Tri State Border Battle

This Saturday went to Just a Game field house to watch the Tri State Border Battle, which can hardly be called tri as there was only one team from Iowa and four from Minnesota. This isn't quiet as big as the WBY Border Battle but, still brings in some pretty good teams. 

Wisconsin Dells 81 Fond du Lac Ojibwe 44

I think they gave the home team the easy match up as FDL is just seemed to be extremely undermanned and short handed. FDL had only eight players, two of which were junior high players and three more freshmen. I don't want to say Dells went easy on them but, they took the game pretty easy as they were only up seven at half before blowing out FDL in the second half. FDL took lots of quick shots and turned the ball over which led to numerous fast break buckets for the Dells. Dells also shot the ball pretty well knocking shots down from three point range. FDL was just too young and Dells was just an ok team but, that's all they needed to be. 

Top Scorers

WD- Peyton Rohling 20 Dominic Morse 16 Robert Goree 10

FDL- Lester Williamson 14 Evan Butcher 8 River Heitala 6

Lake Mills 69 Spring Grove Mn 66

Lake Mills jumped out early in this one behind the hot shooting of 5'11 junior Brady Wagner who hit five threes in the first half before Spring Grove climbed back into this one. Both teams shot a lot of threes but, it was Lake Mills offensive rebounding that gave them the half time edge 43-36. In the second half Spring Grove seemed poised to take the lead behind there 1-3-1 zone defense and Lake Mills going a little cold from the outside but, their star 6'3 junior Chase Grinde picked up his fourth foul midway through the second half and sat a good chunk of the second. Lake Mills finally figured things out behind the passing of 6'3 senior Collin Moen who found 6'6 senior Simon Lensmire on back to back trips. 6'0 junior Alex Ranney also hit a pair of threes to help seal the deal with Wagner struggling in the second half. Some shotty free throw shooting game Spring Grove a shot but, Lake Mills survived as Spring Grove just ran out of time. 

Top Scorers

LM- Wagner 30 Linesmire 15 Moen 11 Ranney 10

SP- Grinde 24 Alex Engelhardt 17 Alex Folz 15

Pleasant Valley Iowa 44 Ripon 31

Really wasn't as close as the score shows. Pleasant Valley had a ton of size and is a pretty good team, they start four guys between 6'5 and 6'8. Ripon's real only size is 6'7 junior Bennett Vander Plas who is a very good player but, has probably never played a team that has four different guys that can all guard him and are as big as him. Along with the size issue Vander Plas had no help as the number two scorer 6'3 junior Edward Muench just couldn't find his shot all game long and I'm not sure if he hit a three all game long. On the defensive end they had a 5'10 guy guarded Valley's best player 6'7 senior Will Carius. Carius didn't really force things and didn't seem to be his game but, he could get his shot off any time he wanted and look over the defender and find the open team mate. Valley was very content just running their offensive and taking their time which helped to keep this a lower scoring game. For Ripon Vander Plas really pressed and forced a lot of bad and off balanced shots and there was rarely a second chance basket to be had. 

Top Scorers

PV- Carius 19 Carter Milam 10 John Czarnicki 6

R- Vander Plas 13 Muench 8 Marshall Morrin 5

Caledonia Mn 80 Brookfield Academy 79

This was the game of the day and honestly I'm not sure how Brookfield Academy lost this game. I think Caledonia led 6-0 early and then 80-79 and that was the only two leads they had all game. BA was up 10 late in the second half I believe but, some so so free throw shooting and some very poor passing against the press allowed Caledonia to pull this one late. 6'5 Brookfield Academy senior Joseph Lemon was raining threes from the corners all game long and 6'1 senior Ryan Clarey was his normal self. As much as the two big guns hit the threes for BA Caledonia's 6'0 sophomore Owen King matched them and 6'5 senior Gavin Schroeder had his way on the inside. This was a good battle and Caledonia never went away and in the end Brookfield Academy simply couldn't handle the pressure. 

Top Scorers

C- Schroeder 29 King 22 Colton Lampert 12

BA- Lemon 35 Clarey 24 Alexander Setzer 8 

Top Players 

Peyton Rohling 6'0 junior Wisconsin Dells- Did a very solid job of running the offensive and not forcing things. Was able to hit the open threes when they were there.

Dominic Morse 6'0 senior Wisconsin Dells- Really got out and ran in the transition and was able to finish at the basket with a variety of moves. 

Lester Williamson 6'3 senior Fond du Lac Ojibwe- Played hard and showed the athleticism to finish at the rim and was able to knock down a couple of threes as well. 

Brady Wagner 5'11 junior Lake Mills- Just couldn't miss from three point range in the first half and I love his step back shot. Also had a couple nice floaters in the lane. 

Simon Lensmire 6'6 senior Lake Mills- Moves so well for a big man and loves to get out and run in transition. Showed some nice moves with his back to the basket. 

Collin Moen 6'3 senior Lake Mills- Not a huge scorer but, really made a difference with his passing setting up his team mates with easy buckets. 

Chase Grinde 6'3 junior Spring Grove- Can really score the ball primarily driving to the hoop and did a nice job of guarding Lensmire on the post. 

Alex Engelhardt 6'3 senior Spring Grove- Played very very hard in this one and got to the rim and hit a couple of big threes. 

Alex Folz 5'9 freshmen Spring Grove- Never would of guessed he was a freshmen and he was huge coming off the bench and hitting some huge threes.

Bennett Vander Plas 6'7 junior Ripon- Big man that showed the ability to get out and move. Handled the ball and can shoot the three ball. 

Will Carius 6'7 senior Pleasant Valley- Really loved this kid. Can tell he's the best player on the court but, he doesn't force things. Yes he score 19 points but, I don't think that he missed a shot. Definitely a guy that can play on the perimeter in college. Very nice mid range shot that he could make over smaller defenders. 

Joseph Lemon 6'5 senior Brookfield Academy- Said it all earlier, just couldn't miss from three point range. Clarey gets the hype but, Lemon is the key to their success. 

Ryan Clarey 6'1 senior Brookfield Academy- Handled the ball really well in the game and was able to get in the lane and score. 

Owen King 6'0 sophomore Caledonia- In the second half every three Brookfield Academy hit, King was there to hit the three for Caledonia. Just a settling force on the court and great shooter. 

Gavin Schroeder 6'5 senior Caledonia- To be completely honest I didn't notice him a ton but, he ended up finishing with 29 points so he was pretty big. 

Colton Lampert 6'0 senior Caledonia- Didn't score a ton or do anything overly impressive but, it was his pressure defense that allowed them to take the lead late in the game. 

Was another long fun day of basketball seeing some of the best teams in the state and this coming Saturday will be another one at the Midwest Players Classic where I will once again get to see some of the best in Wisconsin and Minnesota.