Madison Memorial over Sun Prairie

In the most highly anticipated matchup of the year so far Madison Memorial beat Sun Prairie by the slimmest of margins to get the early lead in Big Eight play. A year ago Sun Prairie took Memorial down in the opening game of Big Eight play but, had an up and down year where they finished .500 in conference and dropped their second matchup against Memorial later in the year. Memorial lost that first matchup but, they were the ones that went on to be co-champs in the Big Eight. This year Sun Prairie brings back most of their guys from a year ago and Memorial reloads just like they always do.

First thing I noticed when the teams came out to warm up was that Memorial had three key players that weren't suited up for the game. 6'6 junior Jamar Morris, 6'5 senior Miles Chamberlain, and 6'1 Brian Nkemnji were all injured in some form or another and would not be playing in the game. Morris and Chamberlain would be starters while Nkemnji would be a top player off the bench. Missing those players caused Memorial to have a much smaller lineup as a whole. Their taller bench players 6'4 sophomore Jester Weah and 6'4 junior Ngijol Songolo where forced into the starting lineup, which meant that they had no one over 6'0 off the bench would contribute to the game.

The game started out very fast paced as always with both teams trading baskets and matching eachother point for point. Memorial's top two returning players 6'5 senior Tre Burnette and 6'5 junior Junior Lomomba both picked up two early fouls in the game causing them to sit forcing Memorial to go with a smaller lineup and play a 2-3 zone defense. Sun Prairie turned the ball over numerous times and if not for the turnovers SP would of had a lead after one but, luckily some hot shooting by 6'2 senior Jordan Noskowiak who hit a pair of threes early on and the strong inside play of 6'5 senior Chris Hawkins led to an 18 all tie after one quarter. Second quarter SP's height advantage took full affect as Hawkins was able to have his way on the inside and SP as a whole was able to control the boards. Memorial was able to draw the fouls and get to the free throw line but, they struggled greatly from the line and couldn't take advantage of the "free" points. At the half Sun Prairie was up 35-28.

Memorial came out gunning in the second half as it seems they do every game I watch them play. Early in the third Memorial was able to get the game tied behind some very ragged play by both teams which seemed to favor Memorial as they love to play the up tempo game. For SP 6'5 sophomore Nick Fuller got things going highlighted by a powerful break away dunk. Fuller was able to drive to the hoop and score. Fuller also was nearly perfect from the foul line. At the end of three quarters Sun Prairie still held a narrow 51-49 lead. Fourth quarter became the Lomomba show. When Memorial had the ball it began to feel like an NBA game with Memorial just looking for Lomomba and letting him go one on one to the hoop and score or get fouled. Lomomba spent lots of time at the free throw line where he struggled greatly but, came up big hitting his final four free throws in the final two minutes of the game. Late in the game with 59 seconds left Memorial turned the ball over giving the ball back to Sun Prairie who had a one point lead. The clock ran down to 18 seconds before Memorial fouled Chris Hawkins sending him to the line. Hawkins had been shooting very strong from the line early in the game but, missed both of the clutch free throws giving Memorial the ball back. Memorial ran the clock down a bit then looked for their man Lomomba who drove and then pulled up for the contested 15 foot shot, that was blocked by Noskowiak but, came right back to Lomomba and he hit the 10 foot leaner with under five seconds left in the game. Sun Prairie pushed the ball up the court but, was unable to get a shot off.

Top Players
Junior Lomomba 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Struggled from the line but, was able to clutch up at the end. Very tough to stop going to the hoop even when you contest his shot. Every year seems to make huge strides in his game.
Brendan Ortiz 6'1 sophomore Madison Memorial- Despite only being a sophomore can see that he and Lomomba are the vocal leaders on the court. Runs the point very smoothly and isn't afraid to take big shots. Hit the first shot of the game and then hit a big thing midway through the fourth.
Jester Weah 6'4 sophomore Madison Memorial- Battled the much bigger Hawkins all game long and did a really solid job limiting Hawkins to only four second half points.
Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Has gotten much bigger physically and is really a complete ball player now. Very smooth shooter and has the ability to put the ball on the ground and drive to the hoop and is now strong enough to finish.
Chris Hawkins 6'5 senior Sun Prairie- Just a beast in the post that can finish in traffic. Has the ability to handle the ball as well on the perimeter.
Jordan Noskowiak 6'2 senior Sun Prairie- Really a good shooter when he has the ability to set his feet. Great defender that just had a tough break against Lomomba right at the end.

Box Score
Memorial 66- Lomomba 21 Ortiz 15 Songolo 11 Burnette 9 Weah 7 Thomas Parkman 3 #34 0 Zach Mitchell 0 Julian Walters 0
Sun Prairie 65- Fuller 20 Hawkins 19 Noskowiak 10 Jaron Schaffner 9 Daniel Mifflin 5 Ryan Yentz 2 Paris Saffold 0 Andre Wallace 0 Bryce Opps 0

This matchup promises to be another great matchup the second time these two teams play and their is no doubt in my mind that these two teams will be battling for the conference championship the second time around. Should be a fun year in the Big Eight watching these two teams play.