WBY Shootout

Well I saw a lot of games in the three days that I spent at the WBBY Shootout so I will just do a quick two or three sentences about each game the best I can from memory. With watching so many games you forgot things and games start to blend in together. I nice change this year is that the Shootout has changed their name to the Rick Majerus WBY Shootout, with the family of Rick Majerus making donations to help fund the shootout, donation plaques for MVP of each game, and then giving out eight scholarships to players that are participating in the shootout. Here is my very quick run down of each game I saw and then some of the top players.

Day One

St. Thomas More 69 Living Word Lutheran 45

Living Word just simply seemed to be over their head in this one. St Thomas is just an OK team but, Living Word is a very young team, I liked there point guard 6’2 sophomore Jacob Bolwerk but, there was just no help for him. There was a very long stretch where Living Word didn’t score.

Onalaska 62 Greendale 43

Greendale came out and played absolutely terrible, lead by their star 6’7 senior David Pulizos who really played bad in this one. Onalaska’s two 5’10 junior guards Jalen Zubich and Noah Fredrickson were very impressive handling the ball and knocking down the open shots.

Dominican 58 Kettle Moraine Lutheran 56

Don’t remember a ton about this game but, the difference was the play of Dominican’s sophomore point guard 6’0 Jacoby Jones. Jones was just too quick for the KML guards and 6’9 senior Kostas Antetokounmpo had an OK game but, he was the one that hit the game winning shot a buzzer beater from a mid range baseline shot.

Brookfield Academy 64 Ripon 62

Ripon missing their point guard 6’4 junior Luke Loewe really hurt them but, they battled it out all game. Brookfield Academy seemed poised to run away with this one late but, the outside shooting of Ripon’s 6’3 junior Edward Muench kept them in the game and the solid play throughout and 6’7 junior Bennett Vander Plas had a very good game but, forced things at times late. Ripon had the chance at the buzzer but, got off a very poor shot.

Cedarburg 75 West Allis Hale 53

This game was never really in question as the hot shooting of Cedarburg early was just too much for Hale and they were never in the game. Cedarburg’s 6’3 sophomore Jordan Johnson had 18 first half point and that was really all that was needed in this one as each of Cedarburg’s starters scored in double digits.

Milwaukee Vincent 68 Arrowhead 62

This game surprised me a bit, I really thought Arrowhead would win this one but, the pressure of Vincent was just too much. Arrowhead did have a size advantage but, Vincent’s big man 6’5 junior Jamel White did a good job of neutralizing that by controlling the glass on both ends using his athleticism.   

Milwaukee Riverside 67 Homestead 49

Another game where a city school used their pressure to take over the game and control the tempo. 6’5 junior George Dixon controlled the inside despite not scoring a ton while the guards did most of the scoring spreading it around between their four starting guards. To be honest this Homestead team just isn’t up to pair with the teams of the past.

Kaukauna 85 Milwaukee Washington 77

This was suppose to be a match up of two of the best point guards in the state with 5’11 sophomore Jordan McCabe of Kaukauna verse 6’1 senior Te’Jon Lucas of Washington. Unfortunately Washington showed up extremely late for the game with half their team missing most of the warmups. Washington started extremely slow and Lucas never got things going and Washington was forced to play from behind the entire night but, they were never able to overcome McCabe and company. McCabe came out firing early and often launching deep threes all game long and about midway through the first half he got things going and it was his game from there, leading to 34 points. I feel like the weather really ruined this game forcing Washington behind the eight ball all game.

Day Two

McDonell Central 84 Living Word Lutheran 42

Another game where Living Word was over their head and McDonell Central was extremely impressive and they are now my pick to win Division Five. MC has tremendous size starting three guys at 6’5 or taller and have a very solid guard in 6’1 senior Ben Retzlaff.

St Marys Springs 81 Shoreland Lutheran 51

Unfortunately the reason that Shoreland was in the Shootout was missing in 6’6 senior Lucas Wendt who is out with an injury. Shoreland was unable to get anything going offensively and really looked like they were missing that offensive piece. St. Mary’s is just a very solid balanced team that really doesn’t have a true star. They really did a great job of pounding the ball inside to their big men that had the size advantage.

Kettle Moraine Lutheran 56 Prairie du Chien 49

Battle of two similar teams, without big time stars, that are both very balanced. The play of KML’s guards was the difference headlined by 5’11 senior Colin Biesterfeld who used his quickness to his advantage and knocked down the open shots.

