Madison Memorial out last Sun Prairie

Much like the past few years Madison Memorial was able to win this game because they just have more athletes then their opponents. Throughout much of the game it was Memorial playing with five athletes against Sun Prairies two. For the first half of the game Sun Prairie's two athletes were able to keep up with the five of Memorial but, in the end Memorial was just too quick and too athletic for Sun Prairie. Also similar to last year is the fact that Memorials best offense might be the missed shot as they were able to get second and third opportunities at the basket every time down the court. Memorial may of shot about 30 percent on the game but, it seemed that they scored every time down the court.

In the first quarter Sun Prairie came out in a 2-3 one zone defense which really seemed to play in Memorials hands. Early on Memorial really moved the ball well and they were able to find the openings in the Cardinal defense. Memorials point guard 6'1 junior Brendan Ortiz has really improved his passing from a year ago and had some very nice no look passes that set his teammates up for some easy baskets. A pair of seniors 6'5 Junior Lomomba and 6'6 Jamar Morris really did a nice job of getting the ball in the high post and finding cutting teammates in particular 6'4 senior Ngijol Songolo who has always seemed to move well without the ball. Another guy that really impressed me on the night was 6'5 junior Jester Weah who may be able to out jump Morris now, as it seemed that Weah was able to get his hand on every rebound as well as a couple nice blocks that he pinned against the glass.

On the other side Sun Prairie's star 6'6 junior Nick Fuller put his team on his back and completely carried them as he scored 20 points in the first half and the team only scored 30. Memorial did not have a single player that could stay with Fuller as he could get anywhere he wanted and could score at will.

In the second half Fuller slowed up and couldn't get his shot to fall while Memorial continued to control the glass. Memorial has their normal second half run as they came out and had an 8-0 run right out of the locker room in the second half. Memorial has a ton of athletes but, when they really need the buckets they go to Lomomba who has improved his ball handling, shooting, and his elevation since last year. Memorial was able to cruise to the victory and was able to finish it off with an exclamation point dunk from Lomomba when he drove to the hoop and threw down a monster one handed jam.

Top Players
Junior Lomomba 6'5 senior Memorial- A guy that can flat out score. I've always questioned his athletic ability in the past and in this game he showed me that is something that he has worked on as he appears quicker and can elevate higher then past years. I believe he will have a huge year.
Brendan Ortiz 6'1 junior Memorial- Made a huge name for himself last year with his Championship game heroics but, appears to really be looking to be a true point guard this year. Looked to set his teammates up before looking for his own shot. I have always loved his game and now that he appears to be more of a pass first point guard I love him even more.
Jester Weah 6'5 junior Memorial- Dominated the glass on both ends of the court. I think I may of seen the best leaper I will see all year.
Nick Fuller 6'6 junior Sun Prairie- No doubt he is a high D1 college player. Handles the ball exceptionally well and can get anywhere he wants on the court with the ball. A great shooter that has really expanded his game in the past two years.
Nick Noskowiak 6'1 freshmen Sun Prairie- I am very interested to watch this kid play as he plays like a senior already and plays with a ton of confidence. He is already the second best player on the team and is a dead eye shooter from the outside.

Box Score
Memorial- Lomomba 20 Morris 14 Ortiz 10 Songolo 10 Weah 6 Tyler Lindquist 6 Donnel Thomspon 0
SP- Fuller 27 Noskowiak 11 Craig Evans 4 Ryan Yentz 4 Andre Wallace 3 Nick Behrens 3 Mike Vernio 2 Andrew Struebel 2 Martin Cromwell 0

Once again I think that we will be seeing Memorial at the Kohl Center when it comes to state. Sun Prairie has a star that can carry them in Fuller and they have a handful of solid players but, I just don't think they can put it together to win the conference let alone make a run at state.

First Round Team Rankings

Two weeks into the season and I figured it was time to do my first official rankings for the regular season. I know I haven't gone to many games yet this year by I now have a fiance and there just hasn't been a lot of good games to start the season.

Division One
I try not to punish teams for losing to out of state teams but, Hamilton lost to a very good team from Illinois and felt they should at least drop alittle so I had them fall below De Pere to number six. Brookfield Central, Homestead, and Oshkosh North all lost a game and fall below Sheboygan North and Racine Park. Menomonee Falls, Burlington, and Racine Case has already lost two games and fall out of the rankings all together. DC Everest, Milwaukee South, and Superior have all registered impressive 3-0 starts and make their appearance in my rankings.

1. Germantown
2. Madison Memorial
3. Milwaukee Riverside
4. Milwaukee King
5. De Pere
6. Milwaukee Hamilton
7. Sheboygan North
8. Racine Park
9. Brookfield Central
10. Homestead
11. Oshkosh North
12. D.C. Everest
13. Bay Port
14. Milwaukee South
15. Superior


Division Two
Edgewood has already dropped two games and fall out of the rankings. Waterford lost to a pretty good Burlington team while Pius lost a game and Waterford moved up to seven and Pius dropped to eight. Whitnall and Antigo remain undefeated and move up. New Berline Eisenhower and Beaver Dam remain undefeated and move up to nine and 10. Milwaukee Washington lost two very tough games and hang in at #11 while Lutheran is now 2-4 and fall out of the rankings along with Pewaukee. Kaukana and Pulaski have both started an impressive and come in at 12 and 13. Stoughton registered an impressive victory over Edgewood to move up to 14 and Fort Atkinson is another undefeated team to make it to the rankings.

1. Onalaska
2. Rice Lake
3. Wauwatosa East
4. Waunakee
5. Whitnall
6. Antigo
7. Waterford
8. Milwaukee Pius
9. New Berlin Eisenhower
10. Beaver Dam
11. Milwaukee Washington
12. Kaukana
13. Pulaski
14. Stoughton
15. Fort Atkinson

Division Three
East Troy lost to a very good D1 team in Arrowhead and fall only two spots to #3. St. Cats lost to a D2 team and fall to #7. Praire du Chien, Two Rivers, River Valley, Roncalli, and University schools all are no one near as good as teams in the past and fall out of the rankings. Brillon, Wrightstown, and Valdres have all already beaten each other and come in at 10, 11, and 12. Oostburg, Marshall, and Northwestern are all new teams checking into the rankings.

1. Lacrosse Aquinas
2. GET
3. East Troy
4. Wisconsin Dells
5. Little Chute
6. Lodi
7. Racine St. Catherines
8. Omro
9. Clinton
10. Brillon
11. Wrightstown
12. Valders
13. Oostburg
14. Marshall
15. Northwestern

Division Four
Dominican lost but, it was to the top team in division one so they'll stay my number one team. Oshkosh Lordes lost to Oshkosh North and drop only one spot. Elk Mound lost to a top D5 team in Elmwood and drop to #10. Fall Creek, Blair Taylor, Destiny, and Regis have all struggled early and fell out of the rankings. Wild Rose, Colfax, Thorp, Stanley-Boyd, and Cameron took their place.

1. Dominican
2. Aburndale
3. Cuba City
4. Laconia
5. Oshkosh Lourdes
6. Bonduel
7. Three Lakes
8. Amherst
9. Grantsburg
10. Elk Mound
11. Wild Rose
12. Colfax
13. Thorp
14. Stanley-Boyd
15. Cameron


Division Five
Sheboygan and Racine Lutheran both lost to larger schools and fall only to the third and fourth spot. Clayton lost to Drummond and fall to #14 just behind Drummond and Green Lake falls to #15 after their first loss. GBNEW has only lost to Sheboygan Lutheran and therefore doesn't fall in the rankings. Marion has only lost to a top D4 team so only drop to #12 and as I said earlier Drummond had the big win and move into the rankings.

1. Randolph
2. Benton
3. Sheboygan Lutheran
4. Racine Lutheran
5. Royal
6. Young Coggs Prep
7. Green Bay New Lutheran
8. Prentice
9. Siren
10. Hilbert
11. Suring
12. Marion
13. Drummond
14. Clayton
15. Green Lake


Well that's my updated rankings first my first round. Hopefully I will get to another game Thursday and then possibly will get to another game on Friday. After Christmas my games should start to pick up more and my game posts will increase.

South Central Preview

Along with the Big Eight Conference the South Central Conference is the other conference that I follow fairly closely since it is the conference that my home town is in. As always the conference will go to Wisconsin Dells who I believe has at least shared the conference title every year but, one year. Honestly I don't see any other team challenging them whatsoever. The Dells is head and shoulders above everyone followed by Nekoosa and Mauston who are head and shoulders above the bottom three teams in the conference.

