Week 5 Rankings

Another week has come so time for my new rankings. 

Division One

Eau Claire North dropped a game to River Falls which was a bad loss and they fell to 13. Madison Memorial lost a game to Janesville Craig which wasn't a huge upset and they had just beaten Sun Prairie so they stay at seven. Oshkosh West lost to Appleton West and fall from the rankings replaced by Kimberly. 

1. Oshkosh North

2. Waunakee

3. Bay Port

4. Brookfield East

5. Franklin

6. Racine Park

7. Madison Memorial

8. Sun Prairie

9. Brookfield Central

10. Stevens Point

11. Madison La Follette

12. Sussex Hamilton

13. Eau Claire North

14. Arrowhead

15. Kimberly

Division Two

Kaukauna lost to a team from out of state so I don't hold it against them. Wisconsin Lutheran lost to Whitnall and Wauwatosa East and fell from the rankings. Wauwatosa West lost to Sussex Hamilton and Brookfield Central and also fell from the rankings. Union Grove lost to the Prairie School and fell to 15. Marshfield lost to Eau Claire North and with their record I just couldn't see keeping in the rankings. 

1. Pewaukee

2. Whitnall

3. Kaukauna

4. Milwaukee Washington

5. La Crosse Central

6. Cedarburg

7. Stoughton

8. Monona Grove

9. Pulaski

10. Onalaska

11. Burlington

12. Westosha Central

13. Mount Horeb

14. Milwaukee North

15. Union Grove

Division Three

GET was beaten by a very good Onalaska team and drop just a couple spots to five. East Troy lost to Martin Luther which is to be expected so they fall only to 15. Lake Mills lost to Sauk Prairie and fall from the rankings and their replaced by Lakeside Lutheran which I've completely overlooked so far in the rankings. . 

1. Appleton Xavier 

2. Waupun

3. Dominican

4. Brown Deer

5. GET

6. Wrightstown

7. Prescott

8. Martin Luther

9. Wisconsin Dells

10. Racine St Catherines

11. Lakeside Lutheran

12. Brookfield Academy

13. Valders

14. Arcadia

15. East Troy

Division Four

Marathon was upset by Auburndale and fall to seven. Shiocton lost to a bigger school in Omro as did Darlingont who lost to Platteville because of this fact both teams hang on to the rankings at 14 and 15. 

1. New Glarus

2. Destiny

3. The Prairie School

4. Howards Grove

5. Clear Lake

6. Roncalli

7. Marathon

8. Mineral Point

9. Manitowoc Lutheran

10. Melrose Mindoro

11. Webster

12. Cuba City

13. Fennimore

14. Shiocton

15. Darlington

Division Five

Solon Springs lost to South Shore, Royal lost to Necedah and Almond Bancroft lost to Pacelli dropping them all to five, six, and seven.. Mcdonald Central lost to Clear Lake and Osseo Fairchild and fall from the rankings as did Black Hawk who lost to Platteville. Auburndale lost to Edgar and dropped a couple spots to 12. Pecatonica and Southewestern are new to the rankings. 

1. Bangor

2. Sheboygan Lutheran

3. Wauzeka Steuben

4. Seneca

5. Columbus Catholic

6. Solon Springs

7. Royal

8. Almond Bancroft

9. Amherst

10. Port Edwards

11. Potosi

12. Auburndale

13. Wild Rose

14. Pecatonica

15. Southwestern

Top Dunks and Top Scoring

Like last year I'm going to track the top 10 dunks that I've seen and in addition I'll be tracking the top 10 scoring nights that I've seen throughout the year.

Top Dunks 
1. Jalen Johnson 6'8 sophomore Sun Prairie vs Madison East December 21
Johnson caught the ball in transition one dribble to cut back to the middle to the court from the left side and threw it down over an East defender. This was very much a Giannis type dunk.

2. Jalen Johnson 6'8 sophomore Sun Prairie vs Madison East December 21
Dunk came 30 seconds after the previous one. Was your normal break away dunk but, he cupped it with his right hand and threw it down right handed. This was also right after the crowd was riding him.

3. Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie vs Madison Memorial December 16
Ruffin straight up picked the pocket of the Memorial ball handler and took the ball the length of the court and threw it down hard one handed.

4. Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie vs Madison East December 21
Was basically the same dunk as the other but, it this one the ball just found him in the open and threw it down hard again.

Top Scorers
1. 26 points Keshawn Justice 6'6 senior Madison East vs Sun Prairie December 21 

26 points Mason Peterson 6'3 senior Baraboo vs Wisconsin Dells December 5

3. 24 points Mitch Listau 6'5 senior Waunakee vs Milwaukee Riverside December 16

4. 22 points Mason Steffen 6'4 senior Waunakee vs Milwaukee Riverside December 16 

5. 20 points Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie vs Madison East December 21

6. 18 points Datril Thompson 5'8 senior Madison East vs Madison Memorial December 14 

7. 18 points Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie vs Madison Memorial December 16 

8. 17 points Jalen Johnson 6'8 sophomore Sun Prairie vs Madison East December 21

9. 16 points Jason Webb Jr 6'0 senior Milwaukee Riverside vs Waunakee December 16

10. 15 points Earl Lewis 6'0 senior Madison East vs Sun Prairie December 21

15 points Jackson Sveum 6'5 senior Wisconsin Dells vs Baraboo December 5 

Sun Prairie over Madison East

Took in an extremely intense basketball game at Madison East last night. I swear it's just the overall atmosphere of playing at East but, the games there are always intense. I will stand by the fact that I believe that East has the best atmosphere for watching a game in the entire state. The small gym and the students behind the hoops just can't be beat. East is also I team that thrives on the energy and I think they love to play in these games. This game was full of a ton of jawing going back and forth, had a technical, in my opinion could of been three or four called, and I believe even a student being escorted out by school security.

Early on East came out and really threw the first punch taking the lead throughout much of the first half. East senior 6'6 Keshawn Justice has now climbed to the top of my player rankings after not even making an appearance in my initial rankings. Justice hit some monster threes in the first half, some of which were extremely tough shots falling away, and did a little jawing with the Sun Prairie bench. Early on East did a fairly solid job on the defensive side in particular on Sun Prairie's senior 6'4 Marlon Ruffin. East did a lot of switching on the defensive end but, in particular it was 6'3 sophomore Keonte Jones guarding Ruffin. Jones did a good job of just pestering Ruffin from the time he stepped in from the end line and was just a constant nuisance. Fellow senior 6'2 Taylor Jansen did a nice job of getting to the rim and scoring early on. 6'8 sophomore phenom Jalen Johnson played tonight for I think the first time of the season and from the moment he stepped on the court things change. Johnson took the focus off Ruffin which allowed Ruffin to just work man to man where he was able to get to the rim. Johnson looked a little rough early on and Justice did a nice job of guarding Johnson and getting in his head a bit. East took the half time lead of one.

