Madison Memorial destroys Middleton

I hadn't seen Middleton since their first Big Eight game of the year and they were tied in third place in the conference so I figured that I'd go down and see them play Madison Memorial to see if they had improved as much as their record showed. Unfortunately this wasn't a good night for Middleton as Memorial completely dominated this game from start to finish. Memorial really turned up the defensive pressure playing man to man defense nearly the entire game and really flustered Middleton into numerous turnovers and some very difficult shots. On the other end Memorial was going to the offensive boards with reckless abandenment, seeming to get at least three chances at the hoop on every trip down the court until the ball went through the hoop.

Memorial really appears to be peaking at the right time as they used a eight man rotation moving players in and out without missing a beat and didn't have to rely on any one player as four different players scored in double digits and thats with their second leading scorer 6'2 senior Tre Creamer only scoring six points. Memorial jumped out to the 20-3 first quarter lead, 35-12 halftime score, and the a 57-22 after three. Memorial rested their starters nearly the entire fourth quarter as they cruised to a 76-34 win.

Top Players (sorry Middleton you didn't get anyone)
Junior Lomomba the 6'3 super soph appears to be fully healed from his wrist injury and looked very impressive in the game. Lomomba scored 10 points in the first half displaying a variety of moves included a very nice spin move and bank in shot from the block. Lomomba has a very solid post game but, is just as effective from the outside. Lomomba had a nice highligh dunk with a nice little reverse dunk in the fourth quarter. Memorial star 6'3 senior Vander Blue didn't have a great game, like I said but, he really didn't need to in this one. Blue really went to the glass extremely hard and was rebounding with a purpose. Blue only had 11 points but, was probably close to double digit rebounds and did a nice job of guarding Middleton star 6'2 senior Matt Everson when he was on him. Another player that appears to be fully back from injurty is freshmen 5'11 Brendan Ortiz. Ortiz doesn't appear to have the same elevation as he did before his leg injury but, appears to be comfortable on the court. in particular shooting the ball from the outside, which should be a nice boast to a team that at times struggles from the outside. Ortiz also looks very good handling the ball and I am very interested to watch this kid progressive throughout the next four years. 6'4 junior Tre Burnette appears to have regain his confidence to shoot as he knocked down a pair of threes mid game and then dominated in garbage time. One last kid that has really begain impressing me is 6'2 junior Jordan Fredrick, who I really questioned him starting the first time I saw him starting but, he appears to be more comfortable playing with the other starters and has really developed a nice midrange shot.

Box Score
Memorial- Lomomba 15 Burnette 13 Blue 11 Ortiz 11 Jamar Morris 9 Fredrick 6 Brian Nkemnji 6 Creamer 5 Miles Chamberlain 0 Josh Horman 0 Karl Klatt 0 Alvin Olson 0 Eric Fruhling 0 Steve Scharch 0 Ed Kluender 0
Middleton- Corey Nelson 6 Sonny Bavery 6 Everson 5 Charlie Opitz 5 Ian Joyce 4 Shane Adler 3 Michael Owen 3 Connor Stubbe 2 Seth Coyne 0 Connor Wipfli 0 Will O'Brien 0 Aaron Katsuma 0 Skylar Yaktus 0

After watching Memorial tonight I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to Memorial take down East next week and also to see Memorial make another run to state.