Poynette over Lake Mills

Tuesday night didn't have anything going on so decided to take in the Poynette verse Lake Mills game. This was a Capitol North Conference game which in my opinion might be one of the best medium size conferences in the state. Its a six team conference and all of the teams are division three. Poynette, Watertown Luther Prep, and Lake Mills have all spent time ranked in the top 10 and Columbus has just been on the fringe of being ranked all year. Lodi had recently been the power team as they have gone to state the past three years but, are down this year and Lakeside Lutheran had been at state three years ago I believe but, they are also down as well.

Coming into the game I had seen Lake Mills play and was fairly impressed with them and they are fun to watch playing an uptempo game and shooting a lot of three pointers. They are pretty young as they only have two seniors on the team and their top four scorers are all juniors and sophomores. For Poynette they started the year ranked very high in the state but, a couple bad losses early in the season knocked them down. Poynette gave Lodi everything they could handle a year ago and lost only one contributor from that team.

Early on Lake Mills looked very good as 6'6 junior Simon Lensmire scored the first six points of the game to jump out 6-0. Lake Mills hit seven three pointers in the first half led by 5'11 sophomore Brady Wagner and 5'9 senior Brian Nelson who combined on five of those threes. Poynette weathered the first half flurry of threes and just kind of slowly worked their way back into the game and after being down 10 after the first led by three at half. Poynette is a veteran team that never seemed  to panic and always seemed to be in control. What really changed the game was Poynette went to a diamond press and fell back into a 1-3-1 zone defense. 6'1 senior Jacob Reddeman came off the bench and really created difficulty for the smaller Lake Mills guards. Reddeman created some turn overs which led to easy Poynette buckets and layups for Reddeman. The zone didn't allow the open looks that Lake Mills was getting early on. In the half court Poynette's leading scorer 6'3 senior Tanner Bruchs couldn't find his shot but, fellow 6'3 senior Riley Lytle came up big getting the ball at free throw line and just going to work. Poynette also took advantage of their overall height advantage going to 6'5 senior Ben Lattimer who was being guarded by a 6'1 player.

In the second half Lake Mills just seemed wore down by the Poynette zone as the threes weren't dropping and many of the shots weren't even close and they only hit two threes in the second half. Poynette had the depth and height advantage which led to numerous offensive rebounds and second chance buckets. Lensmire may be 6'6 but, the rest of the team is about 6'0 and under and they don't have the bangers as Lytle had a field day on the offensive class and Lake Mills was continually one and done on offense. Lake Mills lived by the three in the first half and in the second half they died by the three. The depth and size advantage were the differences in this one.

Top Players 
Riley Lytle 6'3 senior Poynette- I would take this kid on my team anytime. He knows his limitations and doesn't try to do to much. He handles the ball a lot but, doesn't take outside shots his game is from 15 feet and in. Works extremely hard and goes to the hoop hard and can finish with either hand. His hard work gets him a ton of rebounds.

Jacob Reddeman 6'1 senior Poynette- Really was the reason that Poynette won coming off the bench. Played the top of the diamond press and 1-3-1, which is really one in the same. Reddeman forced numerous turnovers and really took the Lake Mills guards out of their comfort zone.

Ben Lattimer 6'5 senior Poynette- Really improved since last year. Showed a nice post game finishing over the smaller defenders. Missed some easy shots but, will really help Poynette in making a deep playoff run.

Simon Lensmire 6'6 junior Lake Mills- Moves extremely well for a big kid. More of an offensive player then defense but, really has a nice game playing more like a wing. Solid rebounder as well which he has to be because of the teams lack of overall size.

Box Score
Poy- Lytle 19 Bruchs 13 Lattimer 8 Reddeman 8 Bradley Smith 3 Jacob Krumberger 2 Tyler Klink 1 Scott Lenius 0 Brennan Pederson 0
LM- Lensmire 14 Alex Ranney 9 Wagner 9 Nelson 9 Nick Anderson 5 Collin Moen 0 Ben Dunkleberger 0

This was a pretty fun game to watch as Lake Mills took the big lead and then Poynette battled back and then extended their lead in the second half. I think the better team won as Poynette is the veteran team and has nice size overall to battle most D3 teams. Lake Mills is probably a year away from being the state contender but, if they hit their threes they can beat anyone.