Onalaska 56 Wauwatosa East 36

Once again Onalaska got a team that played a very bad game and just never got things going at all. The shots weren’t falling and they couldn’t get anything going towards the hoop. Once again it was Onalaska’s guards that sealed the game and they got the transition game going behind 6’4 junior Jalen Sample.

Marshall 56 Ripon 44

Without Lowe Ripon really struggled in both of their games. For Ripon Vander Plas was just forced to do too much and just wore down as the game went. Marshall really put forth a team effort as no one could really get going but, everyone did just enough to the win.

Milwaukee Riverside 89 De Pere 55

Riverside once again used their press defense to turn De Pere over time and again and De Pere was just too slow to play with Riverside. Riverside’s star 6’6 junior Terrence Lewis had a huge game knocking down the corner three point shot all game long and getting out in transition. Dixon did his thing on the inside and was able to score in transition.

Dominican 66 Wisconsin Lutheran 56

Once again this isn’t the Wisco of old and honestly this isn’t the Dominican of old. This game was a little hard to watch. Once again Jacoby Jones was dominating scoring 20 points. Lutheran doesn’t have the shooters or the athletes to speed things up like they have in the past.

Oshkosh North 68 Arrowhead 62

1-3-1 defense of North was very tough in this one and Arrowhead’s shooting slowed up late in the game and the shots weren’t falling. North just basically wore them out as the game went on.

Kaukauna 70 Homestead 52

Kaukauna controlled this one from the get go and I actually left this game at half time. Homestead fought early and kept it close but, just worn down as the game went on.

Day Three

St Thomas More 63 University School 62

Got to this game late and not sure what happened but, University was up big and from the moment I got there it was all Thomas More. University led this game all the way until the end of the game went Thomas More hit a runner at the buzzer giving them the win.

McDonell Central 46 Prairie du Chien 44

This was a very good defensive battle back and forth  but, in the end I really think it was MC’s size that won this game. Prairie du Chien could never really get things going on the offensive end.

Greendale 75 Whitefish Bay 68

If Greendale had played the way they played in this game against Onalaska they may of won that game. Greendale looked inside and used their size to score and hit their three point shots as well. On the other side Whitefish Bay was extremely undersized but, really fought tell the end. Greendale blitzed them early but, Bay fought back all game long and they shot the ball extremely well but, the lead they gave Greendale was too much.

Marshall 69 Brookfield Academy 67

Might of been the best game of the entire showcase. This game was back and forth all game long and seemed to be a three point contest. Every time one team would go up by about seven or eight points the other team would claw there way back and take the lead. Marshall loves to shoot the three and BA followed suit shooting the threes of their own. With Marshall up three, Brookfield Academy’s star 6’1 senior Ryan Cleary hit a three from the corner and then Marshall’s star 6’4 senior Adam Link drove the length of the court and hitting a running floater off the backboard and in to get the win.

De Pere 66 Wisconsin Lutheran 63

Despite having the size advantage it was the guards of De Pere that helped them get this win. De Pere jumped out early and Wisco got back into the game actually hitting threes this game but, De Pere was able to beat their pressure behind the strong play of their 6’2 senior guard Jordan Barthels. Barthels hit midrange jumpers all game and was able to seal the game late from the free throw line.

Oshkosh North 77 Milwaukee Vincent 70

This was a great battle between junior point guards, Vincent’s 5’9 Justin Brookens and North’s 5’7 Shane Wissink. Both guards were dropping threes all game long but, Wissink got a little more help and North turned the ball over a lot less then Vincent.

Wauwatosa East 56 Cedarburg 51

Cedarburg had this game completely in hand but, then some selfish play and some poor ball handling allowed Wauwatosa East to get back in this game very late and take the lead.

Stevens Point 77 Germantown 64

Everyone was there to watch Stevens Point and this game was no one near as close as this score appears. Point dominated from the start to finish and Germantown only made it respectable when Point pulled their starters and Germantown’s star 6’0 senior Juwan McCloud hitting three, three pointers late. For Point 6’6 senior Sam Hauser struggled to find his shot but, fellow senior 6’2 Trev Anderson was knocking down threes all game long in route to scoring 31 while Sam’s brother 6’7 sophomore Joey Hauser played very well and seems to be much improved from last year despite being so good a year ago. This game realistically was a 20 to 30 point game throughout.

All Tournament Team

1^st Team

Trev Anderson 6’2 senior Stevens Point- Has really improved his three point shot seems like he shoots about 75% from long range. Ultimate competitor that won’t let his team lose.