In the second half though Johnson got himself with a couple nice dunks in the transition but, it seemed like Justice was always there to match him with a big three for East. Ruffin was able to knock a pair of threes down for Sun Prairie and 6'3 senior Marty Strey is a just a warrior on the inside and was able to score a little bit in the paint. Justice got some second half help from 6'0 senior Earl Lewis who hit some huge threes and had a couple nice drives to the rim. His size hurt him a bit as he found himself throwing up some wild shots and getting blocked. Sun Prairie may of sealed the deal by double teaming Justice and late in the game he was just too tired to do anything against the double team.

Top Players
Keshawn Justice 6'6 senior Madison East- Really impressive this game. He played the entire game and he finally was hitting the threes which was nice to see. Also really impressed with his defense in particularirly guarding Johnson. Could get his shot at any time and could hit any shot.

Earl Lewis 6'0 senior Madison East- Helped out Justice a lot in the scoring column. Hitting the spot up threes and was able to drive the lane and hit some tough floaters.

Jalen Johnson 6'8 sophomore Sun Prairie- Didn't start the game but, from the moment he stepped on the court he was the best player on the court and he isn't even at full strength. Has really filled out and is just a smart player to go along with his skill. Shooting was a little off but, he plays like a big time guard with his passing ability and driving to the lane. Really showed off his skill with a transition dunk in traffic.

Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie- Hit a pair of big threes, one of which was a very nice step back three. He's usually the best athlete on the court. Did a nice job of battling on the glass and scoring second chance buckets. Used his strength and leaping ability to get to the rim and score.

Box Score
Sun Prairie 64- Ruffin 20 Johnson 17 Jansen 12 Strey 9 Caden White 4 Colin Schaefer 2 Rajai Williams 0 Alex Schaefer 0 Cooper Nelson 0
Madison East 56- Justice 26 Lewis 15 Jones 8 Datril Thompson 3 Davion Washington 2 Anthony Washington 2 Damontae Thompson 0 Marcus Justice 0

All I have to say is when Johnson is at full strength this Sun Prairie team will be extremely extremely scary. Ruffin is really good but, I think Johnson is really really good. Sun Prairie did struggle a bit against East quickness at times but, they should be just fine with those two guys I previously mentioned. East needs to get Justice some consistent help and they'll have some up and downs because they are very quick but, lack size. When East hits their shots and get out and run they can beat anyone.

Player Rankings

These are my just for fun player rankings of the players that I have actually seen play and solely based on the game that I saw them play in. Example in the fact that the best player I've seen this year would cleary be Keshawn Justice but, he played a terrible game and therefore won't be in my initial rankings. Now I will see Justice play again so hopefully he will play better and get back into my rankings. Again the rankings will only be based on the games I saw so if I haven't seen them they won't be ranked or if they played a bad game. I will ranked my overall players and then by class.

Overall
1. Mitch Listau 6'5 senior Waunakee- Very smooth three point shooter that can get really hot and just won't miss. Also a very solid lead guard that can just flat out score.
2. Datrill Thompson 5'7 senior Madison East- Ultra quick guard that can really handle the ball. In the game I saw there was no one that could stay in front of him. Really does a nice job of driving the lane and finishing over bigger defenders.
3. Mason Steffen 6'4 senior Waunakee- Solidly built kid that can get out in transition and finish. Also has a nice little mid range shot.
4. Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie- Just a superior athlete on the court and can get his shot at any time. Can really jump out of the gym. Does a little bit of everything and when he wants to can be a shut down defender.
5. Mason Peterson 6'3 senior Baraboo- Another flat out scorer that can get to the rim and finish. Can knock down the spot up three as well.
6. Rajai Williams 6'1 junior Sun Prairie- A solid point guard that handles the ball well and doesn't seem to feel the pressure. Can really hit the spot up three.
7. Keonte Jones 6'3 sophomore Madison East- Another scorer that I look forward to watching mature. Relishes the pressure and the opposing fans attention. Does a nice job of driving and drawing contact.
8. Jason Webb Jr senior Milwaukee Riverside- Just a solid heady lead guard. Can get to the rim and finish with either hand.
9. Cade Ellingson 6'2 junior Madison Memorial- A smart heady player that moves without the ball really well and always seems to be at the right place at the right time.
10. Tanner Brandt 6'8 senior Wisconsin Dells- Smooth big man that can get his shot at any time and can stop out and shoot the three point shot.  

Seniors
1. Mitch Listau 6'5 Waunakee
2. Datrill Thompson 5'7 Madison East
3. Mason Steffen 6'4 Waunakee
4. Mason Peterson 6'3 Baraboo
5. Marlon Ruffin 6'4 Sun Prairie 
6. Jason Webb Jr 6'0 Milwaukee Riverside
7. Tanner Brandt 6'8 Wisconsin Dells

Juniors
1. Rajai Williams 6'1 Sun Prairie
2. Cade Ellingson 6'2 Madison Memorial
3. Nick Caropreso 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Big man that really moves well without the ball in his hands. Knocks down his free throws and rebounds well.
4. Ian Brown 6'5 Madison Memorial- Big man that moves really well and can help with the ball handling or take the outside shots.

Sophomores
1. Keonte Jones 6'3 Madison East
2. Anthony Washington 6'3 Madison East- Really an exceptional leaper that can really rebound the ball against bigger players.
3. Brett Hirst 6'3 Wisconsin Dells- Can really finish in transition and just a really solid heady player.
4. Bryson Funmaker 5'8 Wisconsin Dells- Very quick point guard that really likes to push the tempo. Can make the outside three if it's there.
5. Marcus Justice 6'4 Madison East- A big body in the post and can rebound and has a nice touch around the rim.
6. Riley Eck 6'1 Wisconsin Dells- Seemed like a solid player in limited time can finish with his back to the basket or dropping the spot up three.
7. Calvin Peterson 6'0 Baraboo- Just a solid point guard.
8. Trayvon Smith 6'1 Milwaukee Riverside- Undersized post player that does a nice job battling.
9. Yacouba Traore Jr 6'6 Madison Memorial- Big body that can move but, unfortunately didn't see enough of him.
10. Delware Hale 6'5 Sun Prairie- Same thing as Traore here.