1. Wisconsin Dells - They are the defending conference champs and they bring back everyone from their team that won the conference. The are headlined by 6'4 junior Shane Wimann and 5'11 MJ Delmore who were both first team all conference and 5'9 junior Mike Dickman who was a second teamer.
2. Mauston- They are a one man team behind 6'4 junior Joel Heesch who can do it all from run the point guard to guard anyone on the court.
3. Nekoosa- Don't know much about them at all be they seem to be showing some promise and have 6'4 senior Derek Baker.
4. Adams Friendship- Don't know much about them other then they are Adams Friendship so they shouldn't finish last.
5. Westfield- Would of had them last but, Wautoma only scored 19 points in their first game of the year to that puts them last.
6. Wautoma- See above.

All Conference
1st Team
6'4 junior Wisconsin Dells Shane Wimman
5'11 junior Wisconsin Dells MJ Delmore
6'4 junior Mauston Joel Heesch
6'4 senior Nekoosa Derek Baker
5'10 senior Adams Friendship Nick Becker

2nd Team
5'9 junior Wisconsin Dells Mike Dickman
6'3 senior Wisconsin Dells Trevor Hirst
6'2 senior Wautoma John Eagan
6'3 junior Mauston Hunter Nelson
6'1 senior Westfield Cordell Maas

Predicted Standings
Wisconsin Dells 10-0
Mauston 7-3
Nekoosa 6-4
Adams Friendship 5-5
Westfield 2-8
Wautoma 1-9

Well there are my preseason thoughts on the South Central Conference. Some cheating on this one since the season has already started.

Big Eight Preview

I know I'm alittle late with this preview since most teams have already played two or three games but, this is really the first chance I've had to make the predictions. The Big Eight is one of the conferences that I follow closely. There have already been some big ups and downs with Beloit defeated Sun Prairie who I thought would be one of the top teams in the conference and then Beloit going and losing to Janesville Craig who should be towards the bottom of the conference. The middle of the conference is really going to be up in the air and three through seven could really go anyway. Here are my predictions on the conference.

1. Madison Memorial- The defending state champs are clearly the class of the conference and have at least three scholarship players in 6'5 senior Junior Lomomba, who recently signed his D1 letter, 6'1 junior Brendan Ortiz who should keep the momentum going from his tremendous state championship game, and 6'6 senior Jamar Morris who should have a breakout year now that he will start the year out injury free. 6'4 junior Jester Weah and 6'4 senior Ngijol Songolo also saw lots of minutes starting a year ago.
2. Sun Prairie- 6'6 junior Nick Fuller might be the best player in the conference and should have an extremely impressive year. 6'5 senior Andre Wallace appears to be a solid side kick early in the season.
3. Middleton- Have one of the better coaches in the conference and always seem to play very hard for their coach. I expect a huge year out of 6'5 senior Antoine Buchanon who seemed to have a ton of talent a year ago but, could never get things going.
4. Madison East- Height is always an issue but, they play with alot of heart. 5'8 senior Rudy Bentley should have a big year and teams with 5'10 junior Jermel McLin to form a very solid back court.
5. Verona- Solid coach and a team that always plays well and hard. 6'4 senior Bryan Dalton seems to be poised for a big big year early on.
6. Beloit- Have a ton of talent but, see if they can put it all together. Appears that they will be having an up and down year as they have already beaten Sun Prairie and then lost to Janesville Craig.
7. Madison Lafollette- Don't know much about the Lancers but, they bring back four starters so they could easily make the move higher in the conference.
8. Madison West- Another talented team but, they can never seem to put it all together. Things go there way and they should be able to move up but, usually they seem to be towards the bottom.
9. Janesville Craig- Would of had them tied with Parker here but, already getting a big win against Beloit has me thinking alittle different.
10. Janesville Paker- Don't know much about them but, their Parker so they go here.

Predicted conference records
Madison Memorial 18-0
Sun Prairie 15-3
Middleton 11-7
Madison East 10-8
Verona 10-8
Beloit 9-9
Madison Lafollette 9-9
Madison West 5-13
Janesville Craig 3-15
Janesville Paker 1-17

All Conference Picks
1st Team
6'5 senior Junior Lomomba Madison Memorial
6'1 junior Brendan Ortiz Madison Memorial
6'6 junior Nick Fuller Sun Prairie
5'8 senior Rudy Bentley Madison East
6'4 senior Bryan Dalton Verona

2nd Team
6'5 senior Antoine Buchanon Middleton
6'6 senior Jamar Morris Madison Memorial
5'10 senior Kwame Latimer Madison West
6'0 senior Matt Hunter Madison Lafollette
6'4 sophomore Andre Neal Beloit

HM
5'10 junior Jermel McLin Madison East
6'4 junior Jester Weah Madison Memorial
6'5 senior Andre Wallace Sun Prairie
6'2 senior Brett Pickarts Janesville Craig
6'1 senior Demetrious Durley Madison East

Well there are my picks for the Big Eight conference. I'm sure I will end up being way off by the end of the year but, oh well always fun to see how close I can get.

Randolph cruises past Pardeeville

Any chance I can see Randolph play against a team that is actually somewhat decent team I'll be at the game. Coming into this game I thought Pardeeville would give them somewhat of a game but, evidently I was wrong. Pardeeville was anything but, impressive but, I have to take into consideration that this was Pardeeville's first game of the year.

From the get go Randolph was the aggressor looking to score and they were getting to every loose ball. Pardeeville came out in a zone not sure if it was 1-3-1 or 2-3 but, it seemed to give Randolph some trouble, for whatever reason Pardeeville came out of it early in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter Randolph was up 15 to 3 and never looked back as they got the easy 65 to 33 victory. Randolph road the coat tails of 6'4 junior Jay Peters early on, who was able to hit the mid range shot all night particularly in transition. Peters has really improved over the past year and seems to have grown a few inches as well. Throughout the entire game it was the Randolph defense that really set the tone. 6'8 senior Cody Reuter really led the D from the inside out as he was able to block shot after shot, which caused Pardeeville to be really tentative. I think if Pardeeville would of gone right at Reuter instead of stopping and trying to go over him, they would of got the big man in foul trouble.

In the second half Randolph's defense continued to be strong and that was able to key their fast break. Reuter continued to block shots and 6'4 junior Aaron Retzlaff  grabbed the rebounds and they would outlet it to their point guard 5'10 senior Miles Taylor who would push the tempo and get his teammates open looks. Randolph cleared their bench with only five minutes left in the game and got the easy W, 65 to 33.

Top Players
Jay Peters 6'4 junior- Has a very nice mid range jump shot and moves extremely well for a player with his size. Just looks like a player.
Aaron Retzlaff 6'4 junior- Offensive game seemed to of suffered alittle as he played on the post much more this year. A tremendous rebounder who does all the little things. Along with Peters plays a very nice two man game in the high post.
Eric Schepp 6'1 junior Pardeeville- The one player who wasn't afraid to take the ball at Reuter and challenge the big man.

Box Score
Randolph 65- Peters 16 Retzlaff 12 Hunter Verhulst 10 Miles Taylor 6 Collin Vander Gailen 6 Duke Vander Galien 6 Reuter 5 Dylan Adel 3 Wesley DeYoung 0 Chris DeVries 0
Pardeeville 33- Schepp 9 Cameron Knutson 5 Tyler Bush 4 Mackenzie Manthey 3 Logan Dredske 3 Trace Osborn 3 Kemal Kirchmeier 3 Eric Curtis 2 Nate Schmidt 1 #2 0

Some final thoughts on the game. Pardeeville will probably do fairly well in their conference as the Trailways isn't the toughest conference and they are one of the larger schools in the conference. Randolph will once again be one of the to teams in D5 because they have that great defense and are still one of the taller teams you will fine in D5. They have a very good top seven players but, one thing that shocked me was that they only had 10 players on the team. In the past Randolph has always had at least 15 players. I'm not sure if it's school enrollment that caused the drop in numbers or what but, just something that surprised me. Should be a great year as the season has just started.

Division Five Preseason Rankings

This might be the most interesting year of D5 that there has been with Randolph being a bit down. Randolph is still my pick to win state but, I have as many as six or seven teams with a chance to win state. Should be a fun year in D5 and here are my rankings...

