Henning improves to 20-0 on the season

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The top ranked and undefeated Henning Hornets increased their Park Region Conference winning streak to 57 games with three conference wins against Pillager, Bertha-Hewitt and Sebeka last week. The Hornets outscored their opponents by a 267-141 margin, including a 104-27 win over Bertha-Hewitt on Thursday night.

This week the Hornets will head back into the Park Region Conference when they travel to New York Mills on Tuesday night to take on the second place Eagles, before heading to Wadena-Deer Creek on Thursday to take on the Wolverines.

On Saturday the Hornets, who are 20-0 overall and 11-0 in the PRC, will head to Moorhead High School to take on Hankinson in the annual Breakdown MN/ND Border Battle. Hankinson is currently 14-0 and defeated the Hornets by a score of 91-87 in the same tournament last year. 

Tuesday

In one of Henning’s closest games of the season the first time around, the Hornets were able to get the best of the Pillager Huskies once again with an 81-67 win on Tuesday night.

“This was a really big road win for us in a tough environment. Pillager’s only conference loss was to us early in the season and they are a very solid 2A program,” said head coach Randy Misegades. “We had to overcome an early deficit and some foul trouble, but were able to get to halftime leading by a slim margin. We started the second half well and extended the lead to 19 before closing the game out by knocking down some free throws.”

Pillager came into the game with just one loss in the conference, a 72-55 loss to the Hornets on Friday, Dec. 12, and a win would have put them in a tie atop the Park Region Conference standings. 

After taking a 34-33 lead at halftime, the Hornet offense came alive in the second half as Henning blew past Pillager 47-34 to come away with the win.

The win improved the Hornets to 9-0 in the conference as they are two games ahead of both New York Mills and Pillager in the conference standings.

Henning was led offensively by Kale Misegades who continued his stellar senior season with a triple-double by scoring 37 points, 10 assists and 13 rebounds.

“Kale showed tonight why he is one of the top players in the state. He shows up all over the stat sheet, but most importantly he makes his teammates better and shows up in the biggest games,” said Misegades.

The Henning head coach also credited the work of Zack Wiederich, Beck Thorson and Ryan Despard who all came up big with some key shots leading to Henning’s win.

“Zack Wiederich hit some big shots to help us extend the lead and Beck Thorson was aggressive again looking for his offense. As usual, Ryan Despard was solid all night,” said Misegades.

Despard scored 19 points, while Wiederich scored 11, Thorson scored nine, Todd Bjerke scored three and Dawson Bushman rounded out the scoring with two points.

Not only did the varsity team get a win on Tuesday night, but the C-squad and JV teams also picked up wins against the Class AA school.

“It was fun to see our younger levels avenge losses from earlier in the season which shows how much they had improved. Pillager thumped us in both the C-squad and JV games the last time around. Tyson Eckhoff was the hero in the C-game knocking down a tie breaking triple in overtime. And Easton Misegades made a deep three with time winding down to put us ahead and close out the JV game. This was a really fun night for our program overall,” said Misegades.

Henning vs. Pillager

February 3, 2026

POINTS: Wiederich 11, Bushman 2, Bjerke 3, Despard 19, Thorson 9, Misegades 37

ASSISTS: Wiederich 1, Bjerke 4, Despard 1, Thorson 6, Misegades 10

REBOUNDS: Wiederich 4, Bushman 3, Bjerke 2, Despard 6, Thorson 4, Misegades 13

STEALS: Bjerke 1, Despard 1

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Thursday

If you wore a Henning uniform you were able to etch your name in the scoring column on Thursday night in what proved to be a fun, yet successful night on the court for the C-squad, JV and varsity basketball programs against Bertha-Hewitt. The night was capped by a dominating 104-27 win over the Bears by the varsity team in which reserves played a significant part of the overall outcome of the game.

“Every varsity, JV and C-squad player in a Henning uniform got into the scoring column this evening.
It was fun to get a lot of guys involved,” said head coach Randy Misegades. 

Henning scored early and often at the varsity level as they held a 63-15 lead at halftime thanks to a blistering 56 percent shooting from the floor and going 15-31 from behind the 3-point line. The Hornets also finished with 43 rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds, while having 28 team assists on 41 made shots from the floor.

“We jumped out big early and rode that momentum to the win. Our reserves played almost the enter second half and they picked up right where the starters left off,” said Misegades. “We dominated the glass, shot the ball well, and made it difficult for Bertha-Hewitt to find any rhythm on offense.”

A tough Henning defense held the Bears to just 23 percent from the floor and forced 25 turnovers as well. 

Zack Wiederich led the way offensively by scoring 24 points on just 9-13 shooting, while Kale Misegades scored 20 points, Ryan Despard scored 15, Dawson Bushman and Trevor Arndt each scored nine. Todd Bjerke and Beck Thorson each chipped in with seven points, Easton Misegades scored five, Teghan Wiirre scored four, while Elliot Severson and Andrew Suchy rounded out the scoring with two points apiece. 

POINTS: Misegades 5, Wiederich 24, Bushman 9, Bjerke 7, Despard 15, Thorson 7, Misegades 20, Wiirre 4, Arndt 9, Severson 2, Suchy 2

ASSISTS: Misegades 2, Bushman 2, Bjerke 4, Despard 3, Thorson 3, Misegades 7, Wiirre 2, Arndt 3, Suchy 2

REBOUNDS: Misegades 2, Wiederich 5, Bushman 3, Bjerke 2, Despard 6, Thorson 6, Misegades 5, Arndt 2, Severson 3, Suchy 9

STEALS: Wiederich 1, Despard 5, Thorson 3, Misegades 3, Wiirre 1

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Friday

On a night when all Henning basketball players in grades K-6 had a chance to play at halftime of the C-squad, JV or varsity games, the Henning Hornets increased their Park Region Conference winning streak to 57 games and came away with a win.

Following the conclusion of the game, the Hornet basketball players signed posters, basketballs and even some t-shirts for local youth and fans as part of its annual autograph night. 

“Fun victory in front of a nice home crowd on youth and autograph night.  It was a lot of fun to see so many kids and families bought into Henning Basketball,” said head coach Randy Misegades.

In a game that was close for much of the first part of the first half, Henning opened up a lead late in the first half to take a 42-25 lead at halftime. They would go on to outscore the visiting Sebeka Trojans by a score of 40-22 in the final 18 minutes of action to come away with an 82-47 win at home. 

For the second night in a row, the Hornets shot well over 50 percent from the floor as they knocked down 53 percent of their shots, while also going 12-30 from behind the 3-point line.

The Hornets were led offensively by Kale Misegades who finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He was just one assist short of finishing with his second triple-double of the week as he finished with nine assists. 

Zack Wiederich finished with 18 points, while Todd Bjerke scored 13 points and Ryan Despard also reached double figures with 10 points. Dawson Bushman scored seven points, Beck Thorson scored five, while Teghan Wiirre and Elliot Severson rounded out the scoring with two points apiece.

POINTS: Wiederich 18, Bushman 7, Bjerke 13, Despard 10, Thorson 5, Misegades 25, Wiirre 2, Severson 2

ASSISTS: Wiederich 2, Bushman 3, Despard 4, Thorson 2, Misegades 9, Wiirre 1

REBOUNDS: Misegades 1, Wiederich 5, Bushman 5, Bjerke 3, Despard 4, Thorson 1, Misegades 12, Suchy 2

STEALS: Wiederich 1, Bushman 1, Bjerke 2, Thorson 1, Misegades 4, Wire 1

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