Freshmen

Well there are my initial rankings. I just didn't feel I've seen enough players that deserved to be ranked for seniors and juniors so I didn't do a full 10 and for sophomores just ranked everyone I saw play.

Week 3 & 4 Rankings

With my minor health issues I wasn't able to do rankings last week I'm doing two weeks worth of rankings this week.

Division One
Racine Park lost to Franklin dropping Park to eight and allowing Franklin to come in at seven. Sun Prairie lost to Madison Memorial, as did Madison La Follette and Madison East, jumping Memorial to number six, Sun Prairie at nine La Follette at 12, and then East fell out of the rankings. Brookfield Central lost to Brookfield East dropping to 10 while East got to five. Stevens Point lost to La Crosse Central a top D2 team and drop to 11. Oshkosh West lost to Kaukauna and Oshkosh North two very good teams but, hang on to the rankings at 15. Arrowhead lost to Oconomowoc and fall to 14. Vincent lost to Madison East and Riverside lost to Waunakee dropping both teams from the rankings. Hamilton Sussex lost to Brookfield Central to be expected so they moved up to 13.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Waunakee
3. Bay Port
4. Eau Claire North
5. Brookfield East
6. Madison Memorial
7. Franklin
8. Racine Park
9. Sun Prairie
10. Brookfield Central
11. Stevens Point
12. Madison La Follette
13. Sussex Hamilton
14. Arrowhead
15. Oshkosh West

Division Two
Kaukauna lost to Kimberly a very good D1 team and drop just two spots to three. La Crosse Logan lost to Brown Deer and Tomah and fall from the rankings. Wisconsin Lutheran lost to Pewaukee and New Berlin Eisenhower but, they've had some big wins so stay at 10. Wauwatosa West lost to Brookfield Central and Sussex Hamilton both ranked D1 teams and drop to 11. Marshfield lost to La Crosse Central and Stevens Point both elite teams in the state and drop to 13. Pius lost three more games and fall out of the rankings. Onalaska lost to De Forest and Burlington lost to Union Grove but, both sat put as I didn't see anyone knew to replace them.

1. Pewaukee
2. Whitnall
3. Kaukauna
4. Milwaukee Washington
5. La Crosse Central
6. Cedarburg
7. Stoughton
8. Monona Grove
9. Pulaski
10. Wisconsin Lutheran
11. Wauwatosa West
12.Union Grove
13. Marshfield
14. Onalaska
15. Burlington

Division Three
Brown Deer lost to a very good D2 team in Whitnall and drop just a bit to five. Racine St Catherines lost to Marin Luther and drop to 10. East Troy lost to Madison East and Lake Mills lost to Wisconsin Dells and Sauk Prairie but, both hang on to the rankings at 14 and 15.

1. Appleton Xavier
2. Waupun
3. GET
4. Dominican
5. Brown Deer
6. Wrightstown
7. Prescott
8. Martin Luther
9. Wisconsin Dells
10. Racine St Catherines
11. Brookfield Academy
12. Valders
13. Arcadia
14. East Troy
15. Lake Mills

Division Four
The Prairie School lost to top ranked D3 team in Martin Luther and fall just a couple to three. Roncalli lost to New Holstein and drop to seven. Markesan lost three games and fall from the rankings. Mineral Point lost to Darlington and drop to eight and Darlington get into the rankings at 12. Fennimore lost badly to Mineral Point but hang on at 15. Oconto lost to Southern Door and Marinette and drop from the rankings.

1. New Glarus
2. Destiny
3. The Prairie School
4. Howards Grove
5. Marathon
6. Clear Lake
7. Roncalli
8. Mineral Point
9. Manitowoc Lutheran
10. Shiocton
11. Melrose Mindoro
12. Darlington
13. Webster
14. Cuba City
15. Fennimore

Division Five
Black Hawk lost to Barneveld and Pecatonica and drop all the way to 14. Mcdonald Central lost to Prescott and Marathon both ranked bigger schools and fall just to five. Deerfield lost to Palmyra-Eagle and drop from the rankigs. Seneca lost to Wauzeka-Steuben, while they lost to Desoto checking in at seven and eight. Assumption lost to Auburndale and fall from the rankings. Wild Rose lost to Port Edwards and drop to 15 while Port Edwards makes it at 12. Amherst and Potosi are also new to the rankings.

1. Bangor
2. Solon Springs
3. Royal
4. Almond Bancroft
5. Mcdonald Central
6. Sheboygan Lutheran
7. Wauzeka-Steuben
8. Seneca
9. Columbus Catholic
10. Auburndale
11. Amherst
12. Port Edwards
13. Potosi
14. Black Hawk
15. Wild Rose

Waunakee and Memorial get big wins.

Had the chance to take in a pair of very good games that could affect the state rankings. It's pretty rare that two big games work out perfect for me to get to both without much difficulty. In Waunakee I saw a top 10 team playing a team that was in my top 10 prior to the season and then a pair of top 10 teams and top Big Eight teams in the night cap in Sun Prairie.

Waunakee 62 Milwaukee Riverside 51
To be honest I was surprised this game was as close as it was.Riverside was with out their D1 recruit in 6'3 senior Carlos Curtis, didn't appear to have much depth, and didn't have much size at all. Riverside only subbed when they ran into foul trouble and had a pair of players play the entire game. Waunakee was without their big man in 6'6 senior Nate Carter but, they are a very solid team full of guys that play football so they could make up for missing one big man.

Early on Riverside took the lead as Waunakee struggled to hit their shots and gave up offensive rebounds to the smaller Riverside team. Riverside was able to penetrate the defense and score with some acrobatic shots. Waunakee was led early on by 6'4 senior Mason Steffen who was able to score in transition until fellow senior 6'5 Mitch Listau got going from the outside hitting three straight threes at one point. In the second half Riverside just wore down and their inability to hit an outside shot allowed Waunakee to really pack the paint and protect the rim.

Madison Memorial 54 Sun Prairie 51
Another game that I really thought that Madison Memorial would lose but, once again they proved me wrong. Yes Memorial doesn't shoot the three and don't penetrate much but, they do move the ball well and move well without the ball which leads to easy buckets around the rim and of course size is always a huge factor in basketball. Sun Prairie really struggled to get their offense going in the first half outside of the occasional fast break.

In the second half Sun Prairie came out trapping and double teaming just like East did the other night and once again Memorial turned the ball over. This gave Sun Prairie every chance to get back in the game and they took advantage behind the outside shooting of 6'1 junior Rajai Williams and the penetrating of 6'4 senior Marlon Ruffin. Memorial did shoot their free throws well late though to seal the game.

