Midwest Players Classic

Saturday got to take in one of the best tournaments for high school basketball in Wisconsin, in the Midwest Players Classic in Lacrosse. This was a great tournament featuring seven teams from Wisconsin, four from Minnesota, and a top team from Iowa. The tournament was held at the Lacrosse Center which really is a great venue for this type of tournament. It is very similar to the Alliant Energy Center but, may be slightly smaller. I'm not sure why they don't play sectional games here but, this would be a great location as would the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. I worked Saturday morning so missed the first two games and then arrived midway through the first quarter on the Lacrosse Aquinas verse Minneapolis South.

Lacrosse Aquinas 62 Minneapolis South 55
Aquinas was in the lead throughout this entire game and was never really threatened by South throughout. Aquinas had the height advantage and had the advantage of playing with the lead which allowed them to take their time running their offense which gave them good possessions every time down the court. South kept getting down double digits and would claw their way back into the game only to see Aquinas pull back away. South's offense was reallying just let their top players go one on one and create their own shot. Bronson Koenig was the guy I was really excited to see and though he didn't have a great but, still was fairly impressive as he really showed a very nice pull up shot off the dribble and was able to get into the middle of the South defense at will.

Top Players
Bronson Koenig 6'2 sophomore Aquinas- Pretty much stated his game already. No doubt is a D1 athlete.
Quinn McCaartney 6'4 junior Aquinas- Just a hustle player that does all the little things. Rebounded well and had a pair of nice dunks.
Carnell Sheppard 5'10 junior South- Could score at will it seemed either driving to the hoop or shooting the outside shot. Showed unlimited range.
Mahari Wilson 5'10 junior South- Did a nice job of shadowing Koenig all game long and was also able to drive to the hoop.

Didn't keep score in this one as I arrived late.

Milwaukee King 67 St. Paul Johnson 52
Was excited to see this game as St. Paul Johnson recently defeated Milwaukee Hamiliton so I believed this was going to be a good game. The game was a very fast pace as expected but, was very sloppy throughout the early going. Game went back and forth throughout the first half. Then in the second half King got things under control and limited their turnovers and finally started dropping their three point shots while Johnson continued to turn the ball over and never really ran much of an offense. This game really dragged on as Johnson fouled throughout the final four minutes of the game.

Top Players
Dominique Borom 5'10 junior King- Was the one King player that was hitting the three all game long.
Arroyo Edwards 6'5 junior King- Was the calming force for King coming out top and controlling the ball in the guard spot. Was able to get the ball at about the free throw line and drive to the hoop and score. Hit his free throw shots at the end too.
Austin Malone-Mitchell 5'11 sophomore King- Did most of his scoring from the free throw line but, also did a nice job of running the point against Johnson's full court press.
Roosevelt Scott 6'3 senior Johnson- Really loved how he'd grab the rebound and turn and push the ball right up the court. Went end to end a couple times which led to buckets for him.
Marcus Marshall 6'2 junior Johnson- Leading scorer and was able to hit the three and drive to the hoop and get fouled and score.
Estan Tyler 6'0 senior Johnson- Made some very nice passes throughout the game and hit some big threes late in the game to pull Johnson close.

Top Scorers
King- Edwards 18 Malone-Mitchell 17 Borom 13
Johnson- Marshall 18 Tyler 11 Scott 10 Anthony Lee 10

Linn-Marr 74 Madison Memorial 64
Prime matchup of the tournament, with both teams traditions and Linn-Marr currently ranked #1 in Iowa. My brother had seen Linn-Marr play in the past when former Badger Jason Bohannon was playing for them and he told me don't underestimate them even if they don't look good in warm ups because they will be good. He was right, watching warm ups I thought this would be Memorial's game but, I was wrong. Memorial tried to pressure Linn-Marr all game but, it didn't faze them and only led to wide open threes for them which they seemed to hit every time. Memorial probably one the rebounding battle but, they missed a ton of bunnies while Linn-Marr seemed to never miss particularly in the first half. Linn-Marr was led by a pair of D1 recruits point guard Marcus Paige who is apparently a top 50 player in the country for his class and big man Josh Montague who had 19 points in the first half and was money from three point range. Junior Lomomba wasn't his normal self and just couldn't get things going and Paige had his way with Brendan Ortiz much of the game.

Top Players
Tre Burnette 6'5 senior Memorial- Seems to be excepting that scoring load as he can go inside and outside and score. Looking pretty good in the post on the offensive end.
Junior Lomomba 6'5 junior Memorial- Showed flashes of his normal self when he was able to get the ball at the free throw line and score.
Miles Chamberlain 6'5 senior Memorial- Finally looking like the player I have seen in his AAU highlights. Did a nice job of setting up the offense and finding open teammates in good positions to score.
Marcus Paige 6'1 junior Linn-Marr- Was extremely impressive. Really controlled the game without having to score then in the second half he took the game over and could score at will. Picked Ortiz's pocket a few times.
Josh Montague 6'7 senior Linn-Marr- Just on fire in the first half but, went quiet in the second half but, didn't matter at that point.
Matt Bohannon 6'4 senior Linn-Marr- Just a glue guy that does all the little things. Did most of his scoring from the free throw line.

Top Scorers
Memorial- Burnette 17 Lomomba 13 Brendan Ortiz 13
Linn-Marr- Paige 21 Montague 21 Bohannon 16 Shane Benton 12

Onalaska 68 Milwaukee Bay View 47
Honestly not much to say about this game. Onalaska is a pretty good team and Bay View just isn't that good. After three quarters Onalaska was up 30 and only played their starters the first five minutes of the second half and just cruised to the win. Bay View didn't run much of an offense and just played playground ball going one on one and throwing up some wild shots. For Onalaska the story was the Thomas brothers who appear to really carry them on the offensive end.

Top Players
Tony Thomas 6'6 senior Onalaska- Shoots the three very very well and runs the court well. Can also take his defender in the post.
Matt Thomas 6'2 sophomore Onalaska- Just a great shooter. Can hit the three or pull up for the mid range jumper. Flat out scorer.
Juvonta Leach 6'0 senior Bay View- Got almost all his points in the fourth quarter when the game was over but, was able to drive to the hoop and score while also drawing the foul.

Top Scorers
Onalaska- T. Thomas 17 M. Thomas 17 Nick Klos 11
Bay View- Leach 16 Tory Marson Jr 8 De'arlo Berkhalter 5

Conclusion on Wisconsin teams
After seeing Aquinas play for the first time I have to say that they are my pick to make it to state for D3. I'm not sure that they will win state but, they will for sure make it their. They are athletic, tall, and have a star to lead them in Koenig and will probably be the same for the next two years. Milwaukee King wasn't all that impressive but, the second half they looked more like the team I expected. They have a very good top nine players and still don't have Bowers back yet which will add a solid post player for them. Is a sectional team but, coming out of a tough Milwaukee/Madison sectional it will be tough to get to state. Madison Memorial was less then impressive and if they play this way they will probably get beat by Sun Prairie or a Milwaukee team before state but, if they play like they truly can I think they can still win state. Onalaska is a really good D2 team but, with the loss of their top player 6'8 Nick Arenz it will be tough to win state but, coming out of the north they can still probably get to state. As for Milwaukee Bay View it's going to be a long season.