Madison Memorial clinches 12th Conference Title

Yes Memorial had clinched the title already but, they win last night allowed them to clinch the out right title which makes 12 straight years with at least a share of a conference title. Think they may of shared it one year? Anyway this game was a chance for me to see how Memorial is playing heading into the playoffs and see Verona play for the first time this year.

Honestly didn't know much about Verona other then their leading scorer was 6'5 junior Cole Schmitz and remembered 6'4 senior Will Kellerman as one of their better players as well. This was senior night so I'm not really sure if this was their true rotation or getting their seniors in but, of their eight seniors six were in their 10 man rotation and one of the seniors was suited up. Schmitz really didn't get a ton of minutes and he just wasn't that aggressive when he was in, like you would expect a leading scorer to be. Kellerman was pretty impressive shooting the ball and was the only player that played big minutes because Verona subs very frequently.

For Memorial they really seem to be peaking early as 5'10 senior Shareef Smith is playing out of his mind and is being very aggressive on the offensive end. 6'0 senior Koko Songolo seems to be playing a little more under control and not forcing stuff as much and 6'3 senior Henry Houden is continuing to do all the little things to hold this team together. The team as a whole just seems very comfortable with each other and then younger guys and bench players are really seeming to understand their rolls and how to play with the returners.

Early on for Memorial it was the Smith and Songolo show as they were both scoring big early on and carrying Memorial and they were both able to drive the ball to the rim. Verona though was able to hang around with a team effort as they seemed to continually get team mates open under the hoop for easy layups. Throughout the entire game Smith was hitting threes and jumper with defenders in his face all night and his quick first step was able to allow him to get those quick openings. In the second quarter Memorial was able to turn Verona over and took a 3 point lead heading into half time. Memorial extended their lead to 16 at the end of the third and this game seemed all but, over when Kellerman started going off for Verona in leading them to 34 points in the fourth quarter. Kellerman doesn't have a quick release but, he does have unlimited range so he hit a couple threes before the defender realized that they had to guard him and he just always seemed to end up wide open. A couple threes from team mates really made this game interesting. In the end Verona had to foul and Memorial just wasn't missing the free throws. Verona ended up clearing the bench a little early to get all their seniors in, in the end and Memorial won by eight.

Top Players
Shareef Smith 5'10 senior Madison Memorial- I said it all earlier. He's playing his best basketball of the year and he just wasn't missing his shots even when he had a defender in his face. Smith was just too quick for anyone on Verona.

Koko Songolo 6'0 senior Madison Memorial- Did a nice job of picking his spots to score and made the most of a few shots he took. Just a very solid player.

Henry Houden 6'3 senior Madison Memorial- Houden really can jump and is one of the best rebounders I've seen this year. He just plays so hard and didn't have the greatest offensive game but, moves very well without the ball and doesn't need to score to impact a game.

Will Kellerman 6'4 senior Verona- Mr. Three Point in this game, as he was bombing away from the three point range and was dropping them most of the night. Early on was looking for his team mates but, when that wasn't working decided to put the team on his back.

Box Score
MM- Smith 28 Songolo 19 Houden 9 Brett Tauber 8 Jake Ferguson 8 Billy Wilson 7 Travis Lindquist 2 Logan Knecht 0 Jason Weah 0 Austin Wilson 0 Ed Laird 0 Jackson Murphy 0
V- Kellerman 30 Nathaniel Buss 9 Jake Toman 9 Schmitz 7 Tyler Hallmark 6 Avery Fossum 5 Keaton Knueppel 4 Casey McClure 2 Kwam Clements 1 Maurice Richmond 0

After watching this game Memorial really seems poised to get back to state after a two year absence and Verona is a team that could upset some very good teams because they do have so much depth and can shoot the three.