1. Randolph- Defending state champs lost a lot but, have 6'4 junior Aaron Retzlaff and 6'8 senior Cody Reuter back. Also have a promising freshmen in 5'7 Duke Vander Galien.
2. Sheboygan Lutheran- Any time you have a player like 6'7 senior Sam Dekker you know your team can do some damage.
3. Racine Lutheran- Always seem to be right at the top and play a very very tough schedule.
4. Benton- 5'10 senior David Neis is in his fourth year on varsity and may be able to carry this team far.
5. Clayton- State runner ups a year ago bring back alot of talent from last years team.
6. Green Lake- 6'7 senior Matt Van Scyoc is just a step below Dekker.
7. Royal- This team has been to state before and return a handful of players that were on that team including 6'3 junior Sam Murphy.
8. Young Coggs Prep- Seem to have a ton of talent and play a lot of the city schools but, just can't put it all together come playoff time.
9. Green Bay NEW Lutheran- Another small school that benefits greatly from playing larger schools all year long.
10. Seneca- Play great great defense which allows them to play with anyone in the state.
11.Prentice- Looking at the yearbook and they were a top team all last year.
12. Marion- Honestly just following the year book here.
13. Siren- Have three double digit scorers back.
14. Hilbert- Great tradition and has been to state many times before.
15. Suring- Think they have one of the better coaches around and always seem to be good.

Well these are my preseason rankings. I have two games I will be attending the next two days and we will see if I will get the chance to post about the games. Will be seeing Randolph and Madison Memorial in the next two days.

Division Four Preseason Rankings

Ever since the state went to five divisions, division four has been the toughest for me to predict, there are alot of unknowns. Many of the teams in D4 would never of been seen in years past because of the bigger D3 schools they were going against, so many of these teams are unknowns. The only thing I can say for sure and I think everyone can say for sure is that Whitefish Bay Dominican is the #1 ranked team in everyones eyes. I'll admit on this one alot of my rankings come from the yearbook.

1. Dominican- Easily the cream of the crop here as their led by a pair of D1 recruits in a pair of 6'2 guards in senior Jamall Taylor and jr Duane Wilson Jr.. If 6'9 freshmen Diamond Stone lives up to half the hype Dominican should run away with the division.
2. Aburndale- 20 win team a year ago bring back four of their starters including 6'4 junior Austin Hawkins who averaged 15 points a game a year ago.
3. Cuba City- Have one of the best coaches in the state and have 6'5 senior Corey Vassen.
4. Oshkosh Lourdes- Have four starters back from an 18 win team and should be battled tested after going against the larger Oshkosh schools.
5. Laconia- Very strong tradition and they always seem to get to 20 wins.
6. Elk Mound- Return four starters from last years team.
7. Bonduel- Return a pair of double digit scorers in a pair of seniors in 6'6 Nathan Doell and 6'1 Jacob Thorne.
8. Three Lakes- Have 6'8 senior Ross Thorn who averaged a double double a year ago.
9. Fall Creek- Have been very good as of late and have a great coach.
10. Blair Taylor- Have a great coach and they have 6'7 senior Reggie Kujak.
11. Amherst- Don't know anything really but, there always a top ranked team.
12. Grantsburg- State runner ups a year ago always seem to be ranked high and make a strong run at state.
13. Marathon- They were defending state champs. Honestly that's all I have.
14. Destiny- Has been alot of talk about Destiny and I'm not sure if it's just talk or what. 6'4 sophomore transfer Jerrelle Deberry should have a huge year.
15. Eau Claire Regis- Lots of success in the past gives them the nod here.


There are my D4 preseason rankings and there was a lot of guessing and a lot of following the year book.

Waunakee wins big over Baraboo

In my opening game of the season I watched Waunakee take on Baraboo. Waunakee is similar to their teams of years past in that they have tons of talent and go 11 deep in their normal rotation. Waunakee has very good overall height with six players listed at 6'3 or taller in their regular rotation. On the other hand Baraboo only plays two players over 6'3 and don't have alot of talent. Baraboo relys on one played 6'4 senior Sean McGann to do the majority of their scoring. McGann finished the game scoring 30 of Baraboo's 37 points.

Early on in the game it was very obvious that this was an early season game for the fact that both teams could only manage five points each and bunny shots were missed over and over. Baraboo just couldn't get any shots up as it seemed that the only player that could get a shot off was McGann. On the other side Waunakee got lots and lots of easy shots but, just couldn't get them to fall. Their size was just too much for Baraboo as they got offensive rebound after offensive rebound but, just couldn't get the shots to fall.

In the second quarter Waunakee was finally able to get things going applying their full court press and forcing Baraboo to turn the ball over and then their shots started to finally fall. At half Waunakee had extended their lead to 26-13. In the second half Waunakee was able to continue their strong D, as Baraboo's best offense seemed to be when McGann would just take the ball the entire length of the court and score. When Waunakee had the ball they really looked to force the ball to the inside to big man 6'6 senior Joe Tagarelli, who at times was just a bull going to the rim and getting easy buckets. The entire game Waunakee looked to work the ball inside out, which Waunakee has become known for in the last few years. Waunakee was able to knock down the open threes when they were given them. In the end Waunakee was able to cruise to the 55-37 victory.

Top Players
Joe Tagarelli 6'6 senior Waunakee- Very tough on the glass particularly on the offensive end where he really bangs. Also very tough to stop when he gets the ball in the post, sometimes he forces things a bit at times but, he's able to grab his own misses and put them back in. Can get his hand on tons of passes playing on the top of Waunakee's full court press.
Tim Keenan 6'3 senior Waunakee- Don't remember him from last year but, he's a very smooth player with a very nice three point shot and touch around the rim. Just a real nice complement player.
Will Decorah 6'4 junior Waunakee- Very physical player that can do alot of little things. Has a very high release that he can get off at any time and when given the open shot can knock it down. Has a very strong game in the post as well.
Sean McGann 6'4 senior Baraboo- Just a flat out scorer. Has a very nice pull up jumper and can drive to the rim and finish in a variety of ways. Handles the ball well and has a nice outside shot.

Box Score (starters in italics)
Waunakee 55- Tagarelli 17 Keenan 15 Decorah 13 Justin Block 4 Ryan Kruser 4 Ben Cable 3 Jake Heitland 2 Max Chamberlin 1 Alex Cole 0 Patrick O'Connell 0 Dylan DesRochers 0 Austin Ahern 0 Michael Meffert 0 Brett Richgels 0 Brock Carson 0 Dustin Coyle 0 Jakub Bollant-Ulvilden 0
Baraboo 37- McGann 30 Jordan White Eagle 2 Marquez Jackson 2 Andrew Hendricks 2 Ryan Vorndran 1 Joseph Bruni 0 Jesse Klink 0 Jacob Hacker 0 Brock Maxwell 0 Gerrit Bruni 0 Auston Jackson 0 Marquez Jackson 0 Mart Hickey 0

I know this wasn't the longest post but, it's a little late at night so this is the best  I could do. This is going to be a very long year for Baraboo and have to feel for McGann a bit as he's a very good player but, just doesn't have alot around him. Waunakee will more then likely win conference and possibly a regional but, they aren't the state team they were a year ago.

Division Three Preseason

For the last few years division three has been the deepest division year in and year out and this year should be no different. Traditionally a division that is dominated by the privates, the public schools seem to be gaining some grown, even though a year ago two private teams met in the championship game. Here are my preseason rankings

1. Lacrosse Aquinas- State champs a year ago bring back the top player in the division and maybe state in 6'3 junior Bronson Koenig, who could of gone anywhere he wanted in the country for college but, choose Wisconsin as his college. Expect a big year from 6'4 senior Quinn McCartney who can jump out of the gym.
2. East Troy- 22 win team a year ago bring back all five starters and have tremendous size with 6'9 junior twins Brett and Alex Prahl and 6'7 senior Tanner Plomb all starting.
3. GET- Only lost two games last year and return three starters including their top scorer in 6'4 senior Riley Bambenek.
4. Racine St. Catherines- State runner ups a year ago return their top player in UW Green Bay recruit 6'5 senior Jordan Fouse.
5. Brillion- Team that always finds themselves towards the top of the rankings and bring back 5'8 junior Eric Kittel their top scorer last year and 5'10 senior Trevor Krizenesky who started his sophomore year but, missed most of last year with an injury.
6. Wisconsin Dells- Won their conference a year ago and won 20 games and bring back every single player from that team.
7. Little Chute- Were a final four team a year ago and bring back 6'5 junior Turner Botz who is starting to get some D1 looks.
8. Lodi- Won 19 games last year and bring back four starters that all averaged double digits in points a year ago. 6'3 sophomore Jordan Shea will be a star and then 6'5 senior Danny Padley, 5'11 junior Kris Seffrood,  and 6'6 junior Jacob Haag, future is very bright for a team that has struggled for years.
9. Prairie du Chien- Conference champs a year ago bring back sharpshooter 6'0 senior Connor Morovits and 6'3 senior Colin Roach, who should really improve now that he will be a starter.
10. Two Rivers- Should have a strong year behind big time scorer 6'1 junior Brett Linzmeier who averaged 19 points a game last year.
11. Omro- Lost only two games a year ago and have sharpshooter Brandon Tyler back a 6'4 senior who was their leading scorer a year ago.
12. Clinton- Conference champs a year ago and bring back four starters.
13. River Valley- Finished a game behind Prairie du Chien and has a very strong tradition.
14. Roncalli- Lost five starters but, this is Roncalli so you have to rank them here.
15. University School- Don't know a whole lot about them but, the yearbook has them ranked high and their picked to challenge Dominican for a conference title in the Midwest conference so that must mean something.


