WBBY Shootout

Was a good day of basketball but, a very long day that took it's tole on me. It was also two days ago now so I will do my best to do a recap on the long day of basketball where I watched seven straight games and then two halves of two other games. Were some good games, some lopsided games, and some games that were just a little boring which is pretty rare for me to say about a high school game.

Martin Luther 79 Brookfield Academy 49
I got to this game just before half time and this game was basically over before it started. Brookfield Academy is an extremely young team and their big man 6'10 senior Alex Setzer didn't play in the game. Martin Luther really pushed the tempo and looked for their three point shooters after they pushed that tempo and they were hitting their threes.

Kettle Moraine Lutheran 66 St. Thomas More 58
Thinking back now I really don't remember much of this game Lutheran was their typical team with no real star and just a very solid top eight players that they could rotate in. 6'2 senior Joey Behm is one of the few seniors on the team and he made his presence known from the outside hitting threes. For St Thomas More their star 5'10 senior Jason Klatt could never get himself going and really forced a lot.

Beaver Dam 63 Wausau West 61 
I watched this game and I was still surprised that this game went to over time. Beaver Dam clearly was the better team in my eyes but, Wausau West played extremely hard and fought to the bitter end and could of just as well as won this game. I don't know much about Nate Lemmons the coach of West but, he really impressed me and really got his players to play extremely hard for him. I will be curious to watch West in coming years. For Beaver Dam 5'11 senior Garrett Nelson was the best player in the game but, late in the game he forced things a bit too much an was out of control at times.

Wauwatosa East 62 Whitefish Bay Dominican 49
Tosa East may of won the game but, I have more to say about Dominican. East doesn't have any stars just a ton of good players and they are very balanced. Dominican has really took a step back and will probably take a year under Coach Gosz before he can put his stamp on this team. 6'1 junior Gacoby Jones seems a little lost right now in the offense. Last year the point guard dominated the ball and his primary offense was to drive to the rim and finish or dish off to a team mate. This year Jones is playing off the ball a good amount of time and was taking a lot more jumpers from the outside then he did in the past. Domincan overall is a young team with very little experience.

Milwaukee Pius 57 La Crosse Central 56
I think everyone came to watch Badger recruit 6'5 senior Kobe King and Central play and everyone had to come away very impressed by Pius. King did his thing whenever he touched the ball and looked very impressive and 6'0 senior Baily Kale struggled in the first half but, got it going late to bring Central back into this game. Pius came out like gang busters off the bat and jumped Central and Central had to claw back all game long. Pius is long and athletic and can shoot the three very well. Pius's starting lineup consists of five guys between 6'3 and 6'6 and they all move very well and can shoot.

Brookfield Central 59 Homestead 41
This was one of the more boring games as Central jumped out early and Homestead never really threatened to come back at all. Central moved the ball extremely well and have a solid point guard in 5'9 sophomore Gage Malensek and 6'2 junior Andres Peralta-Werns was draining threes from the outside in route to 27 points. Homestead had no offense what so ever other then a few dump downs to their big man but, other then that they settled for outside jumpers that just weren't falling.

Oshkosh North 94 Milwaukee Riverside 84
In a battle of top five teams North really showed that they are the top team in the state right now. Riverside just had nothing of a consistent offensive basis other then their star 6'6 senior Terrence Lewis. Lewis was the most impressive player in the game as he had 29 points in the first half and finished with 43. Lewis was hitting everything from the outside and was able to score on the inside and just seemed to have a nose for the ball. For North it was really a three headed monster that got it done and each took their turn doing it. 6'2 senior Brett Ellestad came off the bench with a monster first half knocking down the three point shot and saved one highlight for the second half with a nice breakaway dunk. 6'5 senior Philip Flory took his turn early in the second half scoring in transition and knocking down some outside shots and 6'5 junior Tyrese Haliburton finished it off when Riverside had to extend their defense and Haliburton was able to drive to the rim and score at will it seemed.

