Baraboo over Madison East

Once again Madison East's height hurt them again, which I'm sure it does every single game. Baraboo isn't the biggest team but, their two best players are 6'4 and 6'7 which really caused problems for East. In most peoples eyes this game was probably an upset by knowing how short East is Baraboo was my favorite going in. The other big factor outside of the height was that East's star player 6'0 senior Nimrod Hillard had the worst game I have ever seen him play. Hillard couldn't get the pull up three to fall and his floaters in the lane weren't falling.

Early in the game Baraboo really took advantage of their height going to the 6'4 junior Sean McGann in the post against the much smaller Hillard. McGann was able to score with his back to the basket all night long. When the junior wasn't scoring he was able to kick the ball out to open teammates who would hit the three. On the other side 5'9 junior Rudy Bentley was able to get to the hoop and score or find his open teammates. Bentley really picked up his game with his back court mate Hillard struggling. Bentley did a great job of getting into the big man, 6'7 senior Mark Kowalk, chest and scoring around him and not letting him block the shot. After one quarter Baraboo was up 19-14. In the second quarter Baraboo continued to get easy baskets and East finally got alittle something going driving to the hoop with Hillard, Bentley, or another guy, drawing Kowalke on the help and finding an open teammate for the wide open teammate. The guy that benefitted the most from the driving guards was 6'1 junior Stephen Williams Jr, who got wide open layup after wide open layup. Though it felt like East cut the lead Baraboo actually extended it to a 35-27 lead.

In the second half Hillard's struggles continued and the frustration really started to show in his facial expressions and his play. Hillard really started to force some shots and committed some bad fouls. Hillard still got a handful of assists driving and finding a wide open Williams under the hoop. The good news for Baraboo was that Kowalke finally got hot from the outside and started draining three pointers from the outside that kept Baraboo was the nice cushion throughout the second half. After three quarters Baraboo was up 53-43. In the fourth East was able to press Baraboo into turnovers and cut the lead to four at one point but, in the end Baraboo's strong free throw shooting and East's inability to hit the three led to a 67-60 win for Baraboo.

Top Players
Mark Kowalke 6'7 senior Baraboo- Was able to post up and score in the post early in the game and then was money from the outside in the second half.
Sean McGann 6'4 junior Baraboo- Could do whatever he wanted in the post, either score or get the assists.
Rudy Bentley 5'9 junior East- Stated it already. Was able to drive and get into the body of Kowalke which allowed him to score against the bigger defender.
Stephen Williams 6'1 junior East- Once again battled very well against much taller opponents and benefitted from his teammates getting him open.

Baraboo 67- Kowalke 22 McGann 18 Josh Statz 8 Tyler Fish 6 Jesse Kling 4 Jed Traxler 4 Caleb Leonhardt 3 Erik Anderson 2 Joe Becraft 0 Zach Trower 0 Mike Weinke 0
East 60- Williams Jr 16 Bentley 12 Jermel McLin 10 Hillard 9 Tyron Galvin 5 Speedy Amara 3 Emani Brathwaite 3 Darius Kelly 2 Alex Redd 0

Like I had mentioned the last time I saw Madison East play, they will beat the ok teams with their talent but, the better teams will beat them simply because of their height. Baraboo has struggled as of late but, hopefully this game will help them turn the corner and get back to their winning ways.