Well there are my division three rankings. Should be a very exciting year as I should be going to my very first game of the year Tuesday night.

Division Two Preseason Rankings

Well its no longer preseason but, I'll try to get my rankings in as soon as possible and I promise I won't pay attention to any games that have been played. This weekend has a lot of good early season matchups with the holiday tournaments so it will be difficult to not watch those but, I will do my best. I'll admit for this division my rankings have been helped out a lot by the basketball yearbook.  Anyway here are my D2 preseason rankings.....

1. Onalaska- Have a pair of D1 recruits in 6'8 senior Nick Arenz and 6'3 junior Matt Thomas.
2. Madison Edgewood- Austin Arians a 6'5 senior is a D1 college athlete and 6'2 senior Spencer Brink is a four year varsity performer. Also coah Zwittler always seems to get the most out of his players.
3. Rice Lake- In my eyes always seem to underachieve but, they have a ton of talent highlighted by 6'5 senior Wally Ellenson a Minnesota recruit.
4. Milwaukee Pius- Appear to be loaded with talent headlined by a pair of seniors in 6'0 Carrington Love and 6'4 Larr Fitzgerald both of which averaged double digits in scoring a year ago.
5. Milwaukee Washington- Should really benefit from moving down from D1 this year and come out of the always tough City Conference. Lots of athletes and talent here.
6. Wauwatosa East- Always bring a competitive team year in and year out. I expect a huge break out year from 6'1 junior Anthony Carroll.
7. Wisconsin Lutheran- Don't know a whole lot but, at this point you just pencil in Wisco as a top 10 team year in and year out.
8. Waunakee- Really seem to have a great program going as they seem to have huge talented senior classes every year. 6'5 senior Joe Tagarelli should have a very big year.
9. Waterford- Honestly don't know a whole lot but, the yearbook had them high.
10. Whitnall- Another team that I don't know alot about but, the yearbook had them ranked high and they have talented senior 6'2 Stephen Pelkofer who averaged 17 points a game last year.
11. Seymour- Another team with a strong tradition and have some very talented underclassmen coming up.
12. Antigo- Won their conference a year ago and have their top two scorers back in a pair of seniors, 5'9 Andreas Ezer and 6'2 Jake Erickson
13. Pewaukee- Last couple years they just seem to always be at the top of the rankings and have good teams year in and year out.
14. New Berlin Eisenhower- Similar response to Pewaukee.
15. Beaver Dam- Call this one a hunch as I've heard some very good things about this team.

Division two always seems to be one of the most difficult divisions to call and if you remember last year there was a lot of bouncing around in the rankings outside of about the top five to eight teams. Should be another interesting year to see who comes out on top.

Division One Preseason Rankings

I'm finally back with a real post and I just hope that I haven't lost all my followers. Same way every season starts with the preseason rankings. Once again the rankings are based solely on my own thoughts  and really have no meeting whatsoever other then just some fun. I will continue to update my rankings throughout the year purely as my own fun. So without further adu here are my preseason rankings for division one......

1. Germantown- Final eight team a year ago that lost on a buzzer shot. Bring back everyone but, one player and have a ton of height in 6'9 junior Luke Fischer, 6'7 senior Daniel Studer, and a pair of 6'6 sophs in Evan Wesenberg and Jon Averkamp. They are led by Badger recruit 6'2 senior Zak Showalter and fellow three year starter 5'11 senior Josh Mongan.
2. Madison Memorial- The defending state champs bring back three starters in 6'5 senior Junior Lomomba, 6'6 senior Jamar Morris, and 6'1  junior Brendan Ortiz. Throw in 6'4 Ngijol Songolio and 6'4 junior Jester Weah who each started large portions of last year and they have a starting lineup as good as any in the state.
3. Milwaukee Riverside- City conference champs a year ago may have the tallest team in the state with 6'5 senior Jalen Currie, a pair of 6'8 juniors in D'Andre Downey and RaVonn Posey, 6'9 sophomore Robert Harris, and if allowed to be eligible 6'10 senior Phil Nolan. Also bring back their starting back court the Shomari and Bakari Triggs 5'10 seniors.
4. Milwaukee King- King is just penciled in every year to the top ten. They have 6'5 senior Arroyo Edwards but, outside of him they have no one over 6'2 but, they have a great coach and have lots of great guards on the team.
5. Milwaukee Hamilton- Final four team a year ago bring back three starters in 6'7 sophomore Kevin Looney, 6'5 sophomore David Burrell, and 6'6 senior Itavian Belcher. Another Milwaukee school with a great coach.
6. De Pere- State runner ups return a pair of D1 recruits in 6'6 senior Brett Vanden Bergh and 6'3 senior Jordan Poydras as well as some very talented underclassmen.
7. Oshkosh North- Always tough Spartans led by 6'5 senior Izaiah Anderson.
8. Menomonee Falls- Have one of the biggest recruits ever for Wisconsin in North Carolina recruit 6'6 senior JP Tokoto. Also have 6'1 senior CJ Malone back and bring in a jv player thats 7'2 in senior Ryan Bross.
9. Brookfield Central- Honestly only have them here because the yearbook has them listed real high. Have five players taller then 6'4 and bring back their top scorer in 6'4 senior Seth Mortag.
10. Sheboygan North- 19 win team a year ago return their top two scorers in 6'1 senior Devin Yurk and 6'0 junior Ethan Guske.
11. Racine Park- Have loads of talent so hopefully they can put it together now that most of that talent is seniors this year.
12. Homestead- Yearbook seems to think they will have alot of success and have alot of talent in their underclassman.
13. Bay Port- Won 20 games a year ago and have some very strong tradition it seems now and bring back three starters.
14. Burlington- Surprise 20 win team a year ago lost alot of starters but, bring back much of their bench and a very strong jv team.
15. Racine Case- Honestly basing this on the amount of success they had last year.

Well there are my D1 rankings for the preseason. I typed them up pretty quickly but, I have been thinking about these rankings for about the past three months. I feel very confident in my top 10 the rest well its just a crap shoot.

I'm Back!

Well I'm back for another year of high school basketball. I hope that I still have some readers left since it has been about six months since my last post. The first game I will be attending will be in a little over a week. The following week I will be doing my preview rankings of each divisions and coming out with some of my early season thoughts. I will try to do my best to have at least four post a week just as I have in previous years. I do have a girlfriend now that might provide some issues with posting as much as the past or I will be doing my best to get to as many games as possible and will once again have my weekly ranking post once we get into about the second or third week of December.

End of Season

I know I said that I was going to have another post on the basketball season but, I have decided at this point not to have another one on the high school basketball season. It has been a month and has just been too long since my last post for me to make a post that would be worth wild. I may start posting on mens slowpitch softball season if I have the chance but, with the way things have  gone the past few summers I just haven't had a lot of time to post.

Issue Again

Obviously there continues to be the problem with the blog. I'm not sure if the problem is because I copy and pasting from previous post or what so I'm not sure if I will continue with my plans to look back at the remaining predictions or not. The season has been over for awhile and there really isn't a reason to continue posting.