Kaukauna 84 Whitnall 57
This was probably deemed the game of the day but, unfortunately this game didn't live up to it. Whitnall couldn't do anything at all and Badger recruit 6'5 junior Tyler Herro probably had one of the worst games of his life scoring nine points and zero in the second half. Their number two guy 6'6 Kevon Taylor didn't even look to shoot it seemed and he hit a pair of shots late in the game. One thing that made this game interesting though was that it was the Jordan McCabe show. The 6'0 junior put on a And One like performance and was playing to the crowd who was oohing and awing all game long and McCabe was loving every second of it and was playing to the crowd. McCabe did it all knocking down NBA threes, scoring in the lane, rebounding, and of course his passing with no looks and behind the backs.

Personal All Showcase Team (from Day 3 anyway)
1st team
Jordan McCabe 6'0 junior Kaukauna
Terrence Lewis 6'6 senior Milwaukee Riverside
Kobe King 6'4 senior La Crosse Central
Garrett Nelson 5'11 senior Beaver Dam
Bailey Kale 6'0 senior La Crosse Central

2nd Team
Tyrese Haliburton 6'5 junior Oshkosh North
Michael Pitrof 6'3 senior Milwaukee Pius
Brett Ellestad 6'2 senior Oshkosh North
Andres Peralta-Werns 6'2 junior Brookfield Central
Carlos Curtis 6'3 junior Milwaukee Riverside

3rd Team
Victor Nwagbaraocha 6'4 senior Milwaukee Pius
Philip Flory 6'5 senior Oshkosh North
Joey Behm 6'2 senior Kettle Moraine Lutheran
Tommy Borta 6'7 senior Wausau West
Gage Malensek 5'9 sophomore Brookfield Central

This tournament always has some great story lines and this one was no different. D2 was the biggest story with Lax Central handling Kaukauna and then going and getting beat by Pius, while Kaukauna dominated Whitnall. Oshkosh North showed their dominance which a huge win over Riverside as did Ripon winning both of their games. Potentially their may of been three state champions here and maybe even four if you count the Prairie School who I didn't get an opportunity to watch.

Week 5 Rankings

Well another week is in the books so time for another round of my weekly rankings. Wasn't a ton of games this past week with the holiday but, this coming week should provide some changes with multiple big name teams playing each other in the holiday tournaments.

Division One
Vincent lost to a team from Indiana but, again I never hold that against teams as we truly don't know anything about the out of state teams. Madison Memorial lost to Janesville Craig who had been ranked earlier in the year but, still drop to 10 being their second loss. Riverside also lost to a team from Indiana so we really won't count that one. Racine Park lost to Racine Case and drop just behind Memorial at 11. Mukwonago lost to Waukesha West which is a bad loss but, they had recently beaten Muskego so they stay at 12. Sun Prairie lost to Madison West and fell out of the rankings and allowing me to get rid of the 15a and b.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Milwaukee Vincent
3. Middleton
4. Milwaukee Riverside
5. Kimberly 
6. Stevens Point
7. Brookfield Central
8. Arrowhead
9. Menomonee Falls
10. Madison Memorial
11. Racine Park
12. Mukwonago
13. Muskego
14. Bay Port
15. De Pere

Division Two
Kaukauna lost to Appleton West which isn't terrible but, with all the tough teams they drop to seven. West De Pere lost to Green Bay Southwest and fall to 15. Eisenhower lost to Milwaukee Pius and Pewaukee and drop from the rankings and are replaced by Pius.

1. La Crosse Central
2. Cedarburg
3. Waunakee 
4. Whitnall
5. La Crosse Logan
6. Stoughton
7. Kaukauna
8. Pewaukee
9. Onalaska
10. Milwaukee Washington
11. Beaver Dam
12. Milwaukee Pius
13. Wisconsin Lutheran
14. Wauwatosa West
15. West De Pere

Division Three
Prairie du Chien lost to a top D2 team in Onalaska which dropped them to seven with all the undefeated teams at the top. Evansville was upset by Oregon and drop to 13. Southern Door lost to Sturgeon Bay and I just couldnt' see dropping them below the Dells so they stay at 14.

1. Ripon
2. Xavier
3. Lake Mills
4. Prescott
5. Waupun
6. Columbus
7. Prairie du Chien
8. Beloit Turner
9. GET
10. Dominican
11. Valders
12. Westby
13. Evansville
14. Southern Door
15. Wisconsin Dells

Division Four
Melrose Mindoro lost to Cochrane-Fountain City so felt that I had to drop them behind Cochrane at 12. Marathon lost to Auburndale and fall to 14. Lourdes lost to Markesan and fell out of the rankings and are replaced by Edgar at 15.

