Sun Prairie over Middleton

After seeing Middleton play Germantown so closely I really expected this game to be much closer then it was the first time around but, I was wrong. Middleton looked just as rough as they did the first time around when these two teams matched up. They lacked the ability to get to the rim and turned the ball over. With the exception of some nice threes from 5'10 senior Sonny Bavery the game was nearly a carbon copy of the first one. After defeating Madison Memorial and the way that Sun Prairie looked in this game they really look to be a tough out come tourney time and will probably push Memorial too the limit in their third match up, that without a doubt will happen.

Sun Prairie jumped to the early lead and never looked back. After one quarter SP was up 20-8 behind some hot outside shooting. 6'5 sophomore Nick Fuller really appears to be taking the leadership roll in scoring by the horns and is carrying this team. All night long Fuller was able to score at will particularly from three point range where he was able to hit whether there was a hand in his face or not. The other SP player that had things going early was senior 6'2 Jordan Noskowiak. It was nice to Noskowiak being aggressive and looking to score, unlike the previous games I had seen him where he was the opposite and didn't put many points up. In the second quarter Middleton was able to get some scoring behind the shooting of Bavery and some nice play off the bench from 6'4 junior Antoine Buchanon. Watching warm ups you can see Buchanon has unlimited athletic ability but, in the first coupled games I saw him play he played alittle out of control at times and didn't appear to have the highest basketball IQ. This game Buchanon really appeared to have progressed from early in the year and played within the offense and kept himself under control without forcing those wild shots. Like the past Middleton looked to get the ball in to their big man 6'6 senior Ian Joyce. Joyce got the ball but, he always wants to go over his right shoulder with the fade away unlike most right handed post players who go over their left shoulder. Joyce could get open and make the moves but, because the shots he was taking were so difficult they weren't falling. Halftime Sun Prairie was up 39-29.

Second half really wasn't much to talk about as Middleton fell apart and turned the ball over time after time and read in the state journal that Sun Prairie had a 20-1 run to start the second half. Fuller continued to fire and was money all night. Only real scoring that I can recall prior to garbage time was a three by Bavery and the ability by senior 6'2 Seth Coyne to drive and draw contact and go to the line and make his free throws. Joyce did his best to keep Middleton in the game as well as he blocked a half full of shots in the second half alone but, he couldn't block all the outside shots Sun Prairie was hitting. Sun Prairie extended the lead to 54-34 after the third and the entire fourth quarter was really garbage time as Prairie just rotated their starters in and out until the final two or three minutes. Final score was 66-55 which really doesn't show how much of a domination Sun Prairie really put on in this game.

Top Players
Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Like I said earlier he pretty much dominated on the offensive end. Was shooting the three with ease and driving to the hoop, also showed the ability to run the point.
Jordan Noskowiak 6'2 senior Sun Prairie- Really showed some aggression looking to score in the game particularily shooting the long range shot. Also did a nice job guarding Coyne.
Seth Coyne 6'2 senior Middleton- Also does a great job of getting his points one way or another with much help. Got to the line any time he wanted were he usually connected.
Ian Joyce 6'6 senior Middleton- Didn't have a great game on the offensive end but, was very solid on the defensive end. Had between 5-10 blocks in the game and this game could of been alot worse without Joyce patrolling the middle.

Box Score
Sun Prairie 66- Fuller 21 Noskowiak 13 Jaron Schaffner 10 Chris Hawkins 6 Daniel Mifflin 5 Ryan Yentz 5 Bryce Opps 4 Andre Wallace 2 Paris Saffold 0 Nick Behrens 0 Opi Abeysekera 0 Rapheal Ragland 0 Jacob Oakley 0 Martin Cromwell 0 Andy Strueber 0 Kyle Nikolay 0
Middleton 55- Coyne 16 Bavery 12 Nick Schmidt 10 Joyce 9 Buchanon 6 Connor Wipfli 2 Will O'Brien 0 Jake Raffel 0 James Gardner 0 Bryan Mchmeier 0 Connor Stubbe 0 Robby Williams 0 Matt Meinholz 0 TJ Webber 0 Eric Hagstrom 0 Tony Wilson 0

Like I said earlier Sun Prairie appears to be as tough as anyone in the state while I have a hard time figuring Middleton out. Middleton looked very very good in one game and looked terrible both times against Sun Prairie. Tomorrow I will hopefully get a chance to see two teams play for the first time in Waunakee and Wauwatosa East.