Division One Review

Took a look back at how my predictions for the Big Eight panned out even though it was basically ruined by the blog having some issues but, figured I would take a look back at my preseason picks for each division and how each team finished up. I will put in ( ) what I had each team ranked in the end. 1. Madison Memorial (15)- Had a bit of a rocky season which resulted in their #15 ranking but, in the end they were the tournament champs. 2. Appleton East (1)- Where #1 nearly the entire year and went undefeated all year long until they lost to De Pere in the state semi final. 3. Milwaukee Hamiliton (9)- Lost the majority of their starters throughout the year which really hurt them against the top competition they saw during the season but, still managed to make it to state. 4. Milwaukee King (5)- Had a pretty good year and basically finished where I thought they were to start the year. Missing Bowers throughout the year really hurt them as far as a state title. 5. Sun Prairie (NR)- Had a pretty good season but, didn't really make it to a top tier team like I thought they would. 6. Milwaukee Marquette (NR)- Kind of an up and down year similar to last year but, just couldn't turn it up come playoff time. 7. Depere (4)- Really had a great year. I knew they were a tall team but, didnt realize how athletic they actually were. 8. Milwaukee Washington (NR)- Lost one of the top players during the year and never could really recover after that. 9. Germantown (3)- Had a great great year and lost only two games all year counting the playoffs. 10. Menomonee Falls(NR)- Guess it takes more then one great player to make a team as they struggled to a .500 finish. HM Superior (NR) Similar year to last year. Had a solid regular season despite being hit hard by injuries and then didn't bring it come playoff time when De Pere really dominated them. Waukesha West (NR) Never really lived up to their hype. Had a solid playoff run but, were in a very tough sectional and couldn't come out of it. Marshfield (NR) Started out great going undefeated for the first half of the year and were ranked high and then completely fell apart in the second half of the year. Unranked Milwaukee Riverside (2) Really didn't know much about this team but, they were a very good team winning the city conference and playing Madison Memorial extremely tough in the Super Tuesdyay. Wisconsin Rapids (6) Went undefeated during the regular season and then lost to a team from the Green Bay/ Fox Valley area like usual. Racine Case (7) Had some very good players that I hadn't heard much about including a couple scholarship players. Arrowhead (8) Should of known better then to go against the defending state champs and obviously still had some talent remaining. Bay Port (10) Anothergreat Bay Port team that I really didn't know anything about or heard much about prior to the season or during the season. Beloit (11) Knew they had the talent but, just didn't think they could put it all together to be noticed on the state level. Sheboygan North (12) Didn't know much about them before the season and still don't know much about them but, they had a pretty good record. Burlington (13) Strong senior class carried this team to state ranking even though they got upset in the playoffs. Franklin (14) Another team with a strong senior class that carried them to success. Looking at my state rankings you can see how hard it is for one person to rank an entire state. Particularily in basketball you see a very small number of teams actually play even though in my case I did my best to see as many teams as possible. In the end rankings are all just for fun and people shouldn't look to much into them.

Blog Issues

Apologize for the last post. The blog wouldn't let me space out the post how I wanted so I was unable to edit it the way I would like. I tried multiple times but still couldn't get the enter problem to work. I will try later to get the post to work correctly but, no promises.

Big Eight Review

Wow it has been a long time since I posted. I have have about a handful of posts left that I will do on the basketball season that just ended and may or may not try to keep up with my softball posting but, I'm pretty busy at night during the summer and just don't have the time. Figured I would see how my predictions for the Big Eight season finished off and see how my all conference picks and standings worked out. No real surprises other then the fact that Memorial didn't dominate as much as I thought and the few guys that didn't make all conference were for reasons other then their play whether it be injuries or eligibility. My Predictions Madison Memorial 16-2 Sun Prairie 15-3 Madison East 13-5 Beloit 12-6 Middleton 11-7 Verona 10-8 Madison Lafollette 5-13 Madison West 4-14 Janesville Parker 2-16 Janesville Craig 2-16 Actual Standings Beloit 15-3- Bit of a surprise here with Beloit tying for first in the conference. Didn't realize how many athletes that they returned and had some other scorers outside of Broomfield. Would of been at state under the old format with eight D1 teams making it to Madison. Madison Memorial 15-3- Had a bit of an up and down season and really should of gone undefeated in the conference with the talent that they had. Still won state though and in most people's eyes were the top team in the conference just didn't bring it night in and night out. Sun Prairie 14-4- For the most part had the season that I had predicted. only shocked was that they dropped two games to East but, for the most part beat the teams they should of beaten and split with the top two teams. Madison East 10-8- Didn't finish as good as I predicted but, probably did over achieve in reality. Hillard had an amazing year as expected winning Mr. Basketball but, didn't realize how small this team actually was. Middleton 10-8- Thought they could of been alittle better but, just didn't have an offensive game many nights. Only finished one game worse then what I thought. Verona 10-8- Actually hit this one on the head. This team lost a lot of talent from the previous year but, they have a such a strong program in Verona, you knew they couldn't drop a ton. Janesville Parker 6-12- A bit of a surprise here winning four more games then expected. Parker has been showing gradual improvements and could be a good sign for things to come. Janesville Craig 4-14- Had two more wins may of been because Lafollette and West were worse then I thought. Madison Lafollette 3-15- Didn't think Coach Williams would let them fall this much but, they did. Madison West 3-15- Only slightly worse then what I thought. The top half of teams just didn't dominate as much as I thought. My Predicted All Conference 1st Team All Conference Nimrod Hillard 6'0 senior Madison East- Lived up to the hype and captured the conference player of the year. Junior Lomomba 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Had a great year but, Hillard was just better. Chris Hawkins 6'5 senior Sun Prairie- Feel he was screwed out of first team a bit and was put on the second team. Leketreius Broomfield 6'2 senior Beloit- Missed a good portion of the season including the end of the season which cost him any all conference consideration. Jamar Morris 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Injury cost him nearly the entire season and all conference. 2nd Team All Conference Ian Joyce 6'6 senior Middleton- Earned third team which was probably what he deserved, wasn't the best player on his team. Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Had a huge break out year earning first team. Didn't realize how much he had improved from last year. Jordan Noskowiak 6'3 senior Sun Prairie- Basically played how I expected. An ultimate glue guy that does alittle bit of everything. Tre Burnette 6'4 senior Madison Memorial- Had a slow start but, had a big second half of the year and got the second team. Brendan Ortiz 5'11 sophomore Madison Memorial- Had a so so year and may of had a stronger freshmen year but, really showed up huge on the state level. Actual All Conference Nimrod Hillard IV -Sr , G - Madison East (Player of the Year) Junior Lomomba -Jr, G - Madison Memorial Nick Fuller - So, G/F - Sun Prairie Mike Weston - Sr, G - Beloit Memorial- An under the rader guy but, is a solid player that gets his points and rebounds every game. Creed Knutson - Sr, F - Janesville Parker- Have never seen him player but, put up some big scoring numbers throughout the year. 2nd TEAM Chris Hawkins - Sr, F –Sun Prairie Tre Burnette - Sr, G - Madison Memorial Seth Coyne - Sr, G - Middleton- Wasn't much of a scorer last year but, really put his team on his back at times on the offensive end. Jordan Noskowiak - Sr, G - Sun Prairie Danny Burns - Sr, G – Verona- Knew he was a very strong defensive player last year but, obviously really picked his game up on the offensive end. Those are my final thoughts for the Big Eight season. Within the next week will be looking to look at how my state rankings finished up and then taking a look at some of the top players that I saw this past season.

Early Favorites 2012

With 2011 season coming to an end, time to look ahead to next year. It's never too early to look ahead and makes some picks for next year. This is without a whole lot of research just the first teams that jump to my mind when I think about the top teams from last year. The teams are listed in no particular order just when they come to mind.

Division One
Might be the return of the Milwaukee dominance as three teams from Milwaukee will have a legitimate chance to win a state title. That is off course if the prep school doesn't hit the City hard again.

Milwaukee Hamilton- Lost in the final four this year and bring back four of their five starters that played the entire game at state. Three of those starters were freshmen so Hamilton will be a contender for three years if all the kids stay.

Milwaukee King- Have one of the best coaches in the state in Coach Gosz and return the majority of their team including 6'5 junior Arroyo Edwards and possibly the return of 6'6 junior Cimmeon Bowers who is no longer on the roster. Had only three seniors on an extremely deep team that lost only three games this year.

Milwaukee Riverside- Only lost to one team in Wisconsin and a total of three teams overall, while winning the City Conference. Graduate their best player but, return everyone else that was on the team as he was the only senior on the team.

Madison Memorial- State champs bring back three starters including Mr. Clutch 6'1 sophomore Brendan Ortiz, their best player during the regular season, 6'5 junior Junior Lomomba, and big man 6'6 junior Jamar Morris who missed the majority of this past season. They have two capable starters in two 6'4 players off the bench sophomore Jester Weah and junior Ngijol Songolo who started much of this year anyway and have a very strong sophomore class as a whole.

Germantown- Lost only two games all year and had only two seniors that actually played significant minutes. Had plenty of sophomores and even freshmen are varsity that will be a year older. 6'2 junior Zak Showalter should once again have a huge year.

