Thanksgiving Week Review

Before it gets to far along I thought I should do a write up of my past week game experiences. I went to two individual games as well as the I-94 challenge. Teams seemed to be playing a very fast pace this early in the season and relying on hustle more then pure skill. Also saw some ugly basketball at times but, things will continue o get better as the season goes on.

Madison Memorial 57 Middleton 47

This was one of those games that was very ugly at times and played at a very fast pace. Many times guys would grab defensive rebounds and just turn or go, either dribbling and push the ball or looking for the outlet pass before being sure their teammate was open. This Memorial team is no where near as good as the Memorial teams of the past and they are going to struggle against teams that have more then one offensive option unlike Middleton. Middleton really only has one guy that can go and get his points at any time, in 6'5 junior Derek Rongstad. Outside of Rongstad no one else is going to score outside of the three point shot or offensive rebound. In the first half Rongstad was unstoppable scoring 16 points while Memorial tried three different defenders on him, none of which could contain him. In the second half Memorial went to a box and one, with 6'3 junior Daurice Fountain face guarding Rongstad which caused Rongstad to be taken right out of the offense and only score two second half points. Memorial really should of dominated this game but, they struggled to score at times turning the ball over and missing countless bunny shots. One point in the third after back to back buckets from 6'4 senior Jester Weach, including a one handed dunk, it appeared that Memorial was going to go on a huge run but, it stalled out after a pair of turnovers. In the end Memorial had more athletes and more guys that could create their own shot.

Top Scores- (Middleton) Rongstad 18 (Memorial) Julian Walters 15 Weach 13 Tyler Lindquist 10

Wisconsin Dells 90 Racine Park 54

Not a whole lot to say about this one as Dells started with an 8-0 lead and was leading 25 to 7 after the first quarter. Dells is a senior dominated team while Park is a very young and inexperienced team. Dells plays a zone and Park appeared to have no idea how to attack it and really had no one that could knock down an outside shot. The Dells team really passes the ball well and as long as the baskets are falling they don't care who does the scoring. The big question mark for them is what do they get off the bench? The starting five is great but, against a good team I'm not sure if they can get anything from the bench. What happens if 6'4 senior Shane Wimann gets in foul trouble? They rebound well but, when they play a bigger team they are going to have trouble since Wimann is the only player "truly" over six foot. Outside of star 5'11 senior MJ Delmore who can run the point? On Friday when Delmore went out of the game and Park provided some pressure the Dells turned the ball over numerous times and they had to bring Delmore back in the game.

Top Scorers- (Park) Hayes 14 (WD)- Delmore 29 Wimann 16

Was a slow back and forth battle and Lafollette led for probably more of the game back Homestead locked down the defense late and took the lead for good. 6'8 senior Luke Worthington was the guy I came to watch but, he really struggled today as he missed a lot of bunny shots and free throws and then was saddled with foul trouble in the second half. In was Jalen Key a 6'7 super sophomore that caught my eye. Key probably shot the ball a bit too much but, he was able to knock down numerous mid range jumpers and had a big block in the game. For Lafollette 6'6 senior Trevon Ampe never could get himself going but, 6'5 senior Nygel Drury had a very solid all around game and 6'1 sophomore Darold Thomas was very hot from the outside but, did take a few bad shots.

Top Scorers- (Homestead)- Key 25 Worthington 13 (Lafollette) Thomas 19 Drury 18 Ampe 11 Maurice Ewing 10

Milwaukee Washington 62 Madison East 47

This game Washington just had more athletes then East. Washington really pushed the tempo and played 12 different players and you really couldn't tell one player from another with the exception of their star 6'3  senior Jamar McKay. Mckay did a little bit of everything and is just a super athletic, high energy player. McKay settled in late in the game and was able to score at will in the post as they wore down the East team. On the other side 6'3 senior Emani Brathwaite was a beast on the inside and kept his team close until they ran out of gas late.

Top Scorers (East) Brathwaite 16 De'shawn Burks 11 (Washington) McKay 19

Milwaukee Vincent 59 Madison West 51

6'6 senior Deonte Burton was the guy everyone came to see and he had a good game but, not a great game. The biggest reason was West put Daniel Jackson on him who is nearly as physical presence as Burton each, which kept Burton from muscling in and having to use his skill and made things a little more difficult on him. Burton didn't score a ton but, he made a difference with his rebounding, passing, and a couple big blocks. The biggest asset in this game for Vincent was 6'0 sophomore guard Malik Brown who hit four three pointers from the outside and is really a sharp shooter from the outside. For West 6'3 junior Malik Clements carried them but, at times seemed to get a little carried away with the match up with Burton and looked to take him on one on one.

Top Scorers- (Vincent) Brown 16 Jabari Hobson 14 Burton 13 (West) Clements 20

I love the idea of the I-94 challenge and allowed fans from the area to watch three local teams in some very good competitions. Similar to the Big Eight Challenge a few years ago, it was nice to see the same fans cheering for each of the Madison teams as it was Madison vs Milwaukee and it will be interesting to see if this tournament will continue throughout the years and if the event will be hosted by different schools. I know my write ups for each game was kind of short but, I wanted to get the games in before there had been too big of a lapse between the write up and when the game was played. Tomorrow we should be seeing my updated team rankings for the state.