. The career record is 159, done in 1991 by Shanna Behrens. Morrisey figures to easily break that mark before this season is done.

Behrens got her record in four seasons. It's going to take Morrisey just two.

"Lily is long and tall and times her jumps well," Hayfield/Schaeffer coach Kasey Krekling said. "She blocks the ball at its high point and does a good job of staying out of foul trouble because of it. She is a finesse shot blocker."

Those rejections are high on Morrisey's things to do.

"It's my favorite part of the game," she said. "I like blocking a lot of shots and I like fast breaks and getting the ball up the court."

Krekling considers Morrisey to be an ideal player to coach. She does everything he asks of her. And there are so many positive aspects to her game.

"Even on nights when she's not scoring a lot, she is impacting the game," said Krekling, who often has her bring the ball up the court as the Vikings break pressure defenses. "She is matching up with the other team's best player. And she is going to shatter our Hayfield record for blocked shots."

Morrisey, who is working on her outside shooting game with an emphasis on 3-pointers, had a high scoring game this season of 33 points against Randolph. She recently went over 1,000 career points.

Morrisey is intent on playing college basketball, with Division III schools Luther and Bethel the two most likely to land her.

Whoever winds up with her will be getting a major asset, according to Krekling.

"She is one of the easiest and nicest kids to coach that I've had," Krekling said. "She is very well educated and very respectful. Whoever ends up with her is getting a really good one."

—On Dec. 11, Byron rode 25 points by Madison Ohm and 12 from Regan Kelm to hand Lourdes its first loss of the season, 66-55 in a clash of Hiawatha Valley League powers. Byron is ranked No. 9 in Class 3A, Lourdes No. 5 in Class 2A.

—On Dec. 20, No. 6 ranked Stewartville beat No. 7-ranked Northfield 63-57 in a battle of Class 3A powers. Audrey Shindelar had 23 points to lead the Tigers while fellow future Division I player Jayci Rath hit three 3-pointers and totaled 11 points.

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