Memorial and Sun Prairie won

Took in two games last week watching Madison Memorial defeat Madison West and Sun Prairie over Madison Lafollette. One game was a close on through out and then the other ended up being a blow out.

Madison Memorial 64 Madison West 58

This Memorial team isn't the Memorial team of the past. There isn't a Wes Mathews, Jeronne Maymon, or Vander Blue on this team and may not even be a D1 college player. 6'1 senior Brendan Ortiz is the leader and star but, he isn't quite on that level of the previous mentioned players. I expected Ortiz to have a huge senior year but, so far the stats haven't shown it yet. In this game just when Ortiz was starting to take this game over on back to back impressive plays he turned his ankle. Hopefully he will be back for the big match up with Sun Prairie later this week. After Ortiz went down Memorial really struggled to get their offense going and turned the ball over numerous times. The one thing that really kept Memorial in the lead during the game was there offensive rebounding. They had second, third, and even four tries at the basket before they were able to put the ball in the hoop. Memorial led by only two points at the half but, they were able to push their lead to eight by applying the pressure and turning West over before West was able to claw back into the game. Memorial once again got an eight point lead and let West back into the game on poor free throw shooting but, in the end 5'11 senior Julian Walters was able to go 5-6 from the line late and sell the game. Memorial doesn't have a go to guy if Ortiz is out. 6'4 senior Jester Weah wants to be that guy but, I don't know they he has that skill set. Weah's best asset is his jumping ability and rebounding and outside of that he doesn't shoot the ball well or handle well and has a so so post game. Walters also wants to be that guy but, he seems to push things when they aren't there which leads to turnovers or poor shot selections.

West came out with a ton of intensity early on which allowed them to keep this game close but, in the end I think they really ran out of gas and some foul trouble hindered some of their starters. 6'3 junior Malik Clements appears to be the second best player in the conference behind Nick Fuller from Sun Prairie and he was the best player on the court tonight. Memorial used a box and one most of the night which slowed Clements down but, every time they went to their 1-3-1 zone Clements found and opening and knocked down the open shot. West didn't get a single point from their bench which may be a sign as to why they lost this game as Memorial's bench had 17 points all from two players but, 17 points none the less. Clements just doesn't have a lot of help. West has some bangers in the post but, no one that's gonna go off and score a ton of points.

Top Players
Shareef Smith 5'10 sophomore Memorial- Really heady player that calms Memorial down at times and showed the ability to get to the hoop and score over and around bigger defenders. This year Ortiz will do the balk of the ball handling but, next year this team will be Smith's. He's a true point guard and unselfish.
Tyler Lindquist 6'6 junior Memorial- He's completely over shadowed by his more well known team mates but, Lindquist is just a tireless worker in the post, rebounding and fighting for position.
Julian Walers 5'11 senior Memorial- Didn't have a great game but, was clutch at the end of the game when no one could hit free throws but, he stepped up and hit them.
Malik Clements 6'3 junior West- Just an all around solid player that can score from long range and driving to the hoop.
Travis Kell 6'6 senior West- Just a hard worker that pounds the offensive glass and scoring in the paint.

Leading Scorers
Memorial- Lindquist 14 Walters 12 Weah 11
West- Clements 21 Kell 14

Sun Prairie 79 Madison Lafollette 61

Lafollette was able to keep this one close until Sun Prairie locked down their defense and forced Lafollette into numerous turnovers which led to easy buckets for Prairie. All game long Lafollette was unable to penetrate Prairie's 1-3-1 zone defense and just passed the ball around the outside and when they did penetrate the zone collapsed on them and they would turn the ball over. On the other side Lafollette continually helped out their team mates that were beat off the dribble and Sun Prairie always seemed to find their open team mate for the open three point shot. Outside of the three point shot Prairie got the majority of their buckets in transition after Lafollette had turned the ball over. This game was really getting out of hand until both benches were clear and the Sun Prairie bench players didn't want to hold the ball but, continue to go to the hoop and throw up some wild shots while Lafollette continued to work the ball to the inside and score. Every time I see 6'7 senior Nick Fuller play he looks better and better and at this point he doesn't impress as much, it's just expected.

Top Players
Nick Fuller 6'7 senior Sun Prairie- Really tough on the top of the 1-3-1 zone defense forcing players into turn overs. With his height he really plays like a guard which will help him transition to the next level where he will no longer be the tallest player on the court. Still knocks down the three like he always has.
 Donnel Thompson 6'2 senior Sun Prairie- Really seems to be improved since playing at Memorial last year. Knocks down the open three and has the ability to get to the hoop.
Trevon Ampe 6'6 senior Lafollette- One of the few guys that actually had a half way decent game for Lafollette. Really battled underneath and got rebounds and was able to score in the post when his team mates looked for him.

Top Scores
Sun Prairie- Fuller 33 Thompson 11
Lafollette- Ampe 13 Nygel Drury 13

The Big Eight really is up and down. I thought West was the clear cut third best team in the conference but, then they went out and lost to Middleton badly who had just lost to Madison East, who appears to be the hot team having defeated Lafollette as well which has completely shocked me. Almost everyone picked East to be towards the bottom of the conference and so far they are proving everyone wrong. In two days I will be taking in the biggest game of the year in the conference when Memorial goes to Sun Prairie.