Menomonee Falls- Have one of the best players in the country and the best player in the state in 6'7 junior JP Tokoto. If he transfers to prep school will struggle to be a .500 team.

De Pere- State runner ups bring back 6'6 junior Brett Vanden Bergh who will be a 20 a game scorer and a handful of sophomores and will once again be tough in the Northeast sectional.

Oshkosh North- Return about half their team and should be very long and athletic.

Division Two
Just like every year in D2, we should see a completely different set of teams at state as all the teams were very senior dominated.

Madison Edgewood- Juniors 6'6 Austin Arians and 6'2 Spencer Brink will be back for their third year starting and return fellow starter 6'4 junior Jack Zwittler as well as the majority of their bench.

Onalaska- Will easily be the favorite in D2 as they return a pair of D1 college recruits in 6'8 junior Nick Arenz and 6'1 sophomore Matt Thomas.

Wauwatosa East- Lose only three players from this years team and bring back their top scorers in 6'6 junior Darrell Bowie and 6'1 sophomore Anthony Carroll.

Rice Lake- Will have an extremely strong senior class highlighted by 6'5 Wally Ellenson and 6'2 Alex Cuskey. Only had two seniors this past year.

Division Three
D3 will once again be the deepest division and you can nearly take this years top 10 and pencil them in for top 10 next year.

Lacrosse Aquinas- State champs bring back super sophs 6'2 Bronson Koenig and 6'6 Mike Conway.

GET- Lost only one game this year and only had two seniors. Bring back their star 6'3 junior Riley Bambeck.

East Troy- Bring back most of their scoring and size with a front line of 6'7 junior Tanner Plumb and 6'8 sophomores Brett and Alex Pahl. 6'3 sophomore Nate Dodge should really improve next year as well and he was great this year.

Brillion- Will be lead be lead by their backcourt in 5'8 sophomore Eric Kittel and 5'9 junior Tevor Krizenskey. Have experience success as of recent and it should continue.

Whitefish Bay Dominican- Will have one of the best back courts in the state with 6'1 junior Jamall Taylor and 6'1 sophomore Duane Wilson.

Racine St. Catherines- State runner ups bring back their top player in 6'5 junior Jordan Fouse and they are St. Cats.

Lodi- Showed some strong success behind an incredibly strong sophomore and freshmen class.

Wisconsin Dells- Won their conference this past year and didn't have a senior on the roster.

Division Four
Honestly don't know much here and no one really stands out too much.

Cuba City- One of the best coached teams in the state and lose only three seniors from this years team.

Colfax- Only other team that sticks out to me and they return most of their team and seem to have a lot of youth.

Division Five
Another one I really don't know other then just saying Randolph and your basically right every year.

Randolph- Have a pair of possible stars next year in 6'7 junior Cody Reuter and 6'3 sophomore Aaron Retzlaff. Not to mention they are Randolph.

Sheboygan Area Lutheran- 6'7 junior Sam Dekker is the best player in this division and could possibly carry his team to the title.

These are my early picks for top teams next year. I will try to possibly rank the teams I have seen this year, not sure if I will or not because you can basically see where everyone finished and one was the real #1 and so on. I will try to rank the players I have seen but, it has been so long since I last ranked them it will be difficult to do. One thing I will be doing is looking at my predictions from the beginning of the season to now and see how close I was.

State All Tournament Team

I know it has been a few days since the state tournament has ended but here is my all tournament team. I decided to go with 10 players in no particular order. The players I'm choosing either had to have one extremely impressive game or two pretty good games.

Brendan Ortiz 6'1 sophomore Madison Memorial- Honestly didn't have the greatest state tournament but, his clutch play in the three overtime state championship game gives him the nod.

Cody Hanke 6'3 senior Marathon- Just an impressive player in both of their two games. May of been MVP of the tournament had Ortiz not had his heroics. Has got to be closer to 6'5 or 6'6. Love the way he plays at the top of the 1-3-1 defense which allowed him two get three big dunks and just extremely solid in the post where he's impossible to stop.

Reece Zoelle 6'4 senior De Pere- Moves extremely well without the ball in his hands, comes off the screens looking to shoot immediately. Isn't afraid to take the big shot and usually makes it.

Ron Patten Jr 6'6 senior Whitefish Bay- Early on I thought he was taking some bad shots from three point range but, then he started dropping them. High energy player that loves to play on the perimeter but, is pretty solid in the post as well.

Brent Myers 6'0 senior Grantsburg- Was the sole reason that Grantsburg made the huge comeback win against Blair Taylor. Just kept knocking down the threes with his pretty shot and then in the game against Marathon guarded the much bigger Hanke.

TJ Huzienga 6'4 senior Randolph- Very very tough in transition with the ball in his hands. Grabs the rebound or loose ball and gets to the other end of the court as quick as any one in the state. Didn't have a great championship game but, took it upon himself to take Tyler Ketz out of his game and still had enough left in the tank to have a big finish scoring late in the game.

Tyler Ketz 6'0 senior Clayton- Love how he lets the game come to him and doesn't force things. Kind of just sits back and then makes a strong cut and comes off the screen ready to shoot immediately. Had one of the best mid range jumpers at state.

Paul Jesperson 6'7 senior Merrill- I knew he was a shooter coming in but, I didn't realize how well he handled the ball, particularly for a kid that is 6'7. Had the size to get his shot off at anytime he wants.

Bronson Koenig 6'2 sophomore Lacrosse Aquinas- Shows flashes of the player that North Carolina thinks he will be. Handles the ball extremely well and really zips the passes into his teammates in the post. Can really get his shot anytime he wants and just seems he settles for the assist many times. Can be too fancy at times causing turnovers or settling for difficult shots, which he will make half the time.

Brett Vanden Bergh 6'6 junior De Pere- A good shooter that can handle the ball as well. Didn't really stick out a lot but, at the end of every game he had some of the best stat lines in the game. Has another year to go and will only get better.

There is my all tournament team and there were probably about 15 to 20 more players that could easily be mentioned as there were some great games at state and the stars really showed up. One last note is that you have to feel some what sorry for Blair Taylor's Hank Kujak and Lucas Howe who have been to state three years straight and didn't get a gold ball let alone a silver ball and this year really was suppose to be their chance after going undefeated throughout the year but, they just couldn't hold on in the semi final against Grantsburg.

State Tournament

I'm assuming most people already know how state turned out by this time so I won't waste your time by going over what happened at state and just focusing on some final thoughts for each of the divisions.

Division Five
For the most part this division played out how I predicted. Randolph played their usual great team basketball and got the job done without much of a challenge. I was hoping to see Green Bay NEW Lutheran really push Randolph but, they just didn't come to play early in the game. NEW Lutheran had a great second half and made the game close late. It would of been nice to see GBNL play a solid game from start to finish and play to their potential. The other game wasn't too exciting. Clayton had the edge throughout and Wauzeka-Steuben just seemed to hang around and never gave up and at times looked like they were going to come back but, never could get over the hump. In the championship game Randolph's leader TJ Huzienga didn't have a great game but, still played his typical solid defense game guarding Clayton's best player Tyler Kertz, who hit some shots but, just wasn't his normal self. Randolph cruised to the win number nine for them.

Division Four
This was a surprising division as the two undefeated teams lost in the semis and Marathon was extremely impressive in defeating Grantsburg and Cody Hanke was about the most impressive player on the weekend. Marathon's 1-3-1 zone defense was just too tough for Oostburg and they cruised to the big win. In the other semi final Blair Taylor really chocked away a game they should of win. BT was up by double digits late in the game and then Grantsburg put on the full court pressure and Blair Taylor fell apart. Hank Kujak had the chance to seal the game late but, couldn't get the free throws to foul and in OT it was all Grantsburg. Big credit to Trevor Thompson and Brent Meyers who carried Granstburg. In the championship Thompson and Meyers were just as impressive but, they just didn't have the size to match up with Hanke and company. Marathon got the title and they are the second team at state to credit their 1-3-1 defense to former Adams Friendship Coach Klass, the first being Wisconsin Rapids Assumption a few years ago. It truly is amazing to see how much some coaches affect the game.

Division Three
The all private school division plus Little Chute also played out as expected. Lakeside Lutheran came out looking to run and that played right into the hands of Lacrosse Aquinas who seemed to be able to run just as good if not better then Lakeside and ran them right out of the gym. Evan Pederson was the real star, as he was able to drive past the defenders and set up the big men with two foot layups all game long. In game two Racine St Cats won by outlasting Little Chute. St. Cats wasn't overly impressive but, just kept playing their game and worn down Little Chute and got the win. In the championship St. Cats did their best to hang with Lacrosse Aquinas but, Aquinas just had too much talent for them.

