Border Battle Review

The Border Battle turned out to be the great basketball I was expecting. The first three games ended up not being very close, with the final two games going down to the final minute. The day was highlighted by six very impressive individual efforts, one game had two players team up for a great win. Minnesota was able to take the first two games, winning failry easily, then Waupun turned things around winning big, then Madison Memorial, and Verona finished it off with two very impressive victories.

Maranatha Christian 65 Barneveld 41
In the opening game of the day Barneveld was cleary outmatched in height and athleticism. Maranatha controlled the boards and Barneveld had no one to guard D1 Cal Poly recuit David Hanson, who completely dominated the game. Hanson a 6'6 forward knocked down the outside jumpers, and could go inside and score at will. In the second half Barneveld came out with a full court press that cut Maranthas lead a bit but, in the end the Eagles ran out of steam and both benches were cleared with about 3 minutes left in the game. Trent Sullivan was the one bright spot for Barneveld as he was able to penetrate and score or get the assist. It seemed every basket for Barneveld was keyed by Sullivan. One strange thing to note is that Maranatha had an eighth grader starting at point guard in Darian Pittman. Pittman didn't stand out by any means but, he held his own fairly well in the game and didn't seem like a junior high player at all.

Scoring
Barneveld 41- Sullivan 11 Kyle Thompson 9 Michael Schlimgen 5 Shawn Monson 5 Tim Nechkash 3 Patrick Clerkin 3 Logan Johnson 2 Grant Bowe 2 Jacob Erfurth 1 Cody Knudson 0 Josh Slaney 0 Derek Mieden 0
Maranatha 65- D Hanson 27 Tyler Champion 19 Josh Hanson 8 Matt Eickman 4 Pittman 3 Chis Paskey 2 Jay Higgins 2 Milos Ristanovic 0 SaVaughn Jordan 0

Rockford 88 Marshall 61
In warmups first thing I noticed was that Marshall had a huge height advantage in this game and through the first quarter of this game it appeared that would be the difference in this game. Marshall was able to jump out to a 15-3 advantage out of the gates by using their height advantage and pound the ball inside. In the second quarter Rockford switched to a zone defense which really shut down Marshall's inside game and Marshall began settling for the outside shots. Marshall wasn't able to knock down their outside shots which led to long rebounds and allowed Rockford to get out and run which is their signature of their game. Rockford was able to beat Marshall up the court and get soem easily layups. When Marshall did look to get the ball inside, they turned the ball over, which once again led to easy layups for Rockford. Marshall did a very poor job of getting back on defense and some foul trouble led to a pair of the Marshall starters having to sit for long periods of time, those two things teamed with Marshall's inability to knock down their outside shots.

Scorers
Marshall 61- Greg Haag 11 Alex Koeller 10 Derek Woelffer 10 Mike Boebel 10 Stephen Lunda 6 Max Franklin 5 Deveron Crews 5 Bryan Weisman 1 Zac Hurley 0 Gustavo Gonzalez 0 Alex Fry 0
Rockford 88- Luke Mernin 25 Nick Haugen 16 Antone Nelson 12 Mike Mernin 10 Andrew Wacha 7 Nathan Maher 6 Chris Luhmann 6 Kyle Then 2 Bradley Skafte 2 Joshua Brozek 0 Brian Lynch 0

Waupun 83 Princeton 44
Everyone came to see Princeton's 6'10 Jared Berggren a University of Wisconsin recruit, but it was Waupun's Ryan Rasmussen and Aris Wurtz who stole the show. Rasmussen came out gunning as he poured in 18 first quarter points and finished with 30. When Rasmussen cooled off in the second quarter Wurtz picked up where he left off scoring 15 second quarter points and finished with 29 points. Jared Berggren had a solid first half scoring 16 points but, was held silent in the second half. Waupun was able to double down on Berggren in the second half and leave the Princeton shooters wide open who were unable to knock down the outside shots. The difference in this game was Waupun's ability to knock down the three point shots and Princetons inability to knock down the threes.

Waupun 83- Rasmussen 30 Wurtz 29 Austin Armga 10 Jess Nickel 3 Jordan Mock 3 Andrew Visser 3 Taylor Nehls 3 Cory Nickel 2 Tyler DeBoer 0 Kody Fietz 0 Ben Weisnicht 0 Dylan Wurtz 0 Evan Guell 0 Derrick Winterback 0 Mitch Bille 0
Princeton 44- Berggren 16 Ryan Fay 11 Phillip Klaphake 5 Nick Falken 4 Dylan Carroll 2 Asaiah McBride 2 Nick Walz 2 Tobi Egbujor 1 Josh Hanus 1 Joe Hafften 0 Jack Youso 0 Casey Milesko 0 Ben Kettelholdt 0 Taylor Murphey 0 Angelo Fraboni 0 Tyler Hass 0 Jesse Liila 0 Zach Sajion 0