1. Darlington
2. Laconia
3. Destiny
4. The Prairie School
5. Shiocton
6. Markesan
7. Kenosha St Joseph
8. Eau Claire Regis
9. Stanley-Boyd
10. Howards Grove
11. Cochrane-Fountain City
12. Melrose Mondoro
13. Wabeno/Laona
14. Marathon
15. Edgar

Division Five
Sheboygan Christian was the only team that lost dropping a game to Hilbert and are replaced by Phelps at 15.

1. Columbus Catholic
2. Barneveld
3. Shullsburg
4. Hilbert
5. Bangor
6. Seneca
7. Loyal
8. McDonnell Central
9. Assumption
10. Alma/Pepin
11. Almond Bancroft
12. Gresham
13. Pecatonica
14. Port Edwards
15. Phelps

Madison West upsets Sun Prairie

In another attempt to just get some more games under my belt I went to Sun Prairie basically to catch a game in my mind. Sun Prairie was a team currently ranked in the top 10 in the state and Madison West was 2-6 so I was expecting blow out, and it was anything but that and was surprised with West coming up with the win. I expected to see a West team that was full of athletes and was deep but, lacked disciplined and didn't play together and would underachieve. Shockingly West doesn't have all that talent and they really rely on their top two players in seniors 6'2 Terrell Carey and 5'9 Simeon Parker. On the Sun Prairie side they really lacked any scoring and turned the ball over and that may of been because their top scorer 6'4 junior Marlon Ruffin really struggled and 6'1 senior point guard Sean Suchomel was in foul trouble much of the night.

For about the first two thirds of the game all the calls went to Sun Prairie and I found myself even questioning some of the fouls on West and typically I side with the ref. West is a pretty aggressive in your face team so fouls are going to happen but, a blocking call on Carey I didn't agree with and I questioned a technical called on another West player which I guess could of been something he said as he really did nothing at all that I could tell. Ref also called a timeout once to basically tell a West player to keep his mouth shut. In the first half Ruffin couldn't do anything which may of been due to the defense of Carey who was very physical with Ruffin and took him out of his element. Thankfully for Sun Prairie junior 6'2 Caden White had a nice first half carry the offense before Carey picked up two fouls and couldn't guard Ruffin anymore. In the final three minutes Ruffin took advantage scoring seven straight points. For West the outside shooting was horrible and they couldn't hit everything and they really relied on Carey's drive to the hoop like a freight train and many times it took him two shots. Sun Prairie led at half 27 to 23.

Things stayed fairly consistent in the second half with neither team playing great basketball and Sun Prairie keeping their lead. Then about the 10 minute mark all heck broke loose and the switch was flipped as West pressured Sun Prairie into turnover after turnover and they started to get back into the game and then took the lead and never looked back. Second half it was really the Simeon Parker show as no one could stay in front of him and he got to the hoop multiple times finishing with floaters in the lane or find Carey and company wide open under the hoop. In the end Sun Prairie just wasn't able to hit the outside shot and the West pressure was too much. Sun Prairie also struggled keeping West off the glass as time and again West got offensive rebounds even on missed free throws which just can not happen. West actually ended up running away with it 66-51 in the end.

Top Players
Terrell Carey 6'2 senior Madison West- Madison ESPN radio finished with 27 points and 23 rebounds. Don't need to say any more. Carey is just a beast on the court. He may not be the greatest basketball player but, he's probably one of the strongest and definitely going to work the hardest. With West's lack of height needs to dominate the glass. Couldn't make an outside shot to save his life but, Sun Prairie couldn't stop him from getting in the lane and scoring around the basket and if there was a rebound to be had on either end of the court he was going to make it.

Simeon Parker 5'9 senior Madison West- Really the first time I've seen Parker play extended minutes and I was super impressed. I really wish he was about 6'0 to 6'2 though. If he was he would be a monster college recruit and would be getting a lot of hype. Has a tremendous stop and go move with the ball in his hand and despite his height when he goes to the rim on the left side he's going to score. Outside shot was off but, that didn't matter and he's was able to score one on one at any time. Also showed some nice hoops going to the rim and trying to block shots.

