Madison Memorial defeated Middleton 65-49, which brought my prediction record to 19-13. Memorial starting lineup really confused me tonight. I haven't seen Memorial play before but, from talk I expected the starting lineup to be 6'6 junior Jeronne Maymon, 6'2 seniors Derek Nkemji and Devonte Maymon, and 6'3 sophomores Tre Creamer and Vander Blue. When the starting lineup was announced only J Maymon and Nkemji were starting. I don't know if the other three were being disciplined or possible injured, in the case of D Maymon who only played five minutes in the game. With the strange Memorial starting lineup Middleton was able to jump out to the early lead. About half way through the first quarter the sophomores Vander Blue and Tre Creamer came in and really changed the momentum of the game. Memorial was able to press and trap Middleton forcing them to turn the ball over which led to easy baskets for Memorial. The Spartans looked much better in the uptempo fast breaking game then they did in the half court set. One other thing that helped Memorial in winning this game was that they were able to control the boards both on the offensive and defensive end. Jeronne Maymon is without a doubt the best rebounder I have seen this year and may be the best rebounder in the state.
The story of this game was Memorials ability to force Middleton into turnovers and get their fast break working. Memorial really does a great job of distributing the ball in 2 on 1s and 3 on 2s. They really know the perfect time to give the ball up and set their teammates up. I stated that Jeronne Maymon was a beast on the boards and probably had 20 rebounds. He also does a great job of letting the game come to him and not forcing things. He runs the court extremely well which allows him to get some easy buckets in transition, has a very solid game from 15 foot and in, and handles the ball very well for a 6'6 player. The other big star was Vander Blue, who was able to come off the bench and provide instant offense. He was easily the fastest player on the court which allowed him to get out in the open court and finish. One thing that really impressed me about blue was his relentlessness on the glass. He did miss a lot of bunnies but, stuck with it and would usually finish, even if it did take him two or three tries. Despite only playing five minutes Devonte Maymon did make an impact. He came in mid way through the third quarter and score six quick points which helped to extend Memorials lead.
As usual Middleton used their depth and played 11 different players in their regular rotation but, Memorial was able to match that by playing 10 different players in their rotation. Once again it was a team effort for Middleton as no one player real stuck out and only two players scored in double digits. 6'1 junior point guard Brooks Braga looked really good early in the game as he was able to penetrate and get inside to score. 6'4 senior Jon Stubbe was his normal consistent self as he once again hit a couple three point shots and reached double figures again. One thing that I noticed tonight was that outside of Braga Middleton does have another true ball handler which really hurt them against the Memorial press.
Box Score
Memorial 65- J Maymon 26 Blue 18 D Maymon 6 Xavier Jones 6 Nkemji 5 Fred Ringhand 2 Creamer 2 Russell Henderson 0 Erik Blue 0 Brian McClurg 0 Ace Davis 0 Eric Fuhling 0 Ryan Murray 0
Middleton 49- Braga 12 Stubbe 10 Joe Dean 8 Dan Lochner 7 Jay Nunnery 6 Keegan Nesvacil 4 Kevin Kruckenberg 2 Taylor Diem 0 Travis Martin 0 Justin Mertes-Mistretta 0 Dan Trautman 0 Andrew Hudson 0
Coming in the next couple days will be my updated team and player rankings.
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