Laconia over Portage

Tonight I was able to get over to Portage to watch one of the better division three teams in the state in Laconia. I had seen them once in preseason but, that really doesn't count and wanted to get a chance to see them in the real season. Laconia did not disappoint as all five of their starters are very good and made an impact in the game as Laconia was able to win 70-61. Portage consistently changed up their defense between zone and man to man which seemed to confuse Laconia at times. Portage ran a 3-2 defense for about 2/3 of the game and then went to a man to man defense at times and at one point I believe they were running a 1-3-1 defense. In the third quarter Laconia was finally able to figure out the Portage defense and break away a bit exposing the corners of the Portage defense and hitting some open threes. Portage was able to make a comeback by going strong to the rim and getting a couple of and one baskets.

Laconia was able to win this game by being able to knock down the threes from the corners against the Portage zone. Portage also seemed to lack a real ball handler outside of Kevin Hurd which led to them turning the ball over too much. The final reason was Laconia was able to just beat Portage down the floor for some easy buckets.

Portage is not the most skilled team but, they really give it all there effort and go to the rim very strong. Kevin Hurd a 6'0 sophomore guard does a very good job of running the point and has the ability to knock down the three point shot. One thing he does lack is the ability to go to his left. His left hand is something he really needs to work on, he always always goes right. A pair of 6'4 juniors John Loomans and Greg Koch are basically identical plays that are always looking to attack the rim and have the ability to pull up for the mid range shot and both players sometimes get a ittle out of control. Big man Dan Swanson really lacks in the athleticism department and doesn't ever get off the ground but, is a physical player that really gives it his all and at 6'4 actually does a lot inside. Off the bench Darrell Anderson is a high energy big man that adds some inside force. Anderson does a good job of getting the ball in the post and going strong to the hoop and always is a very good rebounded. One down fall is he goes to his left always which allows defensive players to be able to block his shots. Portage is a team that will struggle a lot this year because they just don't have the athleticism to compete with most of the teams in the Badger conference.

Laconia really is one of the best teams in division three. Their five starters are as good as any team in the division. They have three very solid guards, a athletic forward that can do a little of everything, and a big man that is a star. 6'0 senior guards Riley Dahlke and Aaron Rickert are two guards that handle the ball very well and both have the ability to knock down the three point shot. Brenden Wittchow is a very good three point shooter and knock down four three pointers in the game and also made a couple nice cuts to the hoop where he was able to get easy layups. At 6'3, junior Derek Semenas can do a little bit of everything. He's tall enough to score inside, shots the three ball very well, and handles the ball extremely well for a kid at that height. Kieran Weed is easily one of the top players in division three if not the entire state. Tonight he had 30 points which is scored in an array of ways. Weed scored with his back to the basket, from mid range, from outside, and a couple baskets where he beat the defense down the court. Weed highlighted the game with a trio of dunks. Weed had a very impressive ally-oop dunk in the half court set, a one step and dunk, and then where a guard penetrated and found him wide open for the dunk. Only downfall of Laconia is that they have no help from their bench. Not one bench scorer took a shoot, I don't believe one bench player took a shot. If Laconia is hit with injuries or foul trouble they could be in for some problems.

Box Score
Portage 61- Loomans 15 Hurd 15 Koch 8 Alex Thomas 7 Anderson 7 Swanson 7 Michael Bain 2 Kodi Schroeder 0 Eric Conner 0 Ben Hartman 0 Ben Hoffman 0
Laconia 70- Weed 30 Wittchow 16 Dahlke 9 Semenas 8 Rickert 7 Steve Kern 0 Jordan Marchant 0 Alex Arneson 0 Jacob Toll 0


WBBY Shootout Results

Racine Horlick over Whitefishbay Dominican 70-60
Horlick was able to jump out early and never look back in this one. I guess Horlick has a little more than just Wilson. 4-3 wbby predictions

Manitowoc Lincoln over Waukesha South 63-46
As expected Lincoln was able to take control of this one in the end. 5-3 wbby predictions

Madison East over Milwaukee Thomas Moore 48-30
Mason still doesn't go off but, doesn't matter in this one. 6-3 predictions

Manitowoc Roncalli over St Bernards Minn 47-45
Roncalli wins on last second chance. 7-3 predictions

Sussex Hamilton over Wausau East 71-66 OT
Guess experience didn't mean that much. 7-4 predictions

Germantown over Catholic Memorial 68-58
Guess Germantowns height was just to much for the Memorial athletes to overcome. 7-5 predictions

Milwaukee Madison over South Milwaukee 62-53
Madison's athleticism too much for South. 7-6 predictions

Milwaukee Vincent over Alabama LeFlore Mobile 69-66
Vincent bounces back very nicely and prove me wrong. 7-7 predictions

Whitefishbay Dominican over Milwaukee Pius 51-47
As expected Dominican just has too many athletes for Pius. 8-7 predictions

Well I at least made it over 50% for my WBBY Shootout predictions. This brings my prediction total on the year to 17-13. Struggling a bit right now but, that may be because the teams I was predicting I haven't seen play. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back with thoughts on a few of the games from the Wisconsin Dells Tournament.