Marlon Ruffin 6'4 junior Sun Prairie- Has really grown into his body now and looks like a legit 6'4. Pretty smooth finesse player that likes to make his one move and go. Not a great ball handler but, a really good athlete that uses his long strides to get past the defender and score at the rim. Had a nice drive where he drove from the left elbow came back to the right side and finished with a nice little dunk.

Box Score 
West 66- Carey 27 Parker 19 Xavier Miller 7 Keishawn Shanklin 6 Casey Bradt 5 Jaden Stephens 2 Jared Manke 0 
SP 51- Ruffin 15 White 10 Suchomel 9 Marty Strey 6 Cooper Nelson 4 Colin Schaefer 3 Mitch Schroeder 2 Alec Schaefer 2 Jack Zander 0 Santana Bernard 0

Some final thoughts West has two very good players and will go as far as those two will take and with those two they will beat some teams they shouldn't in conference but, in all likely hood will be towards bottom of the conference. For Sun Prairie I just don't know. Watching them they were not a top 10 team but, they had three guys not suited up for whatever reasons and then 6'5 senior Nate Verstegen was no where to be seen and he's a four year varsity guy. They will probably finish top half of the conference but, honestly won't be a real playoff threat.

Wisconsin Dells over Marshall

I was determined to get to a game tonight so I took in the closest game to me and one of the few games being played in my home town Wisconsin Dells. Dells had a pretty decent record and they were playing Marshall who has had a pretty strong tradition so I figured what the heck, close and should be a solid game.

I have to be honest the Wisconsin Dells team really surprised me. They seem to have a lot more height then the last couple days and have a lot of long lanky guys that are around 6'3 or so. This was a pretty physical game throughout as both teams did their fair share of pushing and grabbing which led to both teams finding themselves in foul trouble in the first half and then again in the second half. Early on both teams looked to run and Marshall took the lead behind some hot shooting from 5'11 junior Reece Leistikow who hit a pair of early threes. Later in the half Marshall got their points from the free throw line where they only shot about 50 percent while Dells started hitting the threes. I really think it was Marshall's lack of subbing that hurt them late as they couldn't keep up with the Dells players which led to wide open three after wide open three. Dells sharpshooter 6'3 junior Alex Weiss was unconscious hitting four straight threes at one point and the fifth shot rimmed out. Weiss even banked in a three at the buzzer leading to 22 points in the first half. The hot shooting led to a 48 to 36 lead at half.

In the second half Marshall went to a zone defense which slowed the Dells offense down and they kind of stalled for the first nine minutes of the second half. Even with the Dells offense stalling Marshall just couldn't get any momentum and never got the lead down to single digits and never really threaten the Dells too much. Leistikow forced some shots driving to the lane where he scored but, he seemed to struggle most of the night with the Dells length. The other issue for Marshall was that outside of Leistiko, 6'5 senior Adam Wehking was really the only other consistent scorer. Wehking did a nice job battling on the glass and scoring on put backs and post ups. Marshall really struggled feeding the post so Wehking had to just outwork guys to get his baskets on the glass. Freshmen 6'3 Tyler Chadwick seemed like another scoring threat but, he really struggled with his shot all night and could never get things going.

Wisconsin Dells finally did get things going the way you always do against the zone defense by getting the ball to the free throw line hitting three shots from around 15 foot and finding cutters when they got the ball to the low post. A pair of back to back and one's really sunk Marshalls chances and then were sealed when Leistikow fouled out with about three minutes left and then got a technical leading to Weiss hitting all four of his free throw shots.

Top Players
Alex Weiss 6'3 junior Wisconsin Dells- A sharpshooter from the outside. When he gets his feet set he's going to knock down the shot. Hit a huge bank in three at the first half buzzer and you knew it was his night.

Tanner Brandt 6'6 junior Wisconsin Dells- I really love this kid. Moves so well for a big kid and has a wide array of moves from 15 feet and in. Question his physicality and his defense but, his offense is a really developed. Hit a pair of 15 foot shots, drove the lane, and showed some nice touch on the hook shot.

Peyton Rohling 6'0 senior Wisconsin Dells- Just a solid point guard. Really leads the team and he did take some questionable shots but, he's the only guy on the Dells that could really create his own shot at least off the dribble.