Division Two
Another shocker in this division. Waunakee and Seymour came into state as the overwhelming favorites and both teams lost. Waunakee is a team that I had followed for most of the year and was really pulling for them unfortunately they just couldn't hold on to the win and unfortunately their leading scoring Beau Murray didn't play very well and really struggled to find his shot. Despite Murray's struggles though Waunakee led most of the game but, just couldn't put Merrill and Paul Jesperson away. A very tough break for Waunakee was Jesperson on a break away and was fouled by Ryan Staege. Jesperson made the shot and Staege got called for the intential. Jesperson ended up making the foul shots and Merrill got the ball back to seal the game. In the other game Seymour and Whitefish Bay was a game of runs that just went back and forth all game long. Whitefish Bay weathered Seymour's hot three point shooting in the first half and got a huge play from Jamie Schneck who barely played in the game but, had the game winning tip in at the buzzer to win. In the championship game Jesperson played his heart out but, in the end it was Whitefish Bay's Ron Patten who stole the show and basically out played everyone on the floor and carried his team to the victory and state title.

Division One
Game one Madison Memorial outlasted Milwaukee Hamilton in a fairly ugly game that wasn't real exciting. Everyone had to be impressed with the three freshmen that played the entire game, their long and athletic and can do alittle bit of everything will be a fairly interesting team to follow in the next three years. In game two everyone thought it would be Appleton East but, De Pere came out extremely impressive and they matched eachother shot for shot all game long. I loved watching Reece Zoelle move without the ball and getting open and hit big shot after big shot. I'm not sure if I have to say much more about the championship game. It was probably the greatest Wisconsin State championship game ever. The game went to three overtimes and four seperate occasions Brendan Ortiz was the hero and was without a questions the MVP of the state tournament games. Madison Memorial has really cemented itself as a dynasty within the state and can nearly be penciled in at state every year. This team was up and down and wasn't as strong as some of the previous teams but, they pulled off the huge win that some of those previous teams didn't.

I a bit of a time crunch right now so I'll be doing my all tournament team tomorrow.

State Predictions

With the final four teams finally set now for all of the five divisions here are my predictions for state.

Division One
Madison Memorial over Milwaukee Hamilton
I think that Hamilton's inexperience and lack of depth will get to them and Memorial will break this game open late. Memorial seems to be on a tare at the right time.

Appleton East over De Pere
This was a very tough pick for me but, East is undefeated and have five guys that basically average double digits scoring. De Pere has a ton of height but, I think East's three point shooting will negate that and East was at the Kohl Center a year ago.

Appleton East over Madison Memorial
East has been my pick before the playoffs started and I will stick with them. East has the experience to handle the Memorial pressure and rebound just as good as they do.

Division Two
Waunakee over Merrill
Waunakee just seems destined to play in the championship game this year. Merrill has Jesperson but, just don't think they have enough to beat Waunakee. Yes Merrill has played a lot of D1 schools but, Waunakee is no stranger to playing D1s so no advantage there. Jesperson may have a big scoring night but, sticking with Waunakee.

Seymour over Whitefish Bay
Don't know much about Whitefish Bay but, Seymour only losses to top ranked teams with the exception of a lose to Appleton West who has played with some very good teams.

Seymour over Waunakee
Seymour has two players that average nearly 20 points a game that I think will carry them to the title. Waunakee goes into some scoring droughts at times and I think that will hurt them here. If Austin Maly has a real good game though I could be proved wrong. Along with the D1 title game this one seems very difficult for me to pick.

Division Three
Lacrosse Aquinas over Lakeside Lutheran
I have seen each team play once and really don't think this game will be that close. If Lakeside is hitting their threes they may stay close but. Aquinas is just too quick and athletic here. Looking forward to the matchup of Pederson and Jarnigo in this one.

Racine St. Catherines over Little Chute
Know nothing about Little Chute but, St. Cats is St. Cats so go with them and their coach. They are battle tested and as everyone knows they have been there before.

Lacrosse Aquinas over Racine St. Catherines
Aquinas has the biggest star and have more athletes then St. Cats and should cruise to the victory. Guessing St. Cats will look to slow the tempo, while Aquinas will push it.

Division Four
Blair Taylor over Grantsburg
BT has the better record and is just the better team, not much else to be said.

Oostburg over Marathon
Oostburg has played better competition and will be prepared for this game.

Blair Taylor over Oostburg
Third time is the charm for BT. Most of these players have been here twice before and won't let the excitement or the moment get to them.

Division Five
Clayton over Wauzeka-Steuben
Going with this pick because Clayton was here a year ago and have the experience edge.

Randolph over Green Bay NEW Lutheran
Lutheran will push Randolph to the limit but, in the end Randolph has been the more consistent team and won't get nervous when the pressure is on. This game may be within five points.

Randolph over Clayton
Think the championship will actually be decided in the semi final game and Randolph should win this one easily.

Super Tuesday
Just some quick thoughts on the Super Tuesday for D1. If there are not going to be eight D1 teams at state then this is the best alternative. The teams got to play at college facilities and the games were broadcast on the Internet and you could actually watch all four games at the same time. It may of been a better experience if my computer or Internet connection were better and it was constantly buffering but, sounded like most people had no problem viewing the games. There were some glitches with some clock, which will only add fuel to the fire of the debate that these games should of been at the Kohl Center. Yes I would of liked to have seen these games at state but, like I said if that isn't a possibility this was a good setup and will be in favor of it instead of going to a normal sectional final and then state with the final four teams. Now if they go back to eight D1s at state I will be all in favor of it.

With the long weekend of basketball coming up I probably won't be back until next week, maybe Sunday but, probably not tell Monday or Tuesday.

Sectional Weekend

I'm alittle late on the posting of these games so I will just do a quick recap on the three games that I saw this weekend one on Thursday and two on Saturday. Had some great games with lots of excitement, building up to the state tournament the end of this week.

Sun Prairie 72 Madison East 66
Thursday night was the match up of Sun Prairie and Madison East playing in the sectional semi final. This was a great game as both teams seemed to be playing their best basketball late in the season. Sun Prairie would score and then East would come down in score. Senior 6'0 Nimrod Hillard was impossible to stay in front of as he got to the hoop with ease and found open teammates who were hitting the threes in this game, particularly sophomore 6'0 Jermel Mclin who came up with 19 points the majority of them coming from behind the arc. Sun Prairie's top scorers 6'5 sophomore Nick Fuller and 6'5 senior Chris Hawkins had huge games controlling the inside on both ends. Fuller and Hawkins really used their height to their advantage against the much smaller East team and once again the difference was height like it has been all year for East. Both Fuller and Hawkins had highlight dunks in the second half as Sun Prairie simply went to four corners and let Fuller and Hawkins go one on one and beat their defender and threw down some monster dunks. Hillard did have a pretty good scoring night scoring most of his points late in the game. The real difference is this game was the defensive ability of 6'0 senior Jaron Schaffner on Hillard. Schaffner was quick enough to stay with Hillard and deny him the ball and East simply threw the ball away at least three times in the second half and he really seemed to frustrate Hillard.

Top Players
Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Hit the three in the game, battled well on the inside, and scored in transition.
Chris Hawkins 6'5 senior Sun Prairie- Was the usual beast self on the inside where he completely dominated and had a couple of impressive dunks.
Nimrod Hillard 6'0 senior Madison East- Impossible to stay in front of and was able to score or find open teammates.
Jermel McLin 6'0 sophomore Madison East- Was money from the outside where he just didn't seem to miss.

Top Scorers
SP- Hawkins 19 Fuller 18 Schaffner 11
East- Hillard 25 McLin 19 Rudy Bently 9

Lakeside Lutheran 56 Prairie du Chien 42
Saturday afternoon took in Lakeside Lutheran and Prairie du Chien in a battle to go to state. This game was over early as Lakeside jumped out to a 24-5 first quarter lead and never really looked back. Lakeside took a ton of three point shots and made a ton of three point shots and PDC always seemed to leave a guy wide open out there. Prairie never could get good looks at the hoop and took contested shots and three pointers three point behind the line. 6'0 junior Connor Morovits seemed to have a very sweet shot for Prairie but had a lower release that forced him to have to really be open to take his shot. Morovits did get a couple of open shots but, Lakeside did a nice job of following him off the screens and not letting him go open and then he got into foul trouble and he was limited for most of the second half. In the second half Prairie was able to claw back into the game behind their zone defense and Lakeside seemed to go cold from the outside. Offensively Prairie finally got things going behind 6'3 junior Colin Roach he was able to drive to the left all game long and score at will. 6'4 senior Tanner Roach is the star but, it was the younger Roach that carried the team in this game.

