East Troy and Royal win at the JAG

This Saturday I took in a pair of games played at Just A Game Fieldhouse. The first game was a battle between a pair of top five teams in division three and the second game was my first chance to see D5 power Royal play.

The first game pitted #1 ranked Wisconsin Dells taking on #5 East Troy. There was a lot of talk who would come out on top prior to the game. Would the speed and quickness of the Dells win out or would it be the height and size of East Troy. Dells really only has one true post player in 6'4 senior Shane Wimann, while East Troy has a pair of D1 recruits in 6'9 senior twins Alex and Brett Prahl.

Early on Wisconsin Dells was doing what they do, shooting threes and making them, moving the ball, and forcing East Troy into turnovers resulting in fast break baskets. On the other side East Troy really looked to get the ball into the Prahl's but, the Dells really packed in their zone defense and keyed on the big man which allowed open wide side cuts typically by sophomore Conner Mitchell. Mitchell was unheard of prior to the game but, he game up with double digit points in the first half and really carried ET offensively at times. For WD Wimann was basically able to do whatever he wanted in the first half, moving without the ball and getting open shots, knocking down outside shots and driving past the bigger defenders and scored 16 first half points. After one quarter the game was tied and at half Dells was up by three.

Besides the two Prahl's, Nate Dodge is the third big time scorer. Dodge never could get things going besides a couple threes but, Brett Prahl finally go things going using a variety of post moves to score in the paint. For Dells Wimann cooled off but, fellow star MJ Delmore got things going as no ET defender could stay in front of him and Delmore showed his full array of moves to score. Dells was able to get a 12 point lead in the third quarter but, the play of Brett Pahl allowed ET to get back in this game. Then mid way through the fourth quarter, Dells stopped moving the ball and fell into Delmore just going one on one and trying to score. Everyone besides Delmore was just standing around the outside waiting for him to do something and when he wasn't able to break down the defense he was forced to throw up some wild shots. In the end it was East Troy's ability to stick where their game plan that allowed them to win this game and the inability of Wisconsin Dells to keep up their high intensity and motion.

Top Players
Shane Wimann 6'4 senior WD- Pretty much said it all about him already.
MJ Delmore 5'11 senior WD- Showed his normal impressive ball handling skills and the ability to get by his defender any time he wanted.
Connor Mitchell 6'0 sophomore ET- Did a tremendous job of moving without the ball and also knocked down the three ball as well.
Brett Prahl 6'9 senior ET- Used his size and strength to score on the inside, as well as some very impressive post moves.

East Troy 66 Wisconsin Dells 62
Top Scorers
WD- Wimann 23 Delmore 19 Colyn Buss 10
ET- B Prahl 21 Mitchell 17 Dodge 14 A Prahl 13


Royal 84 Blair Taylor 62

Before the year started this game was a game I had looked to as being a very good game but, Blair Taylor hasn't lived up to their past or their talent and has really struggled this year. This BT doesn't hesitate to take an open shot. If they get a little opening they are going to take the shot. This wasn't a bad plan early on as BT was hitting everything when they weren't turning the ball over. On the other side Royal was struggling to get their shot to drop and were having a tough time against the BT zone defense but, they were getting multiple rebounds allowing them to score most times down the court. At half Royal was only up 36-34.

In the second half Royal got their game going forcing BT to turn the ball over and getting out and running and getting easy buckets. Also Royal's star Sam Murphy started getting things going as he hit three consecutive threes in the third quarer. Blair Taylor went to a box and one on Murphy and that just opened things up for the rest of the Royal players and they were able to cruise to a 20 plus point victory.

Blair Taylor is a team that seems like they could beat some teams if they get hot and they don't have a senior on the team so the future has to be bright. Royal is the classic tough D5 team that plays good defense, have a pair of big time scorers in Murphy and team mate Nate Scheeter, and the rest of the team knows their role and does it without trying to do too much.

Top Players
Sam Murphy 6'4 senior Royal- Tallest kid on the team but, runs the point a lot so that tells you something. Is an exceptional shooter that can do a little bit of everything.
Nate Scheeter 6'2 senior Royal- Really liked this kids game as he just seems like a very smart player that moved well without the ball. Is also a tremendous shooter that can really rain the threes from the outside.
Brett Ladsten 6'1 sophomore BT- Just had to say wow with the way he shoots the ball. Doesn't need much of an opening and the shot is going to fall.
Simeon Pooler 6'1 junior BT- Not quiet the shooter as Ladsten but, can also shoot the ball well and is a real hustler that always plays hard.

Top Scorers
Royal- Murphy 29 Scheeter 26 Brandon Retzlaff 8 Trae Ness 8
BT- Ladsten 26 Pooler 18 Dalton Soto 7 Nolan Kujak 7

Was a nice night of basketball unfortunately Dells lost their first game of the year but, I caught a great state level game and then got to watch a very good D5 team. These were my last regular season games of the year and the seedings are out so it will be time to make my predictions as well as my end of the season predictions.