Reece Leistikow 5'11 junior Marshall- Can tell he's a scorer by the way he plays. High energy kid and force things at times but, on this team he has to.

Adam Wehking 6'5 senior Marshall- You can tell he's a three year starter. Just a calming influence on the court. Seems to always be covering up for team mates on defense around the rim, grabs all the rebounds, scores in the post, if he got better feeds, and has added an outside shot this year.

Box Score
WD 76- Weiss 26 Brandt 19 Rohling 11 Colin Hirst 9 Matt Lutter 7 Jackson Sveum 4 Carter McCloskey 0 Jacob Pakos 0 Chase Slack 0
M 60- Zeistikow 21 Wehking 16 Chadwick 5 Nathan Hatzinger 5 Kelvin Opoku-Appoh 5 Adam Wildman 4 Blake Luzenski 3 Hunter Utz 1

Some final thoughts. Both these teams will probably have pretty good regular seasons and contend for their conference titles but, on the state level neither one will make a dent. Maybe a sectional run depending who they see but, not past that. Dells has a pretty nice starting five but, nothing off the bench so they could hurt them a bit and Marshall really only has three guys that are looking to score. So for both teams depth will be a concern.

Week 4 Rankings

Well here is another Sunday and once again I didn't get a chance to go to any games do to the weather. So here are my week 4 rankings which is turning out to be my only post currently. Next week my goal is to make at least one game.

Division One
Madison Memorial was upset by Madison East but, I couldn't see dropping Memorial behind Middleton so they dropped only to the three spot. Muskego lost to Mukwonago which was to be expected and drop just two spots to 14.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Milwaukee Vincent
3. Madison Memorial
4. Middleton
5. Milwaukee Riverside
6. Kimberly
7. Stevens Point
8. Racine Park
9. Brookfield Central
10. Arrowhead
11. Mukwonago
12. Sun Prairie
13. Menomonee Falls
14. Muskego
15a. Bay Port
15b. De Pere

Division Two
Wauwatosa West dropped a game to Eisenhower and felt obligated to drop them behind Eisenhower at 15.

1. Kaukauna
2. La Crosse Central
3. Cedarburg
4. Waunakee
5. Whitnall
6. La Crosse Logan
7. Stoughton
8. Pewaukee
9. Onalaska
10. Milwaukee Washington
11. Beaver Dam
12. Wisconsin Lutheran
13. West De Pere
14. New Berlin Eisenhower
15. Wauwatosa West

Division Three
Beloit Turner lost to Evansville which is a tough one but they fell to nine. GET lost to Onalaska a ranked D2 team which you can't fall them so they stay put at 10. Mauston lost to Holmen and Wisconsin Dells andEdgewood lost to Madison West knock both teams from the rankings and allowing Southern Door and Wisconsin Dells to jump into the rankings.

1. Ripon
2. Xavier
3. Prairie du Chien
4. Lake Mills
5. Prescott
6. Waupun
7. Evansville
8. Columbus
9. Beloit Turner
10. GET
11. Dominican
12. Valders
13. Westby
14. Southern Door
15. Wisconsin Dells

Divison Four
Phillips lost to Prentice and fall from the rankings and are replaced by Wabeno/Laona.

1. Darlington
2. Laconia
3. Destiny
4. The Prairie School
5. Melrose Mindoro
6. Shiocton
7. Markesan
8. Kenosha St Joe's 
9. Eau Claire Regis
10. Stanley-Boyd
11. Marathon
12. Howards Grove
13. Cochrane-Fountain City
14. Oshkosh Lourdes
15. Wabeno/Laona

Division Five
Sheboygan Christian lost to a ranked D4 team in Howards Grove so they hang on to the rankings but, barely at 15.

1. Columbus Catholic
2. Barneveld
3. Shullsburg
4. Hilbert
5. Bangor
6. Seneca
7. Loyal
8. McDonnell Central
9. Assumption
10. Alma/Pepin
11. Almond Bancroft
12. Gresham
13. Pecatonica
14. Port Edwards
15. Sheboygan Christian

Week 3 Rankings

Unfortunately there haven't been many good games in my area so I didn't see any games this past week and this next week I've got some things going on but, hopefully will get a game in Tuesday night and then Saturday depending how long my plans last for. Anyway today is Sunday and my last post was last weeks rankings and now the very next post will be more rankings. Seems like things have really been shaken up in the rankings so will see how things shook up. As I type this I haven't looked deep into the wins and loses but, seemed like a lot of top teams lost this past week.

