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.