Top Players
Jake Jarnigo 5'10 senior Lakeside- Didn't have a great game shooting but, really ran the offense well and I don't think their was a defender that could stay in front of him. Super quick player.
Sam Kuehl 6'4 senior Lakeside- Was the hottest shooter for Lakeside from the outside as he connected on three first half threes.
Colin Roach 6'3 junior PDC- Impossible to start going to his left which he went to all game long.

Top Scorers
Lakeside- Jarnigo 18 Kuehl 13
PDC- C. Roach 12 T. Roach 9 Morovitis 8

Madison Memorial 67 Sun Prairie 64
Early on it seemed that Sun Prairie had the edge and was thinking they were going to win this one but, then a pair of injuries to Fuller and Schaffner hit them and the momentum starter to swing back to Memorial's way. Memorial starter to turn up their classic pressure defense and forced Sun Prairie to turn the ball over numerous times resulting to some easy baskets. On their final possession of the first half Memorial got a three from 5'10 junior Thomas Parkman who only played that one possession the entire game that was like a dagger to Sun Praire giving Memorial the four point halftime lead. Second half Memorial continued their in your face defense and really looked like the Memorial of a year ago and got some easy buckets and dunks that really got the crowd going. Memorial just seemed to be a step quicker then Sun Prairie all game long and seemed to want the game a bit more. Time and time again Memorial plays were on the ground diving for a loose ball and seemed to get at least two shots at the hoop each time if not three or four shots at times. There was always four Memorial players going for the offensive rebounds and more then not they were gonna get that rebound. In the end it was Sun Prairie fouling and two players for Memorial came up huge in 6'1 sophomore Brendan Ortiz and 6'5 senior Miles Chamberlain. Ortiz was 9 for 10 from the line and had all the confidence in the world at the line and really seemed to want the ball in his hand to get fouled. I'm guessing Chamberlain was 12-15 from the line. As a whole Memorial really struggled but, in those final three minutes they were as good as anyone from the line.

Top Players
Junior Lomomba 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Just an overall solid game. Did most of his scoring in the first half but, really carried Memorial when Sun Prairie was at their best.
Jamar Morris 6'6 junior Madison Memorial- Yes Hawkins had a big game but, Morris did a nice job battling Hawkins and Hawkins did most of his scoring when Morris was out of the game. Might be the key to the team as he rebounds very well and controls the inside. Gives Memorial seven very good players in their rotation.
Miles Chamberlain 6'5 senior Madison Memorial- Really made his presence felt at the free throw line but, did a good job of moving the ball on the perimeter and finding open teammates.
Chris Hawkins 6'5 senior Sun Prairie- Really showed he wanted this game as he did it all. Shot the three, looked to score on the inside, and did his best to control the inside but, Memorial just had more overall size.
Jaron Schaffner 6'0 senior Sun Prairie- Carried Sun Prairie at times with his deadly three point shooting. Also did a nice job of running the point.
Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Didn't have the greatest game but, stepped up late and scored at will in the fourth quarter. Maybe forced things alittle too much at times but, the future is super bright for Fuller no doubt.

Top Scorers
Memorial- Lomomba 16 Chamberlain 16 Jamar Morris 11
SP- Hawkins 25 Schaffner 17 Fuller 16

It will be interesting to see Madison East next year without Hillard, they return alot but, losing Hillard is a huge huge lose. Bently should have a very big year. Prairie du Chien appears to have a strong program going now and will have their shot at making it to the same distance a year from now in the playoffs. Sun Prairie had their team of the decade possibly and just couldn't get past Memorial, Fuller will be back so the next two years they will be a factor in the conference race. Lakeside Lutheran shot a ton of threes and made them but, honestly I don't see them staying within 20 points of Lacrosse Aquinas unless their shooting out of their minds at state and then I'm still not so sure. Madison Memorial really is peaking at the right time and honestly I'm picking them to beat Milwaukee Riverside and head to state.

Regional Final Weekend

Ended up attending two region finals on Saturday after getting a flat tire Friday night and not being able to attend any games. I got over to Sun Prairie to watch them play Watertown and then drove over to Verona to watch Deforest and Monroe play.

The first game was technically called a D1 regional final but, it was the first game for both of these teams so it could hardly be called a regional final. I didn't stay tell the very end of the game so not sure if Sun Praire received a plaque for their win but, personally I wouldn't feel that I truly earned it being that they only got the one playoff win while other divisions won as many as three games to claim their regional title.

Early on Watertown hung with Sun Prairie matching them basket for basket as Sun Prairie had a 15-14 point lead at one quarter. Watertown did a nice job of not turning the ball over early and really looking to their big man 6'9 senior Joe Sokovich who really showed a nice touch around the rim and had a nice hook shot working for him, he does need to add some size and strength though, as the game wore on Sun Prairie was able to lean on him and push on him all game long and really seemed to be worn down late in the game. Part of his fatigue may of been because he played nearly the entire game and rarely sat. Early on Sun Prairie was ice cold from the outside as Watertown gave them open three time and again but, in the second half Sun Prairie was able to push the tempo and force Watertown into turnovers and when Watertown didn't turn the ball over Sun Prairie was able to push the ball off the rebound and get easy baskets. In the end Sun Praire wound up blowing Watertown out 66-38.

Top Players
Chris Hawkins 6'5 senior Sun Prairie- Really showcased his overall game. Hawkins was able to step out and hit the outside jumper and showed some ability to penetrate to the rim.
Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Couldn't get the outside shot going but, did a nice job of battling inside and getting out in transition. Had a couple of very nice passes.
Joe Sokovich 6'9 senior Watertown- Said it early just showed a real nice touch around the rim. Thinking he is a scholarship player maybe not D1 but, probably a D2.

Top Scorers
Hawkins 20 Fuller 15
Sokovich 14

Game two headed over to Verona to watch the D2 regional final between Monroe and Deforest.
I hadn't seen Deforest play this year but, they just had defeated Edgewood so they were obviously playing some good basketball. Early one neither team could but a basket as it seemed shot after shot would bounce off the rim. At the end of the first quarter the score was only 4 to 3 with Deforest up. For Deforest 6'1 senior Kenny Derlein finally got things going as he scored all eight of his points in the second quarter to get Deforest the 16-12 halftime lead. In the first half Monroe's two star seniors 6'0 Bryan Tordoff and 6'2 Michael Barrett were nearly non existent. In the second half that changed as Tordoff came out really looking to score. Tordoff took some bad shots but, about half way through the third he really got things going. Monroe continued to give Deforest spot up three pointers and they knocked them down but, Tordoff was always there to answer. Everyone in the gym knew Tordoff was looking to shoot and he was still able to get his shot off. With the game very close in the fourth Barrett finally came alive driving to the hoop. Late in the game it was either Barrett or Tordoff taking every shot while Deforest marched to the free throw line the final three minutes or so. Every time I thought Deforest would but the game away there was Monroe bringing it close. In the end Monroe was down by two and Barrett drove baseline for the last second shot that rimmed in and out and Deforst got the two point win.

Top Players
Bryan Tordoff 6'0 senior Monroe- You can see some times he just says screw it when the offense isn't working and just jacks up the three and when he gets hot he's nearly impossible to stop coming off the screen and when he shoots it the shot is going in.
Michael Barrett 6'3 senior Monroe- Had a tough game but, was able to get to the hoop with ease late in the game and score.
Eric Steward 6'0 senior Deforest- Really think he could of scored more but, was content just running the offense. Was easily the quickest player on the court and that's with a monstrous knee brace on his one leg.
Kyle Renz 6'3 senior Deforest- Was very tough in the post scoring as he got a couple and one baskets. Really made his mark being the clutch free throw shooter late in the game.

Top Scores
M- Tordoff 22 Barrett 13
D- Renz 18 Steward 9 Derlein 8

Was a fun weekend and should be another good one coming up. Hoping to catch the Sun Prairie sectional games as well as the D3 sectional in Middleton on Saturday. I think Waunakee should be able to handle Deforest just like they did in the regular season but, right now Deforest is running on emotion and they are a hot team right now. Sun Praire should defeat Madison East, setting up an epic match up with Madison Memorial for a third time this season.