Division One
Racine Park lost badly to Oak Creek which is bad lose and I dropped them to eight just behind Stevens Point who lost to Bay Port, which wasn't to bad and allowed Bay Port to jump into the rankings at 15. Vincent lost to a team from Minnesota Brooklyn Center but, I never hold out of state opponents against teams because how can you? Also I have no idea how good these teams are.De Pere lost a pair of games to Kimberly and Stevens Point which were both to be expected so they hung on to the rankings at 15b mostly because I meant to keep them in the rankings but, forgot and couldn't decide who to drop out. Craig lost to Middleton and Sun Prairie and fall from the rankings and are replaced by Sun Prairie at 13. Marquette lost to Menomonee Falls and fall from the rankings while Falls takes there spot at 14. Germantown lost to Wisconsin Lutheran and Homestead and fall from the rankings allowing an undefeated and state team a year ago in Muskego to get into the rankings.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Madison Memorial
3. Milwaukee Vincent
4. Middleton
5. Milwaukee Riverside
6. Kimberly
7. Stevens Point
8. Racine Park
9. Brookfield Central
10. Arrowhead
11. Mukwonago
12. Muskego
13. Sun Prairie
14. Menomonee Falls
15a. Bay Port
15b. De Pere

Division Two
Whitefish Bay took a another tough lose to West De Pere as did New Berlin Eisenhower who lost to Whitnall. So it came down to who lost to the better team and I decided Eisenhower so Whitefish Bay is out. Eisenhower did beat Brown Deer though and Brown Deer falls from the rankings because they were 15 and Lutheran jumps in at 13 having beat some good D1 schools. West De Pere was mistakenly put in D3 and are rightfully but, in two now.

1. Kaukauna 
2. La Crosse Central
3. Cedarburg
4. Waunakee
5. Whitnall
6. La Crosse Logan
7. Stoughton
8. Pewaukee
9. Wauwatosa West
10. Onalaska 
11. Milwaukee Washington
12. Beaver Dam
13. Wisconsin Lutheran
14. West De Pere
15. New Berlin Eisenhower

Division Three
Waupun lost to Cambelsport a bad lost but, a conference opponent, same can be said for Evansville who lost to McFarland. Waupun falls to seven and Evansville eight. Edgewood lost to Stoughton and Mt Horeb to pretty good D2 schools and fall to 15 hanging on in the rankings. With West De Pere getting put in correct division Westby is able to jump into the rankings.

1. Ripon
2. Xavier
3. Prairie du Chien
4. Lake Mills
5. Prescott
6. Beloit Turner
7. Waupun
8. Evansville
9. Columbus
10. GET
11. Dominican
12. Mauston
13.Valders
14. Westby
15. Madison Edgewood

Divison Four
Some tough games this week as Shiocton lost to a much bigger Sheboygan North, Markesan lost to Laconia which is to be expected, and Kenosha St Joe's lost to a very good and bigger Milwaukee Washington team dropping those three teams to seven, eight, and nine. Phillips lost to Hayward and Howards Grove lost to Oostburg dropping them to 12 and 13. Lourdes lost to Valley Christian but, hang on to the rankings at 15. St Marys Springs lost to Hope Christian and fall from the rankings and are replaced by Cochrane-Fountain City.

1. Darlington
2. Laconia
3. Destiny
4. The Prairie School
5. Melrose Mindoro
6. Shiocton
7. Markesan
8. Kenosha St Joe's
9. Eau Claire Regis
10. Stanley-Boyd
11. Marathon
12. Phillips
13. Howards Grove
14. Cochrane-Fountain City
15. Oshkosh Lourdes

Division Five
Sheboygan Christian lost to St Mary's Springs a good D4 team and drop just alittle to 12 while Port Edwards lost to Almond Bancroft a team ranked just a head of them and fall to 15.