Top Players
Mitch Listau 6'5 senior Waunakee- Really shot the three extremely well in this one and carried his team at times. Struggled a bit early but, when he got hot he got hot. He's always going to score because he gets to the line and hits open shots.

Mason Steffen 6'4 senior Waunakee- Really did a nice job of scoring in transition and getting out and running while keeping himself under control. While most of the team looked uncomfortable in the uptempo game he thrived.

Jason Webb Jr 6'0 senior Riverside- Calming influence for the team running the point. Even though Waunakee sat on his left hand he was able to drive right and finish with his off hand.

Cade Ellingson 6'2 junior Memorial- I'm really coming to like this guy, just does all the little things. Doesn't shoot a ton but,two games now has led the team in scoring, always seems to be in the right place.

Rajaio Williams 6'1 junior Sun Prairie- Did a nice job of running the point but, where he really made his impact felt hitting some clutch threes late to bring Sun Prairie back into striking distance.

Marlon Ruffin 6'4 senior Sun Prairie- Superior athlete that can really get to the rim and finish over defenders. Also played some pretty good defense in this game.

Top Scorers
Waunakee- Listau 24 Steffen 22 Josh Cash 8
Riverside- Webb 16 Montrell Jacobs 9 Deandrea Algee 7
Sun Prairie- Ruffin 18 Williams 13 Marty Strey 7
Memorial- Ellingson 14 Nick Caropreso 13 Elliot Grays 11

Some final thoughts of day. Waunakee will have a tremendous record as always but, I really question how they will do in the D1 playoffs. Riverside will only go as far as Carlos Curtis will take them after seeing what I saw today. Sun Prairie will have a tough time against the likes of Memorial and Madison East until Jalen Johnson returns but, when he does they will be the cream of the crop in the Big Eight. Memorial will probably go undefeated for quite a while as they have already defeated the top three teams in the conference and should roll until they play those three again. They have to limit those turnovers though.

Memorial wins at buzzer

Due to a thrown out back I hadn't been able to do any posting or go to any games. Next week I will do two weeks worth of rankings to catch up. 

I was in some serious need of basketball so I caught the Madison Memorial verse Madison East game. Memorial lost everything from last year but, they have won 15 conference titles in a row for a reason and Madison East had a tremendously successful playoff run a year ago and brought back a large amount of last years team and they are one of the favorites in the conference. I have to say that Madison East is one of my favorite places to watch a game because of the energy. The gym is small and the fans are right on the court and the student sections sit behind the hoops which gives it a college feel. 

Despite the ever changing lineups of high school ball I feel like I've been watching the same two teams play for the past six or sevens years. Memorial has a ton of overall size and lack much for guard play and Madison East has a ton of good guards and just never seem to have any height. Memorial will also play a slow determined pace and won't shoot many threes while East has no problem pushing the tempo and allowing their players to jack threes or go one on one. Memorial started four players at 6'4 or taller and had 6'5 and 6'6 off the bench. East on the other hand nearly always had three guards on the court. 

The first half was relatively ugly as the halftime score was only 16 to 14 in Memorial's favor. Memorial couldn't get anything to fall but, their size allowed them to get second chance baskets and many times third chances which led to long possessions. East did a good job of packing things in and Memorial didn't have the shooter to pull them out or the guy that could break down the defense. Just as Memorial shot terrible so did East in particular their star 6'6 senior Keishawn Justice. Justice really forced things and didn't make a three all night and I think he really settled at times taking threes that he could get at any time and even when he drove the lane the shots just weren't falling. Yes Justice forced some shots but, it was just some bad luck as he had some bunnies just go in and out and a few times he missed two close shots. Justice went 0 for the night from three and ended up hitting just one shot on his way to just four points. Memorial was really a team effort as everyone chipped in the scoring column. 

The second half is when things got interesting. Memorial came out gunning early in the second half and were up by nine of 10 points much of the second half using their size to score on the inside and on second chance points. East continued to struggle through the half way point of the second half as Memorial built a 40-25 lead with about eight or nine minutes left in the game. The Memorial crowd seemed to really be getting on the East players but, that just seemed to feed them as they played with a ton of energy down the stretch. East started to press Memorial and their lack of guard played showed as they force Memorial into turnover after turnover and then a jump ball and next thing you knew it was 44-41 game and east was shooting for a tie. After a possession where they missed three threes, 6'0 senior Earl Lewis hit his lone three of the game and his teams lone three, to tie the game. After each team scored to tie the game at 46 it set the stage for the Memorial win. Memorial ran the clock down and on the drive to the rim lost the ball and the loose ball found 6'5 junior Ian Brown under the hoop who laid in the shot at the buzzer to win.  

Top Players

Cade Ellingson 6'2 junior Memorial- Honestly didn't do anything extravagant in the game but, he's just a heady player that always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Did a nice job of cutting to the rim and his team mates would find him from the opposite block. 

Amare Howard 6'5 senior Memorial- Big energy boast off the bench. Really crashed the glass and had some big offensive rebounds. 

Datril Thompson 5'8 senior East- For whatever reason he didn't start but, was clearly the best player on the court tonight. No one from Memorial could stay in front of him and could get to the rim at well. Did a nice job of challenging the bigger East defenders getting into their bodies and forcing the action. 

Keonte Jones 6'3 sophomore East- Another big boast off the bench as he drove to the lane fearlessly and was able to score or get fouled where he made his free throws. 

Anthony Washington 6'3 sophomore East- Didn't even score in the game but, his rebounding really jumped out to me. He can real jump and did a great job of battling the bigger Memorial players.

Box Score

Memorial 48- Ellingson 12 Brown 12 Nick Caropreso 10 Howard 6 Elliot Gray 5 Dryden Schaefer 2 Tyshawn Caldwell 1 Jack Krumbach 0 Yacouba Traore Jr 0

East 46- Datril Thompson 16 Jones 11 Lewis 11 K Justice 4 Marcus Justice 4 Damontae Thompson 0 Washington 0 Davion Washington 0 Nick Wilcox 0 

I'm gonna be honest I think Madison East is the better team but, just didn't play well and Memorial got a little lucky in the end. I really can see these two teams being the two teams to challenge Sun Prairie for the conference title. 

Wisconsin Dells over Baraboo

Had to get my basketball fix tonight. This wasn't the greatest game but, it was my alma mater playing four blocks away from my house. Dells was sitting at 3-0 and were picked to win the South Central conference while Baraboo was 0-2 and picked to take last in the Badger North. Despite the predictions I wanted to see a game and figured with Baraboo being a bigger school that they would keep it close and I had seen them last year and knew they had a couple decent players.

