Wisconsin Dells Tournament

Reedsburg over Wausau Newman 52-42
Really only caught the second half of this game so I don't have a whole lot to report about. Reedsburg was the far superior team in this one and were able to extend the lead to about 20 in the third quarter. Newman was able to make the game respectable when Reedsburg cleared the bench and Newman was still playing their regulars and were able to drop a few three pointers while Reedsburg was turning the ball over on every possession.

For Reedsburg two players really stood out. 6'4 junior Tyler Mazur could score at will in this game. Mazur is big enough to go inside and score and has the ability to get his shot off very quickly and knock down the three point shot. Evan VanCleave a lighting quick guard at 6'0 had the ability to drive past any of the Newman defenders. Newman did not have a player that could stay with VanCleave as he was able to penetrate for the layup or pull up for the mid range jumper. This kid looks like he never gets tired. Other players that looked very good for Reedsburg were Nick Baur who was very strong with the ball in the post and is also a very good defender and Lucas Farber who handles the ball very well and does a good job of running the offense and setting the tempo.

Not much to say for Newman as they never were really in the game when I was there. The only player that stood out was 5'9 junior Anthony Fisher who has a very nice shot from the outside and was key in making this game look somewhat close.


Eau Claire Regis over Wisconsin Dells 43-38
In a game that was really expected to be a good game, between a top 10 D2 team and top 10 D3 team and two teams that were at state last year, really wasn't as pretty as most people would of thought. This was a very physical ugly game that was full of turnovers and that was poorly officiated in my personal opinion. This was a very intense game that the refs let get out of hand at times and consisted of two technical fouls in the game and could of been a couple more called. The game was kept low scoring by a few factors. The first one was just the overall poor play by both teams as both teams shot a low percentage and turned the ball over often. Second factor was that it seemed at the end of every quarter it seem Regis had the ball and would hold it for about 1:30 minutes and then would usually turn it over with about 5 seconds left. The final factor was the Regis zone defense which the Dells struggled to figure out which led to the Chiefs being very patient on offense.

Wisconsin Dells really struggled offensively in this game. Dells couldn't figure out how to get inside the Regis zone which led to them shooting quite a few three points and the three point shot was not falling. Senior guard Ryan Wenkman the second half of the Dells two man team could not by a basket as he missed a couple layups early in the game and finished with only four points. Another factor that may of played into it was the absence of 6'9 sophomore Nate Gibson, who I later learned is currently in Germany, who may of helped with the inside scoring and rebounding. Couple highlights of the game were Jade Royston keeping up his scoring despite not hitting a three point shot. Royston was able to score a good bulk of his points from the free throw line and then late in the game was able to find the opening at the free throw line in the zone and get inside and score. One thing I really liked about this game was the play of 6'3 senior Nathan Miller, who has been battling injuries since he began playing varsity. I believe this was only his second game back and he really had a good game. I always thought Miller could be a good player if he could just be healthy, which has been a rarity for him. Miller looked very confidence in this game as he was able to penetrate inside and score and hit a couple of three point shots, as he finished second in scoring for the Dells with 12 points.

I'm assuming that Eau Claire Regis also had a bad game because from what I've heard of them they are a pretty good team and they just didn't look to great tonight. Despite their poor play they still were able to pull out the W, which is the sign of a top team, when the can win when their playing poorly. Nick Bowe looked like he may be a star in the making as he seemed to score with ease from inside and outside when he wasn't sidelined with foul trouble. Bowe is a very aggressive 6'4 junior forward who can knock down the three point shot and has the leaping ability to go inside and score. 6'6 senior Mike Nezworski was also another impressive player who did a good job of running the point at times and have the ability to score inside despite really getting roughed up in this game and finding himself on the ground a good portion of the time. Jack Eaton 5'10 sophomore guard also deserves a little loving in this game as he knocked down a big three pointer in the first half and hit two free throws that put the game away.

Box Score
Wisconsin Dells 38- Royston 15 Miller 12 Wenkman 4 Ethan Loofboro 3 Ryan Field 2 Alex Buesing 2 Laddie Lucke 0 Lucas Shwartzer 0
Regis 43- Nezworski 13 Bowe 12 Eaton 7 Kurt Roubal 6 Zac Berry 4 Vincent Phillips 0 Marc Stantolin 0