1. Columbus Catholic
2. Barneveld
3. Shullsburg
4. Hilbert
5. Bangor
6. Seneca
7. Loyal
8. McDonnell Central
9. Assumption
10. Alma/Pepin
11. Almond Bancroft
12. Sheboygan Christian
13. Gresham
14. Pecatonica
15. Port Edwards

Week 2 Rankings

Well it's another Sunday so time for my new weekly rankings. There was some turnover as some of the top teams lost, so this may take me a little bit with all the changes at the top.

Division One
Middleton dropped a game to a very good Madison Memorial team, while Riverside lost to Milwaukee Marquette. Arrowhead lost to Wisconsin Lutheran. Fond du Lac dropped a pair of games to Menomonee Falls and Oshkosh West and fall from the rankings as did Madison East who lost to Sun Prairie and Janesville Craig. Mukwonago lost to Brookfield Central. Germantown lost to Milwaukee Hamilton.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Madison Memorial
3. Racine Park
4. Milwaukee Vincent
5. Stevens Point
6. Middleton
7. Milwaukee Riverside
8. Kimberly
9. De Pere
10. Janesville Craig
11. Brookfield Central
12. Milwaukee Marquette
13. Arrowhead
14. Mukwonago
15. Germantown

Division Two
No one dropped out  but, where some changes. Onalaska lost to Chippewa Falls, which is a bad lose and fall to 11. Eisenhower lost to Muskego and fall to 14. Whitefish Bay lost to Cedarburg which is to be expected so they fall just a little to 10 while,  Brown Deer lost to Riverside and drop to 15.

1. Kaukauna 
2. La Crosse Central
3. Cedarburg
4. Waunakee
5. Whitnall
6. La Crosse Logan
7. Stoughton
8. Pewaukee
9. Wauwatosa West
10. Whitefish Bay
11. Onalaska
12. Milwaukee Washington
13. Beaver Dam
14. New Berlin Eisenhower
15. Brown Deer

Division Three
Dominican had a tough start to the year and lost to Roncalli, Pewaukee, and Milwaukee Vincent so they are a tough one to rank and I decided to drop them to 13 to keep them in the rankings. Valders lost to West De Pere, allowing West De Pere into the rankings and Valders dropping to 15. Mauston was killed by Lake Mills which is to be expected so they dropped to 14. Marshall lost to Whitewater and Poynette and fell out of the rankings.

1. Ripon
2. Waupun
3. Xavier
4. Prairie du Chien
5. Lake Mills
6. Prescott
7. Evansville
8. Beloit Turner
9. Columbus
10. Edgewood
11. GET
12. West De Pere
13. Dominican
14. Mauston
15. Valders

Division Four
Destiny lost to Milwaukee Pius and The Prairie School lost to Appleton Xavier both teams that would of beaten anyone in D4 so I dropped them just to four and five. Eau Claire Regis lost to Bloomer and Lourdes lost to Laconia dropping them to 11 and 12. Marathon lost to Mosinee and St Marys Springs lost to Shiocton dropping both teams to 14 and 15 just behind Stanley-Boyd who jump into the rankings having defeated D5 power McDonnell Central, while Winnebago Lutheran lost to Sheboygan Falls and St Mary's Springs and fell from the rankings.

1. Darlington
2. Laconia
3. Shiocton
4. Destiny
5. The Prairie School
6. Markesan
7. Kenosha St Joe's 
8. Melrose Mindoro
9. Phillips
10. Howardes Grove
11. Eau Claire Regis
12. Oshkosh Lourdes
13. Stanley-Boyd
14. Marathon
15. St. Marys Springs

Division Five
McDonnell Central lost to Prescott and Stanley-Boyd both very good teams so Central drops only to 9. Loyal lost to a ranked D3 team in GET and stay ahead of Central at seven. Gresham lost to Algoma and Pecatonica lost to Cuba City dropping both teams to 14 and 15.

1. Columbus Catholic
2. Barneveld 
3. Shullsburg
4. Hilbert
5. Bangor
6. Seneca
7. Loyal
8. McDonell Central
9. Sheboygan Christian
10. Assumption
11. Alma/Pepin
12. Almond Bancroft
13. Port Edwards
14. Gresham
15. Pecatonica

Madison Memorial edges out Middleton

In a battle of top five teams in the state Memorial out lasted Middleton in a high energy game and I think they players felt that energy which led to some so so shooting throughout for both teams. I think some of the players were just a little to hyped up and being that this was the first and second game of the season for each of the teams, which was probably a factor as well. I've always thought that Memorial would be a tough place to play for the visitor and tonight was just another game to validate that.