From the tip you could see that the Dells had an advantage in height and talent and thought it might be a blow out but, Baraboo fought throughout the game and Dells didn't sub a whole lot which led to some tired legs as the game progressed. Dells starts 6'8 6'5 6'4 6'3 and 5'8 while Baraboo started no one taller then 6'3. Dells played a 1-2-2 zone press and then fell back into a 3-2 in the half court. Baraboo really didn't seem to know how to attack the zone very on and settled for threes and contested mid range jumpers. On the other side the Dells really tried to push the tempo which isn't normal for a Dells team not to mention there height and the lack of bench play. Dells pushed the tempo though to get quick feeds to the post and worked from there. Dells really tried to feed their big men 6'8 senior Tanner Brandt and 6'5 senior Jack Sveum. Brandt was the guy I was looking to watch and he didn't have the greatest night as he forced things a bit and his shot just wasn't falling. Brandt does more extremely well for a big guy, has good body control, and can handle the ball a little bit.

Dells took the lead early on dominating the glass and getting easy buckets and looked as if they were going to blow Baraboo out but, Baraboo finally got the offense going by feeding their star 6'3 senior Mason Peterson who is there point guard and top player. Peterson got the ball out of his hands and moved without the ball and his team mates found him in the middle of the zone and late in the first half he score three straight buckets catching it at the free throw line and then just driving the lane. Baraboo got a little help from 6'0 senior Justus Neuman who hit a pair of threes to keep the game close. Dells had a six point lead at the half.

In the second half Dells just couldn't put Baraboo away and a pair of threes from Neuman and Peterson gave Baraboo the lead before Brandt and company settled down and worked the ball into the inside. Dells seemed to like shooting the threes and the threes weren't falling and I feel like that was part of what kept Baraboo in the game. Late in the game Dells missed there free throws and Baraboo had their chances but, some wild shots just wouldn't fall for them. In the end Wisconsin Dells won 61-55.

Top Players
Jackson Sveum 6'5 senior Wisconsin Dells- Most improved player for the Dells . Has a nice back to the basket game going and did a nice job of shot faking and getting the foul and basket. Battled on the glass all game long and could hit the spot up three.

Brett Hirst 6'3 sophomore Wisconsin Dells- Really does all the little things. Plays good D, helps run the point at times, can score driving, or hit the three. Tonight did a nice job of scoring in transition and just flat out hustling and making little plays.

Bryson Funmaker 5'8 sophomore Wisconsin Dells- Maybe I'm just partial to the little guy but, I liked his game. I like how he pushes the tempo and is a willing passer. May try to be to fancy at times but, he'll get better with that. I believe he took four charges in the game, had a couple steals and numerous long rebounds.

Mason Peterson 6'3 senior Baraboo- Was the best player on the court tonight. When he got to the middle of the Dells zone he was going to score. Had 26 points and I thought he could of been more aggressive. Hit a pair of big threes from the corner late.

Justice Neuman 6'0 senior Baraboo- Doesn't look like a basketball player one bit, but shot the lights out tonight. Hit four big threes and kept his team around.

Box Score (starters in italics)
Dells 61- Sveum 15 Brandt 13 Hirst 12 Riley Eck 5 Dyland Musiedlak 5 Alex Weiss 4 John Pikula 4 Funmaker 3 Darius Mackinnis 0
Baraboo 55- M. Peterson 26 Neuman 13 Connor Grogan 10 Caden Blum 4 Ryan Gehin 2 Calvin Peterson 0 Joe Stout 0 Caden Carpenter 0 Joe White Eagle 0

To be honest I don't think that Wisconsin Dells is that good but, looking at their schedule they should have a pretty good record that will be alittle over inflated. Baraboo on the other side is in for a long season but, Peterson may win them some games on his own.

Week 1 & 2 Rankings

Since the first week was a short week I combined the first two weeks together. Also I haven't had the chance to go to any games mostly because there wasn't any good games in my area to start the year and I was gone over Thanksgiving weekend. Well here are my new rankings. Seems to have been a lot of upsets early on but, that has come to be a common thing early on because you just don't know things earl on.

Division 1
Stevens Point lost to Bay Port without their top player in Joey Hauser which factored into my dropping them to eight.. Brookfield Central lost to Milwaukee Washington a very good D2 team but, I did drop them to six because the top six are just so close. Riverside dropped games to Arrowhead, Oshkosh West, and Whitnall al tough games and I kept them in the rankings at 13 because I want to get to 15 ranked teams. Oshkosh West and Arrowhead were able to jump into the rankings because of that win and La Follette had a lot of hype early on from Mark Miller and a 4-0 start puts them at 10. Madison East was upset on a buzzer shot by Janesville Craig so they hang on at 12.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Racine Park
3. Sun Prairie
4. Waunakee
5. Bay Port
6. Brookfield Central
7. Eau Claire North
8. Stevens Point
9. Oshkosh West
10. Madison La Follette
11. Arrowhead
12. Madison East
13. Milwaukee Vincent
14. Milwaukee Riverside
15. Sussex Hamilton

Division 2 Rankings
Washington lost to Brown Deer a very good D3 team and fall to four followed by La Crosse Central whodropped a game to D1 ranked Eau Claire North. Cedarburg lost to Wauwatosa West and fall just behind them at nine. Whitnall lost to a team from Illinois which I don't hold against them. Stoughton lost to Beaver Dam and fall to 10. Pius lost to Racine Case and Martin Luther while Marshfield lost to Oshkosh North and West dropping them to 11 and 12.

1. Kaukauna
2. Pewaukee
3. Whitnall
4. Milwaukee Washington
5. La Crosse Central
6. La Crosse Logan
7. Wisconsin Lutheran
8. Wauwatosa West
9. Cedarburg
10. Stoughton
11. Marshfield
12. Milwaukee Pius
13. Monona Grove
14. Onalaska
15. Burlington

Division 3 Rankings
Martin Luther lost to Destiny a top D4 team. East Troy lost to Madison Memorial a D1 team and fell to 10.

1. Appleton Xavier
2. Waupun
3. GET
4. Brown Deer
5. Dominican
6. Racine St Catherines
7. Wrightstown
8. Prescott
9. Martin Luther
10. East Troy
11. Lake Mills

Division 4 Rankings
Destiny lost to a top D2 team in Whitnall which led to me not dropping them at all. Milwaukee Academy of Science lost three games early and fall from the rankings and Fennimore comes in at 10.

