Memorial Wins Two

My internet has been down for the last few days and I'm now just finally getting back on the net. During my time of absence I was able to attend two Madison Memorial games. Early on in the year I thought Memorial had to really rely on Jeronne Maymon to do most of their scoring but, these last couple games have shown me otherwise. In one game Maymon was a fourth leading scorer and in the second game he was the second leading scorer but, still only had 12 points.

In my preview of the Memorial vs Lafollette game I said the keys to the game were Lafollette limiting their turnovers, Darnell Small's ability to control J Maymon, and Lafollette's ability to keep Memorial off the offensive boards. Lafollette didn't really turn the ball over much but, Memorial never applied a lot of pressure on Lafollette's guards. Small was a non factor in this game as he picked up two early fouls and ended up playing only five minutes before fouling out. As I stated earlier Maymon still only scored 14 points which came primarily on second chance points and free throws. The one thing that Lafollette didn't do well is keep Memorial off the offensive glass, as Memorial was able to get second and third opportunities at the hoop.

For Memorial Vander Blue was able to get off early as he knocked down some jumpers and got to the inside and score. In the second half it was Devonte Maymon who was able to help extend the lead by knocking down multiple free throws. I already mentioned Jeronne Maymon's impact but, it was Derek Nkemji who really carried Memorial in this one. As he worked hard underneath getting offensive rebounds and fighting for position as he finished with 23 points.

On Lafollettes DJ Fuller was the only player to really get anything going. Fuller was able to get in the lane at will and knock down the 10 foot jumpers and was also able to knock down a couple threes. Their star Cashton Craig really struggled in this game and was forcing things and the shots weren't dropping. Michael Knop was able to come off the bench and hit two quick threes but, then went cold for the rest of the game.

Scoring Breakdown
Memorial 83- Nkemji 23 D. Maymon 17 V Blue 17 J Maymon 14 Tre Creamer 7 Fred Ringhand 2 Erick Blue 2 Eric Lutz 0 Ryan Curtin 0 Xavier Jones 0 Mathew Laubmeier 0 Ryan Murray 0
Lafollette 63- Fuller 28 Craig 9 Javonte Walters 6 Knop 6 Deonte Thompson 6 Steve Chapiewsky 4 Caleb Krueger 2 Small 2 AJ Hallmon 0 Jon Dybevik 0 Brett Klinkner 0 Ryan Waeffler 0 Anthony Nance 0 Jaren Singh 0 Porter 0


The second game I saw Memorial was against Madison West and this game really was a team effort. Memorial was able to get the ball inside to J Maymon who was able to find the open cutters for layups. In the second half Memorial was able to get long rebounds and ignite their fast break and get easy baskets. West who I've said many times is a very undisciplined team, was just that in this game, as the took some very bad shots in the second half and were doing way too much one on one play.

For Memorial Devonte Maymon and Tre Creamer were both able to get out on the break and score as D Maymon had a game high 18 and Creamer had 11 respectivily. Jeronne Maymon finished with 12 points but, probably had 6-8 assists to go along with his double digits rebounds.

For West is was basically a three man show. Michael Horton looked to get teammates involved early on but, when Memorial started to pull away Horton began looking for his own shot and was able to knock down some three pointers. Corvonn Gaines was able to get inside and get fouled which led to most of his points coming from the free throw line. Deon Johnson who is a tremendous leaper was able to pound the offensive glass and had two or three very impressive tip ins.

Scoring Breakdown
Memorial 70- D Maymon 18 J Maymon 12 Creamer 11 Ringhand 6 Nkemnji 6 V Blue 6 Curtin 4 Ace Davis 4 Jones 3 E Blue 0 Lutz 0 Brian McClurg 0 Laubmeier 0 Eric Fruhling 0 Murray 0
West 50- M Horton 15 Gaines 12 Johnson 11 James Horton 7 Daniel Buie 3 Sam Bester 1 John Harth 1 Shaun Kell 0 Mark Domann 0 Michael Krohn 0 Clifford Simon 0 Patrick Remington 0


Doesn't look like I will be attending any more games this week, so I will be focusing primarily on the state tournament on my predictions, which starts next tuesday.