Madison Memorial 78 Minnetonka 69
The most highly anticipated match up of the tournament lived up to the hype. The game was tied 31 all at half time but, in the second half Memorial turned up the pressure with their trapping defense and forced Minnetonka to turn the ball over and forced an uptempo game. Iowa recruit Anthony Tucker was able to knock down some outside shots but, was unable to continue his hot shooting in the second half. D1 recruit CJ Erickson never got things going but, Tyler Schilling picked up his slack and scored 19 points. Scoring was not the problem for Minnetonka but, their inability to handle the Memorial pressure. Jeronne Maymon for Memorial was his normal self as he recorded another double which seems to be common hat for him. Vander Blue also had a great game as he was able to knock down some outside shots and had a couple big blocks.

Madison Memorial 78- Maymon 30 Blue 16 Tre Creamer 9 Devonte Maymon 9 Ace Davis 6 Derek Nkemji 5 Xavier Jones 3 Fred Ringhand 0
Minnetonka 69- Tucker 21 Schilling 19 Sedrick McBounds 10 Erickson 8 Ut Udo 4 Andy Burns 3 Kyle Risinger 2 Taylor Nelson 2 Andrew Latzke 0

Verona 68 Tartan 64
This game was close throughout as Verona led 27-25 at half and Tartan was able to keep the game within eight points throughout much of second half and were able to get within a last second three point shot of sending the game to overtime. Verona was able to control the boards and Tartan star Marc Sonnen was limited to only two minutes of play in the first half which led to the Verona win. Tartan was unable to knock down their shots throughout the game and Verona limited their second chance points.

Verona 68- Jason Ziemer 30 Connor Valentyn 13 Adam Wadzinski 9 Justin Scanlon 7 Zach Stangel 5 Travis Schaaf 2 Sam Riebau 2 Scott Platto 0 Sky Waters 0 Ethan Malofsky 0
Tartan 64- Sonnen 17 Sam Ryan 14 Aaron Hoverson 8 Manani Beavers 8 Tim Lubke 6 Shawn Marlowe 6 James Pritschet 4 Max Ryan 1 Derek Peterson 0 Nick Estrem 0


Top Players of the Border Battle

Trent Sullivan 6'2 senior guard Barneveld- The few bright spots for Barneveld were keyed by Sullivan who was able to get inside and score or set up open teammates.
Patrick Clerkin 6'2 junior forward Barneveld- Didn't score much in the game but, really did a good job of going inside and rebounding.
David Hanson 6'6 senior forward Maranatha- Kid does it all. Can knock down outside shots, score in the post, and can handle the ball really well for a 6'6 player.
Tyler Campion 6'3 senior center Maranatha- Overshadowed by Hanson but, was a very solid player. Did a great job of battling against Clerkin who is much more solid then Campion. Campion also was able to knock down his free throws were he seemed to spend a good portion of his time.
Mike Boebel 6'6 junior forward Marshall- Very unselfish player that does a great job of passing out of the post. Is versitle to score from the outside or inside.
Greg Haag 6'1 junior guard Marshall- Very good outside shooter who did his best of bringin Marshall back into the game.
Luke Mernin 5'11 senior guard Rockford- Very fast kid from one end of the court to the other with the ball in his hand.
Nick Haugen 6'3 senior guard Rockford- Bigtime scorer that can knock down a lot of shots in a hurry.
Ryan Rasmussen 6'2 senior guard Waupun- Great outside shooter with unlimited range and when he did miss a couple shots he was able to get inside and find open teammates.
Aris Wurtz 6'4 senior forward Waupun- Very good spot up outside shooter and guarded the 6'10 bigman Jared Berggren.
Jared Berggren 6'10 senior center Princeton- Very soft touch around the rim, a good shot blocker, and a very solid rebounder.
Jeronne Maymon 6'6 junior forward Madison Memorial- Best rebounder I have seen this year. Very versatile on the offensive end can score inside or outside.
Vander Blue 6'3 sophomore guard Madison Memorial- Very fast player on the breakaways and goes inside very strong and can knock down the outside shots. Is also a very good defensive player that can get steals and block shots.
Anthony Tucker 6'5 senior guard Minnetonka- Very smooth outside shooter with a quick release that can go off at any time.
Tyler Schilling 6'6 senior forward Minnetonka- Can play inside or out. Is very strong on the inside and is a good rebounder.
Jason Ziemer 6'4 junior forward Verona- Extremely good rebounder with a soft touch on the inside. Can use either hand and has a fairly good hook shot.
Marc Sonnen 6'3 junior guard Tartan- Very good scorer off the dribble and has the ability to find his teammates for open shots.
Manani Beavers 6'2 sophomore forward- Did a great job of rebounding and guarding the bigger Ziemer.

Well theres my run down of the Border Battle. I'll admit my run down of the top players was a little short due to the fact that I'm extremely tired and have to get up early tomorrow.