1. The Prairie School
2. New Glarus
3. Roncalli
4. Markesan
5. Destiny
6. Mineral Point
7. Howards Grove
8. Marathon
9.  Clear Lake
10. Fennimore
11. Oconto

Division 5 Rankings
Deerfield lost to a ranked D3 team in Lake Mills and drop just a bit to five. Lourdes lost to bigger schools in Dominican and Omro and still hang on to rankings at 14. Barneveld has already lost three games and fall from the rankings. Sheboygan Luthern lost to Howards Grove a ranked D4 team and drop a bit to 12. Columbus Catholic lost to Assumption and fall to 15 and Assumption jumps to 11. Hilbert lost three already and drop out.

1. Bangor
2. Black Hawk
3. Solon Springs
4. Mcdonell Central
5. Deerfield
6. Seneca
7. Wauzeka
8. Assumption
9. Royal
10. Almond Bancroft
11. Assumption
12. Sheboygan Lutheran
13. Wild Rose
14. Oshkosh Lourdes
15. Columbus Catholic

Division Five Preseason

I'm going to be completely honest here that I don't have much of a clue when it comes to division five. I'm going to rely heavily on the Wisconsin Yearbook here but, honestly I'm not sure how much of a feel that Mark Miller has. He has three of the four teams back from state last year and those three teams have only one starter back each. So are you going with the same teams or just going with tradition there? Now D5 seems to be the conference where you can go with the tradition so maybe it's a combination of things. Well I will do my best here but, again I'll be really using the book.


1. Bangor- Lost in the sectional final a year ago and bring back three double digit scorers in a talented senior class in 6'0 Luke Reader, 6'3 Caleb Miedema, and 6'0 Drew Johnson. Fresh off their football title they'll be looking to win a basketball one.

2. Deerfield- Won 21 games last year and bring back a pair of 16 point per game scorers in 6'2 senior Noah Gjermo and 6'4 senior Nate Siewart and they both nearly averaged double digit rebounds.

3. Black Hawk- Having just lost to Bangor in the football title game they'll be looking to avenge it in basketball. They won 20 games a year ago and bring back four starters headlined by 6'4 junior Conner Meyer who averaged 20- points a game and 6'5 senior CJ Leuzinger who averaged 13.

4. Solon Springs- Won 19 games a year ago and have four starters back that started at least part time and led by 6'6 senior Jens Gehl who averaged a double double last year.

5. Lourdes Academy- Had a solid year last year and have two 13 point scorers back in a pair of juniors 6'2 Henry Noone and 6'1 Benny Huizenga. 

6. McDonell Central- Lost in the state semis a year ago they bring back ultra talented 6'5 senior Hayden Baughman.

7. Barneveld- State champs lost nearly everyone but, have super athletic junior back in 6'4 Malcolm Reed and a strong tradition.

8. Sheboygan Lutheran- Had a so so record last year but, they play in a tough conference and have high scorer 6'3 senior Jared Jurss back for his senior year.

9. Columbus Catholic- Only have one starter back in 5'11 senior Nick Malovrh who averaged 13 points a game last year but, the tradition is strong at Columbus Catholic.

10. Hilbert- A super strong tradition at Hilbert even with a new coach the beat should go on.

Well there are my final rankings. I think I've said it after every ranking but, it really should be a fun year. I feel like I'm not as familiar with this season as I've been in the past but, just give me some time and I should get right back in the flow.

Division Four Preseason

In the lower divisions we've really seen an influx of the "charter schools". These schools aren't your traditional private school powers that we are used to see but, new upstart schools with strange names and some of them are private, in the case of Destiny last year in D4. You have Destiny, Milwaukee Academy of Science in D4 and then in D5 even more with Young Coggs Prep winning a title two years ago. This will further the private vs public or better worded city vs rural. There no doubt needs to be something done but, there isn't a blanket solution for all. For every "non traditional" school that dominates there's two or three that can hardly compete in their conference and theres some that have even left the WIAA all together. Myself I'm in favor of a multiplier of 1.5 or so but, I'm not here to talk about those issues here are my D4 rankings for preseason.

1. The Prairie School- Have one of the best players in the division and the state in 6'5 senior JC Butler who averaged 26 points a game and nearly 10 rebounds. Butler isn't the only one as they bring back three other starters including fellow senior 6'1 Troy Mikaelian who averaged 16 a game himself.

2. New Glarus- Four starters back from a 20 win team, including three who averaged 13 plus points in in juniors 6'1 Zach Feller, 5'10 Jaden Kreklow and 6'5 senior Cullen Brooks.

3. Roncalli- State team a year ago and they bring back four starters. Headlined by their back court in 6'0 senior Mitchel Schneider and 5'9 junior Chombi Lambert.

4. Markesan- 15 wins a year ago. They are led by a pair of 20 point scoring seniors in 6'1 Carson Clark and 6'0 Drew Bernhagen.

5. Destiny- Defending state champs lost all five starters but, they had a ton of talent on their team and should have a monster year from 6'3 senior Devonte Caldwell who can flat out score.

6. Mineral Point- 17 win team that bring back a pair of 20 point scorers in 6'3 senior Chance Wendhausen and 6'2 sophomore Isaac Lindsey. Have a talented freshemn class coming in.

7. Howards Grove- 20 wins last year and they have three starters back. Did lose their top two scorers though.

8. Marathon- They've really become a given for the top 10 in D4 and have four starters back three of which averaged double digits in points.

9. Clear Lake- D5 power moving up to D4 and the success should continue.

10. Milwaukee Academy of Science- Guaranteed to win at least 15 games a year in the past five years or so. 6'1 sophomore Kaleim Taylor. is a big time scorer.


You see a few of the normal teams but, there is quite a few new teams as well.

Division Three Preseason

Looking at D3 things seem to be a little bit of an unknown. Most of the state teams from a year ago aren't expected to be back and there has been a bit of an influx of private and charter schools that could change things.

1. Appleton Xavier- I'm not sure how it can be anyone else here. The defending state champs and undefeated team return their top three scorers in three seniors that have a ton of experience. 6'1 Hunter Plamann and 6'0 Sam Ferris do the damaged from the outside and 6'5 Nate DeYoung is a double double guy on the inside. All three have played at state the past two years as well.

2. Waupun- Four starters back from a 19 win team led by 6'5 junior Marcus Domask and 6'3 senior Owen Theune who have started for two years each already and have already won a state title. They also have some pretty good size overall.

3. GET- All five starters are back from a 20-5 team. Seniors 6'4 Chris Thompson and 6'1 Tyler Scherr have a ton of experience and averaged 15 plus in points year ago.

