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.