Madison Memorial takes down Middleton

Thursday night Middleton came out strong but, as always Madison Memorial was too much and cruised to a 66-48 victory. Throughout the entire first half the game remained fairly close but, like the majority of Memorial games they were able up the pressure and rolled to a near 20 point victory. This was the best game that I've seen Memorial star 6'7 senior Jeronne Maymon play. He was all over the court knocking down shots from all over from 15 foot and in and controlled the boards. This looked like the Maymon that I saw at state last year, maybe he's just getting himself geared up for the tournament run.

As usual the Memorial opponent game out in a zone. Tonight Middleton was running a 2-3 zone defense which did a pretty good job of keeping Memorial out of the lane and not allowing inside pass to Maymon. I don't know if it was the zone that caused this or just a poor effort by Middleton but, Memorial was able to get numerous second and third chances at the basket. With the Spartans its fairly common for them to control the boards but, they dominated the boards this game and got two or three chances every time down the court. On the other side Middleton was getting the ball to the hoop but, they were unable to connect on the bunnies. At the end of the first Memorial was only up by one. The second quarter was basically the same as the first Memorial missing a lot of shots and getting the rebound while Middleton struggled to convert. The x factor in the second quarter was Memorial 6'0 senior Russell Henderson who came in and knocked down three, three point shots in a matter of five minutes which helped lead Memorial to a three point half time lead.

In the third quarter Maymon and company really turned up the pressure and took control of this game for good. Maymon was knocking down everything from 15 foot and in. Hitting fade aways, pounding the glass, and grabbing all the loose balls. The only thing he may of done wrong was that he missed a break away dunk where he was going to rip the rim off. Middleton continued to struggle to put the ball in the hoop and Memorial was running on every missed basket which led to transition baskets the majority of which were for 6'4 junior Vander Blue who is always at his best in the transition. Memorial pushed the lead to about 20 points early in the fourth quarter and the score remained there for the majority of the fourth quarter and the starters were pulled with about three minutes left.

Top Players
Jeronne Maymon 6'7 senior Madison Memorial- Really showed the effort that I haven't seen from him since Memorial was at state last year. He couldn't miss from 15 foot and in and every loose ball was his.
Vander Blue 6'4 junior Madison Memorial- Extremely impressive in transition and pounded the offensive glass and may of been the leading rebounder in the game.
Russell Henderson 6'0 senior Madison Memorial- Once again came in off the bench to knock down the three point shots and will be very important come playoff time.
Brooks Braga 6'1 senior Middleton- Only Middleton player to have double digit points.

Box Score
Madison Memorial 66- Maymon 28 Blue 21 Henderson 9 Tre Creamer 4 Junior Lomomba 2 Mathew Laubmeier 2 Xavier Jones 0 Ace Davis 0 Erick Blue 0 Karl Klatt 0 Alvin Olson 0 Eric Fruhling 0 Ed Kluender 0
Middleton 48- Braga 13 Michael Owen 8 Matt Everson 6 Jay Nunnery 5 Skyler Yaktus 5 Shane Adler 4 Derek Schultz 3 Aaron Katsuma 2 Ian Joyce 2 Bradley Slayton 0 Shane McCauley 0 Charlie Opitz 0

Madison Memorial appears to be peaking at the right time and they are looking as strong as ever and should make their usual push towards state. Middleton on the other hand will probably be a one and done team come playoff time but, the future is bright as the only have three seniors that are in their rotation and one of them was injured for the game. Tomorrow I'm be posting on the Wisconsin Dells verse Adams Friendship game I was at last night.