4. Martin Luther- They have a ton of hype and won 22 games a year ago but, when I saw them I was just a little underwhelmed to be honest. Ultra talented junior class led by 6'5 Xzavier Jones and 5'9 Trequan Carrington.

5. Brown Deer- They ave been a power in D2 and now move back to D3. 6'1 senior guard Jay Gentry averaged 19 points a game last year and leads a strong senior class.

6. East Troy- Four starters back three of which are over 6'3 and nearly their entire bench is back as well and they have some very talented underclassmen.

7. Dominican- Really didn't show much last year but, the talent is there. Should expect a big season from 6'0 senior Gacoby Jones he's a three year starter and it will show this year. 6'6 sophomore Alex Antetokounmpo may have a break out year.

8. Racine St Catherines- Four starters are back, three of which averaged double digits in points all of which are juniors led by 6'6 junior Quinn Cafferty.

9. Wrightstown- School that has a ton of success in recent years but, haven't made the big stage yet. They have a pair of seniors that both averaged 15 points a game in 6'4 Luke Haese and 6'2 James Hansen.

10. Prescott- They are starting to get some state recognition as they've been to state twice in recent years and 6'2 senior Petey Brookshaw is back from their state appearance a year ago.


After actually looking at my rankings the top 10 is full of teams that had a great season last year and brought back quiet a few starters so should be a much better year in D3 then I originally thought.

Division Two Preseason

Just like last year division two might be the most exciting division. You have the defending champs in La Crosse Central who lost a lot but, have an extremely talented sophomore class and the all the individual stars around the state that could carry their teams to a title. Jordan McCabe, Tyler Herro, and John Diener are all big time college recruits that could carry their teams far in the playoffs and then you have the teams that are just good overall in Milwaukee Washington, Pewaukee, and Stoughton.

1. Kaukauna- West Virginia recruit 5'11 senior Jordan McCabe makes everyone better around him and he can carry this team. He has a pair of very good senior side kicks in sharpshooter 6'6 Eric Carl who will playing D2 college and 6'7 Dylan Kurey who is beginning to get some D1 looks.

2. Milwaukee Washington- A state team a year ago that brings back three starters including Mr. Everything in 6'5 junior Deontay Long who averaged nearly 20 points a game a year ago. They have some good overal team size with nine players at 6'3 or taller. 6'2 senior Jordan Dinsmore can be a defensive stopper and can score as well.

3. Pewaukee- Just a solid team thats led by D1 recruit 6'9 senior Grant Basile and D2 recruit 6'3 senior Jack Gohlke doing his thing from the outside. The last few years Pewaukee always seems to find themselves towards the top of the division.

4. La Crosse Central- State champs lost four starters but, have a super talented sophomore class in 6'3 twins Johnny and Jordan Davis along with 6'7 Terrence Thompson that transferred in. They also have a solid point guard that started a year ago in 6'0 junior Noah Parcher.

5. Cedarburg- State runner ups a year ago and are headlined by 6'5 senior John Diener who could carry a team if needed but, has a second option in 6'8 senior Matthew Barber.

6. Whitnall- Four starters back from a pretty good team. All you really need to know is high major recruit 6'5 senior Tyler Herro is back for his senior year and is looking to impress since decommitting from Wisconsin and he is basically a free agent.

7. Stoughton- Three starters back that scored in double digits from a 19 win team and 6'0 senior Brady Schipper who started two years ago.

8. Milwaukee Pius-  Lost three starters but, I really like what they bring back in a pair of seniors in 6'7 Bilal Shabaz and 6'6 Preston Maccoux. Both guys have a ton of upside and I expect big things.

9. Marshfield- I'll be honest completely stole things one from Mark Miller and the high school basketball yearbook.

10. La Crosse Logan- I know this is a stretch but, I do have a lot of faith in 6'1 senior CJ Siegel, that he'll have a big year.


Should be a fun year of D2 ball.

Division One Preseason

Debated a bit about writing the blog but, decided to stick with it at least for another year. Hey I'm a single guy what else do I have to do with all my free time. I'm not sure if I'm just out of the loop but, I feel like there aren't the clear cut top teams out there like there have been in the past. Today will be my day one post of the year with the season just a week away. Like always I will start with my preseason rankings and begin with division one as always.

In D1 the story is can Stevens Point win their fourth straight title. After back to back titles Point really wasn't the favorite to win as they had some struggles during the season and their star 6'8 junior Joey Hauser messed half the year. Oshkosh North was the odds on favorite all year but, dropped the ball late and fell short of even making state and honestly Point won it fairly easily.


1. Stevens Point- State champs bring back their top two scorers in Hauser who is a senior now and is hands down the top player in the state and fellow senior 6'3 Drew Blair. Both average 20 plus points a game and Hauser is headed to Marquette and Blair is going to a D2 school. SPASH is now at that point will success if just expected every year.

2. Brookfield Central- State team a year ago and bring back their top three scorers in 5'10 junior Gage Malensek, 6'2 Andres Peralta-Werns, and 6'3 junior Cole Nau. Nau and Malensek form possibly the best backcourt in the state. They don't blow you away but, they play as a team and can really shoot the three.

3. Oshkosh North- Was the team of destiny a year ago but, so many times it seems that those teams win it all the year after that team of "destiny". Three starters are back led by 6'5 senior Tyrese Haliburton and a high energy defensive guy that can score in 6'3 senior Quincy Anderson.

4. Racine Park- This junior class has had a ton of hype since they've been in school. 6'9 Nobal Days may finally reach his potential and 6'3 Larry Canady is already a star.

5. Sun Prairie- This is a team that always makes me nervous but, they have two of the most talented players in the state in 6'4 senior Marlon Ruffin and 6'6 sophomore Jalen Johnson. Johnson is an elite talent thats known throughout the country.

6. Waunakee- A D2 power that moves up to D1 this year. Strong senior class led by a pair of four year starters in 6'5 Mitch Listau and 6'4 Mason Steffen and through in big man 6'6 Nate Carter in the post.

7. Bay Port- A ton of size coming back from last year. Led by football recruit 6'8 senior Jack Plumb.

8. Milwaukee Riverside- As always they have a ton of talent and their led by 6'3 senior Carlos Curtis.

9. Madison East- Team that always plays extremely hard and have 6'6 senior Keshawn Justice back for his fourth year of varsity.

10. Eau Claire North- Had a tremendous season a year ago and have their starting back court back in seniors 6'1 Noah Hanson and 6'0 Jack Kron.

Again these rankings are purely for my enjoyment and just give a little look into my personal thoughts on how things should be ranked. I will also probably be expanding to 15 as the season goes on.

