By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Tyson, Kale and Easton Misegades may not have been born with a basketball in their hands, but the three Henning School students just as well could have. After all, when your dad is the activities director and head boys basketball coach, basketball is just as much a part of life as eating, schoolwork and surfing Tik Tok videos.

“Literally before all of them could walk they could go to the gym. It’s just a part of what they do,” said Randy Misegades.

While the three sons of Randy and Becky Misegades found their own path to the hard court, all three of them share a special bond of not only playing with their brothers, but several cousins as well. 

Tyson, who is a senior, and Kale, who is just a freshman, are starters for the fourth ranked Hornets, who also boast an impressive 23-1 record. Their lone loss came to second ranked Cass Lake-Bena by one point on January 14 at the Breakdown Classic in Perham. Also on this year’s varsity team is their cousin Dawson, who is a sophomore reserve and son of Randy’s brother Steve. 

“Playing with your best friends is special, but getting to play with your brother is extra special,” said Tyson. “It’s just on a different level.”

For Kale, having the opportunity to play with his brother and cousins at such a young age was something he has cherished over the past two years. 

“It’s awesome,” said Kale. “Not that many people get to say that they get to play with their brother.”

The family connection for the Henning basketball team goes much deeper than just this year’s team. Randy and his brother Steve, who has a son on this year’s team, played basketball for Henning and their sister Beth Wallevand held the school girls scoring record for several decades. 

While he was a senior, Randy even played with his younger brother Steve while he was a freshman at Henning High School. 

Several years ago Randy also had the privilege of coaching his nephew from the other side of his family when Collin Dague was a stand out guard for the Hornets. 

Though he did not play on varsity at the same time as his older cousins, Tyson practiced with his cousins Blake and Blaine Wallevand when they played for the Hornets during the 2019 state championship season and the last section championship team in 2020. 

Randy’s nephew Dawson Misegades is a sophomore reserve post player on this year’s Henning team and another nephew, Beck Thorson is an eighth grader on the junior high team.

Beck and the youngest Misegades son, Easton, currently play on the junior high basketball team. Though he is just in sixth grade, Easton hopes that he will have the opportunity to play with his brother Kale at the varsity level some day. Until then, he watches from afar and helps out with the team however he is needed. 

Easton said it is fun to watch his brothers play together on the same team and have their dad be there watching along the way. 

“It’s just fun to see how they play with each other,” said Easton.

In addition to the Misegades connection, the Hornets also have a pair of first cousins in Lane and Carter Dilly who also play significant minutes for the Hornets varsity basketball team. Their grandpa Jim Dilly was a member of the 1965 state basketball team from Henning. 

Even though playing high school basketball for their dad definitely has its perks, for instance they never have to worry about finding time to shoot baskets in the gym, there can be some down sides as well. For example, all three Misegades boys said their dad and coach set high expectations for them on and off the court, but any downside of playing basketball for their dad is far outweighed by the positive experience it has been to share their time on the court with their entire family. 

“It’s good because we have constant access to the gym, but our expectations and his expectations are high,” said Tyson.

Kale and Tyson both joked that they seem to take a brunt of the frustration from their dad when team expectations aren’t being met.

“We take most of the yelling,” said Kale with a smile.

Randy admitted that he can be harder on his sons than other people on the team. Not only does he have high expectations for their abilities, but he also doesn’t want people to think he is giving his sons a free pass by being easier on them than other people on the team. 

  “They know what I expect more than the other kids, but at the same time they probably catch more heat,” said Randy.

In a season marked by countless highs, including the opportunity to play at Target Center in December and participate in the Breakdown Classic in Perham in January, the Hornets are nearing the end of their regular season. They captured the Park Region Conference championship following an undefeated conference schedule and are ranked fourth in the state. Last year the Hornets finished as the sub section runner ups and are looking to improve upon that finish when the playoffs get underway next week. 

As he wraps up his final season as a Hornet, Tyson said this season has felt a little different than in the past. He said the reality that this will be the final time he plays with his friends and family has an added pressure to it as they head into the playoffs. However, he said this season has been extremely memorable both on and off the court.

After all, he became a 1,000 point scorer this year, joining teammate Mason Hammer who accomplished the feat just a few weeks before he did and Henning is in the midst of one of their best seasons since the 2019-20 year, which ended prior to the state tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Henning ended the 2019-20 season as the top ranked team in state, despite the lack of a state tournament). 

All of the time in the gym and on the hard court does take quite a commitment from the family on a number of different levels. However, Randy said even though they may lose out on some family time at home, the end result is a special bond his wife Becky, he and their sons can share playing the sport they all love. 

  “Not everyone gets the opportunity to play with their sibling. At the same time we lose out on a lot of family time, but we get a lot of family time in the gym,” said Randy. 

The Henning faithful are hoping to join the Misegades family in making a few more memories this winter as they prepare their quest for a deep run in the sub section and section tournament, and potentially a return to the state tournament.