Waunakee over Providence St. Mel

I know it has been over a week since this game was played but, I just haven't had the time to post about this game. I headed to this game knowing nothing about the St. Mel team but, a team traveling up to the middle of Wisconsin from Illinois, I figured they must be a good team. Arriving at the game I immediately noticed that Providence St. Mel was an extremely young team and they really lacked height, which I figured it was a bad thing for them considering they were playing Waunakee who is one of the better rebounding teams I have seen play. The other thing I noticed was that Waunakee was without their star player and leading scorer 6'6 senior Joe Tagarelli.

Starting out the game Waunakee seemed very out of sorts as they were without their leading scorer and their go to player in the post. Waunakee continually settled for the three point shot, which just wasn't falling to start the game. The Warriors were able to take advantage of their height and get second and third opportunities and in addition St. Mel's continued to foul the Warriors over and over. These two things led to numerous easy buckets around the rim and free throws which Waunakee was able to convert on. In the second quarter St. Mel's full court press was finally provided some success as they were able to run and gun their way to a one point lead at half time.

In the second half Waunakee's experience took over. St. Mel's continued to foul Waunakee and the Warriors continued to convert on their free throws. Waunakee was also able to find a new go to player in 6'4 junior Will Decorah. Decorah was able to use his strength to score over smaller defenders time and time again. Waunakee's lead grew to 11 at the end of the third quarter. With St. Mel's top two scorers in foul trouble Waunakee seemed destined to break this game open but, St. Mel's kept coming back with their run and gun offense and their ability to hit the three ball. In the end the Warriors were able to get a 68 to 61 win.

Top Players
Khalil Small 6'1 junior St. Mels- Was able to score at will throughout the entire game. Would of scored a lot more points but, was in foul trouble most of the game.
Tevin King 6'1 sophomore St. Mels- Really carried the teams at times, typically when Small was sitting on the bench in foul trouble. Was able to get to the rim and score in a variety of ways.
Donald Morgan 6'1 junior St. Mels- Didn't do a ton of scoring but, did a great job battling in the post against much taller defenders, to grag rebounds.
Will Decorah 6'4 junior Waunakee- Just a beast in the post where he used his superior strength to score over smaller defenders. Was able to get to the free throw line time and again where he was able to convert.
Tim Keenan 6'3 senior Waunakee- Honestly didn't notice him much but, he did score 13 points. Keenan has become a very solid third option for this team.
Ryan Kruser 5'11 junior Waunakee- Did very solid job running the point off the bench and handling the full court press.

Box Score
St. Mels- Small 21 King 18 Bernard Lilly Jr 11 Morgan 5 Teadlic Anderson 4 Vesper Young 2 Dayvion Barnett 0 Justin McGee 0 William Browns 0 William Spain 0
Waunakee- Decorah 21 Keenan 13 Ben Cable 12 Kruser 8 Justin Block 7 Dylan DesRochers 5 Brett Richgels 2 Jake Heitland 0 Max Chamberlin 0

St. Mel's has a lot of talent but, I'm guessing will be in for a long year against taller teams and better teams because of their inexperience. Next year their a team that I would be worried about if I had to play them because they will return the majority of their major scorers and add a little height and they will be very good. Waunakee is a team that will just be a very solid team that can play with everyone because of their defense and rebounding ability. Without Tagarelli though this team won't go far. I heard through the grapevine that he has a wrist injury but, it didn't appear to be too bad and hopefully will be back in the near future. With Tagarelli back this team is easily a sectional team and until they meet a power from the north in Onalaska or Rice Lake they should be just fine.