Couple things that came out of this game is Middleton is probably not a #1 team that I had them ranked in the preseason at least not at this time. I also think that Middleton will get their and continue to improve. Memorial is not like their explosive high flying teams of the past and will have to grind out some games with their size and defense on the front line.

Three point shooting, defense, and rebounding played the biggest roll in the game tonight. Middleton shot absolutely terrible front the outside overall specifically their three star seniors 5'11 Storm Murphy, 6'5 Tyree Eady, and 6'0 CJ Fermanich. Not one of the big three hit a three point shot and none of them played real well overall with the exception of Murphy's drives to the hoop. Middleton did hit five threes in the game as Myron Ashord 6'1 senior hit three monster threes in the second half and 6'3 junior Davis Roquet hit back to back threes in the first half but, I would guess Middleton shot at least 25 threes in the game. On the other side, Memorial only took three, threes by my count and went 0-3. Point I'm making is Middleton relies on the three while Memorial does not and Middleton was not making them. When looking at the defense I would give another plus to Memorial as their size really caused some issues with their huge front line of seniors with 6'6 Jake Ferguson, 6'7 Matt Caropreso, and 6'8 Chris Knight. Those three big guys really clogged things up on the inside for anyone not named Storm Murphy and Knight had a pair of back to back blocks late in the second half when Middleton was making a come back. Memorial also switched up their defense a lot as they have often the last few years playing a tough man to man and then employing the 1-3-1 with Ferguson out top. Speaking of Ferguson he had the first dunk of the year with a run of the mill two handed break away dunk. For Middleton their defense was just a little two aggressive playing up on Memorial which allowed the Memorial players to make a quick first step and get to the rim or make a hard cut to the rim without the ball. Rebounding was the age old story Memorial dominated the glass head lined by Caropreso who is a tireless working on the glass getting offensive rebounds and put backs.

This game was really back and forth with Memorial holding the lead throughout but, Middleton kept the game within five most of the night. At half Memorial was up one and then Murphy missed the three at the buzzer with a chance to tie the game. In the second half Knight got things going as Middleton really only had one guy that good guard him in 6'5 senior Jack Smith and any time Smith went out of the game it seemed Knight would score. In the end though I really came away with the story line of Middleton's poor outside shooting not to say Middleton gave them the game and that they were the better team because Memorial did their thing rebounding and limiting inside shots.

Top Players 
Chris Knight 6'8 senior Memorial- Not a monster night for him by any means but, he did a nice job rebounding throughout and the highlights of the night was probably his back to back blocks. Did a nice job of making his free throws in the second half to seal the game.

Matt Caropreso 6'7 senior Memorial- Just does the dirty work for Memorial every game. Battles on the boards on both ends of the court and shows a nice little post game from time to time.

Storm Murphy 5'11 senior Middleton- Really an improved player from last year and he was great last year. Despite his size was able to finish around the rim over and around much taller defenders, finishing with both hands. Despite the poor shooting he handled the ball tremendously and didn't turn it over and probably missed out on a handful of assists due to missed shots and blocks.

Myron Ashford 6'1 senior Middleton- One of the few guys that shot the ball well. Hit three monster threes as well as a deep jumper in the second half to lead the Middleton comeback.

Box Score Starters Italics
Memorial 56- Knight 16 Ferguson 11 Caropreso 10 Billy Wilson 6 Ian Brown 6 Robert Bennett 5 Logan Knecht 2 Chase Danielson 0
Middleton 53- Murphy 14 Ashford 11 Eady 10 Roquet 8 Smith 6 Fermanich 2 Ben Jackson 2 Parker Sigmon 0 Alan Roden 0 Brett Wipfi 0

Just some final thoughts. I think these two teams are the cream of the crop in the Big Eight and the second match up will have some conference title implications in the balance. Middleton will shake this game off and could very well win out in the conference as Memorial will probably do the same. At the end of the day these two teams are both top 10 minimum if not top five teams in the state.