Midwest Players Classic

On Saturday I took in one of the better basketball evens in the state of Wisconsin. The Midwest Players Classic pits some of the top teams of Wisconsin and puts them against some of the top teams from Minnesota and Iowa. It seems like they try to keep the teams as close to local as they can being that they play at the Lacrosse Center but, they do seem to get some elite talent from around the three local states. If you have the will power and stamina you will seem some great games and players but, will also seem some lack luster game and some blow outs.

Austin Mn 71 Westby 48
In this game Westby was just simply over matched. Westby is a very small team and the length and size of Austin really hindered them. It took Westby about five minutes before they even got a ball to the rim and they could never come back after that. Austin always seemed to get open threes and knock them down and got a strong 21 points from Joe Aase a 6'8 big man that has a very smooth touch from the outside.

Eastview Mn 37 Holmen 33
This game was really a sleeper as neither team could really get anything going. I was excited to see Eastview play having defeated Madison Memorial a year ago very soundly but, evidently they lost a lot from last years team as this team left a lot to be desired. Eastview had some good size and looked talented but, they could never pull away from Holmen who honestly was very sub par.

Manitowoc Roncalli 66 Maple River Mn 49
This game wasn't really as close as they score even shows. Roncalli controlled this game throughout and late scoring from Maple River really brought this game closer. Roncalli is never big and never have a bunch of college athletes but, they are always fun to watch. Roncalli runs a very solid offense with tons and tons of off the ball screens to open up shooters. Roncalli will shoot a ton of threes and make a ton of threes. Maple River just could never get to those shooters and they couldn't drop the outside shots themselves. In the second half Roncalli did go a little cold and allowed Maple River to pull this game a little closer.

Onalaska 67 Linn-Marr Iowa 32
One of the rare blowouts of the day. Linn Marr just couldn't stay with Matt Thomas who scored 32 points on his own and they just couldn't score against Onalaska's zone defense.Linn Marr had the college size starting 6'4 6'5 6'5 and 6'8 but, they didn't have the college plays to match up with Thomas. This game was over early.

Robbinsdale Cooper Mn 71 Deforest 67
One of the highest anticipated games showcasing the number 14th ranked junior in the country in 6'6 Rashard Vaughn. Vaughn already has the college body and has the ability even though he didn't take over the game. I know some people were probably not impressed but, honestly I liked what I saw. As I said he didn't try to take over the game and let things come to him. He seemed times to rely on his talented and not his superior athleticism like a lot of elites talents too. Many times he took difficult shots when I thought he could of just posted up smaller defenders or drove right to the basket. Appeared to be a very very good three point shooter. At half time this game appeared to be a blow out but, RC kind of went into cruise control and allowed Deforest scratched their way back into the game and got within two before RC held on to the narrow win.

Lacrosse Aquinas 58 Rooseville Mn 48
This game should of been the best game of the day but, things went south quick for Rooseville as one of their top scores Mack Johnson went down with an injury very early in the game and it took Rooseville nearly the entire game to find themselves without Johnson playing. Bronson Koenig was his normal impressive self setting up team mates for easy buckets and still getting his own points when the time called for it. Parker Weber really benefits from playing with Koenig who sets him up for lay up after lay up. It will be interesting to see how Parker does without Koenig next year. The other fun thing to watch is how when Koenig makes the nice extra pass how willing his team mates are to make pass and how when Aquinas drives to the hoop they are actually looking to pass not score. Some times those fancy passes get a little out of control and lead to turnovers though. The key to this team and their state run is 6'6 Michael Conway who rebounds well, blocks shots, can shoot the ball, and guard pretty much anyone on the court. If not for some late three point shooting from Roseville's Jacques Perra this game would of been a blow out.

Top Players

Joe Aase 6'8 senior Austin Mn- Just a real smooth shooting big man that hit four or five threes in the game. Moves very well for a big man.

Nick Stelzer 6'2 junior Roncalli- Believe he shot 5-6 from three point range. Doesn't look like a great player but, did a great job guarding the much bigger post players and really can hit the spot up three point shot.

Nate Lassila 6'2 senior Roncalli- A guy that always gives it his all and can really shoot just like most of the other Roncalli players.

Matt Thomas 6'4 senior Onalaska- Just a flat out scorer and you know you are always gonna get 30 points out of him. No bodycan seem to stay on him in man to man.

Rashard Vaughn 6'6 junior Robbinsdale Cooper- I basically said it all earlier. This guy is a high level D1 player.

Brandon Robinson 6'2 junior Robbinsdale Cooper- A very undersized post player but, he is impossible to stop from scoring particularily going to his left.

Jeff Berry 5'11 junior Deforest- Ultimate competitor going against much bigger defenders and had Vaughn guarding him most of the game. Fearless going to the hoop and was hitting the spot up outside shot.

Jacques Perra 6'3 junior Roseville- Very good shooter who just couldn't miss late in the game and if you gave him any space he wasn't going to miss the shot.

Bronson Koenig 6'3 senior Aquinas- Like I said earlier did a great job of setting up his team mates and being able to score his points when needed.

Parker Weber 6'7 junior Aquinas- Yes he does benefit from playing with Koenig but, can really finish around the rim and use his size to score.

Michael Conway 6'6 senior Aquinas- Doesn't need to score to make his impact on the game and does a little bit of everything on the floor.

Overall was a very good day of basketball and did get some what long. The Lacrosse Center is a great place for an event like this and would like to see a few more good teams from Wisconsin but, I know they try to keep more local teams. Wisconsin ended up going 3-3 on the day and won every game they should of so I say it was a successful day for Wisconsin basketball.