Madison Memorial outlast Verona in OT

I'm still waiting for Madison Memorial to have that break out game where they just dominate their opponent and it just isn't happening. Memorial probably has more talent and more "good" players then any other team in the state yet they continue to let teams hang around with them that they should be defeating by double digits. I'm not saying Verona is a bad team, they are actually a pretty good team that may have a shot at state but, Memorial is just that talented that they should be able to beat Verona by at least 10. Even against the bottom dwellers of the conference like Madison West are keeping the games some what close against Memorial. I can't really put my finger on the reason for this. I had blamed it on lack of inside presence but, as of recent 6'3 sophomore Jamar Morris has been huge and the return of fellow sophomore 6'4 Junior Lomomba has really secured the inside and 6'3 senior Vander Blue really controls the rebounds when he wants to.

Now Verona is finally looking like the team that I expected. In recent years Verona hasn't had the greatest athletes or the best talent but, they always come to play and are going to make every game close. This is a credit to the Verona coaching staff who always seem to get the most out of what they have. They always play as a team, play very tough man to man defense, and rebound the ball very well. Come tournament time Verona is in one of the weaker sectionals so, they should have a great chance to make a run at Madison.

Verona came out extremely pumped to start the game and were led by 5'11 senior Kaden Nauman who hit two big threes right away to give Verona the short lived lead early on. On the other side Memorial looked to the inside to Junior Lomomba who had nine points in the first quarter mostly coming on the block. From the jump Verona was playing extremely tough defense which cause Memorial some real problems. Memorial played their typical zone defense which force Verona into some long passes which Memorial was able to steal and led to some easy baskets for their senior duo 6'2 Tre Creamer and Vander Blue. Memorial was able to get the 34-25 halftime lead and appeared to break this game open but, then in the second half things fell apart for Memorial. In the second half Verona senior 6'4 Sam Karls finally stepped up against the Memorial zone and looked to penetrate into the middle of the zone and score. It seemed throughout much of the second half Verona just passed the ball around the perimeter until Karls decided to take the ball to the hoop. After three quarters Memorial had a slim 46-41 lead and Memorial went into the stall ball in the fourth quarter which didn't work and allowed Verona to get back into the game and tie the game at 50 at the end of regulation. Vander Blue showed some true flashes of brilliance late in the game as he took the it upon himself to will his team into over time. Blue felt he could score every time he had the ball and he showed that by knock down a pair of jump shots in the fourth and overtime and then connecting on free throws after he was fouled. In overtime Jamar Morris finally made his presence known as he had a three point play that fouled out Karls and had the game sealing rebound and free throw that put the game away. Verona only made one basket in OT and Memorial got the 58-52 win.

Top Players
Vander Blue 6'3 senior Madison Memorial- Really took it upon himself to get Memorial the win. He showed he's an elite player by scoring at will late in the game and knocked down some big jumpers off the dribble.
Junior Lomomba 6'4 sophomore Madison Memorial- Was a beast when he got the ball in the post and basically scored at will.
Jordan Fredrick 6'2 junior Madison Memorial- The unsung starter for Memorial. Moved very well without the ball and came up with some huge baskets when Memorial was struggling to score in the half court.
Sam Karls 6'4 senior Verona- One of the few Verona players that handled Memorial's pressure defense very well and one of the few that was able to get into the middle of the zone and score.
Kaden Naumann 5'11 senior Verona- Hit three big threes including the first two Verona baskets of the game.

Box Score starters in Italics
Madison Memorial- Blue 20 Lomomba 13 Creamer 10 Fredrick 8 Morris 5 Miles Chamberlain 2 Tre Burnette 0 Ed Kluender 0
Verona- Karls 20 Naumann 11 Matt Ropel 7 Adam Wadzinski 6 Taylor Peterson 4 Klayton Brandt 2 Scott Christensen 2 Danny Burns 0 Nate Ray 0

Well it appears that the Big Eight is nearly settled as I don't see Memorial losing more then one game and I'd be shocked if East lost to anyone but, Memorial so East will win conference and Memorial will be #2.