Jordan McCabe 5’11 sophomore Kaukauna- Best ball handler in the state. Really shoots the three well off the bounce and yes he shoots a lot but, he sets his team mates up a lot too. He is involved in almost every basket for his team.

Terrence Lewis 6’6 junior Milwaukee Riverside- Runs like a dear and is a real smooth player. He’s money from the corners from three point range doesn’t force things and lets the game come to him.

Joey Hauser 6’7 sophomore Stevens Point- Another very smooth player that lets things come to him and everything he does just looks so smooth and not rushed. Rebounds very well and can score in the post or outside.

John Diener 6’4 sophomore Cedarburg- A tough kid can that can score with the best of them. Shot it well from the outside and had a handful of and one baskets in each game he played.

Gacoby Jones 6’0 sophomore Dominican- Lightning quick point guard and no one could stay in front of him. When he wasn’t scoring he was finding open team mates.

Juwan McCloud 6’0 senior Germantown- Handle the ball extremely well and lit it up from the outside.

George Dixon 6’5 junior Milwaukee Riverside- Dominated the glass on both ends of the court and really showed the ability to handle the ball on the outside.

Ryan Cleary 6’1 senior Brookfield Academy- Big time scorer that can really put points on the board. Also a sharpshooter from the outside.

Bennett Vander Plas 6’7 junior Ripon- Might be a big man but, he can do a little bit of everything. Brings the ball up the court, can shoot the three, and can score in the paint.

2^nd Team

Elijah Moore 6’0 senior Whitefish Bay- Another big time scorer that can really hit the three and was able to get in the paint and score over bigger defenders.

Jalen Zubich 5’10 junior Onalaska- Really impressed me this week. Can really shoot the spot up three and is tough as nails on the court.

Shane Wissink 5’7 junior Oshkosh North- Just the perfect high school point guard in that he can run the offense and knock down the three point shot.

Justin Brookens 5’9 junior Milwaukee Vincent- High energy point guard that can knock down the three from anywhere on the court and can get in the lane and score over bigger defenders.

Brandon Neuberger 6’2 senior Marshall- Three point sharpshooter that doesn’t need a lot of room to get the shot off.

Jordan Johnson 6’3 junior Cedarburg- Big time scorer that can really light it up from the outside.

Edward Muench 6’3 junior Ripon- Another big time three point shooter that really carried his team at times from long range.

Adam Link 6’4 senior Marshall- Had an OK tournament but, put him over the top with a game winning shot.

Ben Retzlaff 6’1 senior McDonell Central- Was the high scorer on a team full of scorers. When he gets it going from down town he’s very tough to stop.

Noah Fredrickson 5’10 junior Onalaska- Another point guard that I really liked and has everything you look for in a high school point guard. Can really score but, also passes to teammates and does a great job of drawing the defense to him and kicking the ball out.

HM

Adam Smith 6’2 junior Kaukauna

Jason Klatt 5’10 junior St Thomas More

Caly Kuajwa 6’8 junior Greendale

Wes Meister 6’0 senior Arrowhead

Kostas Antetokounmpo 6’9 senior Dominican

Joseph Lemon 6’5 senior Brookfield Academy

Jordan Barthels 6’2 senior DePere

20plus Scorers

Jordan McCabe Kaukauna 34, 21

Trev Anderson Stevens Point 31

Terrence Lewis Milwaukee Riverside 30, 22

Ryan Cleary Brookfield Academy 28

Juwan McCloud Germantown 26

Jason Klatt St Thomas More 26

Bennett Vander Plas Ripon 25

Ryan McNeive St Thomas More 23

Jacob Burden Shoreland Lutheran 23

Edward Muench Ripon 23

Clay Kuajwa Greendale 23

John Diener Cedarburg 23

Elijah Moore Whitefish Bay 22

Austin Feyen St Mary’s Springs 22

Joey Hauser Stevens Point 21

Nakell Martin Milwaukee Washington 21

Colin Biesterfeld Kettle Moraine Lutheran 21

Walter Taylor University School 20

Ja’Vionne Green Wauwatosa East 20

Kurt Mueller St Mary’s Springs 20

Shane Wissink Oshkosh North 20

Brandon Neuberger Marshall 20

Adam Smith Kaukauna 20

Jordan Johnson Cedarburg 20

Gacoby Jones Dominican 20

Wes Meister Arrowhead 20

Was a fun but, very long three days and a must see for any basketball junkie. It’s a great time to see the best teams in the state of Wisconsin. After watching all these games it appears that the junior and sophomore class are both extremely talented and are probably more talented than the senior class. I’m alittle basketballed out so I may need a little break for the next few days.