2017-2018 Preview

Thought I would just do a quick preseason top five for next year for each division. This is without a ton of research and doing in relatively quickly so I'm sure I'll miss someone. Won't be in any particular order

.
Division One
Stevens Point- Will be going for the four peat and return the bulk of this years championship team. Joey Hauser will go for his fourth title while Drew Blair will go for three.

Sun Prairie- Jalen Johnson will be the top sophomore in the state and senior to be Marlon Ruffin has been improving by leaps and bounds.

Racine Park- A team that really under preformed all year should be back behind a phenomenal junior class.

Bay Port- Lots coming back and they have a ton of size.

Oshkosh North- Undefeated this year and they have their top scorer Tyrese Haliburton back.

Division Two
Kaukauna- Jordan McCabe will hopefully be back along with Eric Carls and big man Dylan Kurey.

Waunakee- State back to back trips and leading scorers from those two teams Mitch Listau and Mason Steffen will be seniors.

Milwaukee Washington- Another state team loaded with talent and their top scorer who will be a junior in Deontay Long.

La Crosse Central- The future looks bright for the champs as the Davis twins have three more years of high school basketball left.

Cedarburg- John Diener carried them to a title game and could very well carry them to a title.

Division Three
Appleton Xavier- State champs bring back their top three scorers. Will be tough to beat.

Waupun- Won state two years ago and Marcus Domask and Owen Theune were starters on that team and will be three year starters.

Whitefish Bay Dominican- Year two of coach Gosz things will turn around and Gacoby Jones will have monster year as the man.

Martin Luther- Lost only three games this year and bring just about everyone back with a very talented junior and sophomore class.

GET- Leading scorers Thompson and Scherr will be back for senior year.

Going to be honest I don't know enough for the two smaller divisions so just gonna mention a few with D4 the Prairie School and also New Glarus. For D5 I really only know of Bangor without doing some serious research.

Final Rankings

I debated doing my finals rankings because whats the point because shouldn't the team that one state be the top team anyway. While that is true I was actually thinking about the remainder of the teams. If a good team just happened to meet up with the champion early in the tournament does that not mean that they should still be ranking higher then a team that made state? Another thing I thought was does one game really make the difference? I've heard many people stating with NCAA tournament that it's basically like throwing 68 teams in a hat and pulling names out and is any one and done tournament any different? Granted the top teams did seem to be the champs and pull it out but, there were a few shockers. Well anyway here are my final rankings of the season and technically it has been three weeks since I've done them. I'm putting a quick reason for each ranking.

Division One
1. Stevens Point- State Champs so an easy call and they beat just about everyone on this list with the exception of Middleton which will call a fluke and then Bay Port which was without Hauser.
2. Oshkosh North- Only team that beat them all year was Point.
3. Madison Memorial- Play Stevens Point much closer the Arrowhead in the championship game.
4. Middleton- Beating Point by 30 still sticks in my head and it was really just Memorial that they couldn't beat.
5. Arrowhead- Made it to the championship game where they weren't impressive but, they made it there.
6. Bay Port- Lost to Arrowhead in sectionals.
7. Brookfield Central- Was in the final four so they have that so ahead of all the other teams in the powerful SouthEast part of the state.
8. Milwaukee Vincent- Lost to BC in sectionals.
9. Milwaukee Riverside- See Vincent.
10. Kimberly- Another team knocked out by Arrowhead.
11. Sun Prairie- Can't see knocking them out of the rankings after the season they had. Lost to a team that underachieved all year and put it together in the playoffs.
12. Muskego- Repeat of SP.
13. Eau Claire North- One of the few teams that played Point tough in the playoffs.
14. Franklin- Made it to sectionals before getting knocked out.
15. Oak Creek- Lost to Franklin in playoffs.

Division Two
1. La Crosse Central- State champs and nearly #1 wire to wire.
2. Cedarburg- Took Central right to the wire in the final after outlasting Washington in OT.
3. Milwaukee Washington- Lost in semi's in OT.
4. Beaver Dam- Faced Cedarburg prior to state what can you say.
5. Waunakee- Got wiped twice by Central.
6. Onalaska- Another team that played a champ just way to early.
7. New Berlin Eisenhower- Was a team on the rise before them fell to Washington in sectionals.
8. Pewaukee- Lost to Eisenhower in a sectional semi final.
9. Brown Deer- Another Cedarburg victim in regionals though.
10. Milwaukee Pius- Losing to Washington in semi sectionals is what it is.
11. Kaukauna- So so season playing D1s all year but, should their D2 stuff beating LC and Pulaski before taking Cedarburg to the wire.
12. Luxemburg Casco- Kaukauna
13. Pulaski- See above.
14. Rice Lake- Had a good season and only lost to Onalaska.
15. Wausau East- Made it to sectionals before Central took them out.

Division Three
1. Xavier- State Champs
2. Ripon- Xavier was only team to beat them all year.
3. Prescott- Made it to the championship before bowing out.
4. Lake Mills- Great run before falling to Prescott.
5. Martin Luther- Lost to Ripon in sectionals.
6. Waupun- Just couldn't beat Ripon all year.
7. Adams Friendship- Surprising deep tourney run before losing to Lake Mills on a buzzer shot.
8. Valders- Had a nice run knocking out a pair of ranked teams.
9. Mauston- Shocking tournament run late in the year beating Westby, GET, and Bloomer all ranked teams.
10. Prairie du Chien- Will call the last game of the season just a monster upset.
11. GET- Mauston got them.
12. Southern Door- Had a good season before falling to Valders.
13. Bloomer- Great season until Mauston got hot late.
14. New Holstein- Valders again.
15. Beloit Turner- Beating Evansville got them back in the rankings.

Division Four
1. Destiny- Champs
2. Darlington- Only lost to Destiny.
3. Cochrane Fountain City- Only lost to Darlington.
4. The Prairie School- Just ended up playing Destiny early.
5. Cameron- Kind of missed them all year but, they were a state team.
6. Stanley Boyd- Had the deep run beating some other ranked teams.
7. Eau Claire Regis- Fell to SB.
8. Young Coggs Prep- Another team that played Destiny early.
9. New Glarius- Darlington.
10. Deerfield- New Glarius took them out.
11. Roncalli- Realy debating this one as they were a .500 team but, hey they made state so felt like they had to be in the rankings somewhere otherwise you have to take out any team that they beat.
12. Marathon- Will just call it a massive upset here.
13. Edgar- Same as Marathon.
14. Shiocton- Lost to the amazing Roncalli run.
15. Spring Valley- Regis knocked them out.

Division Five
1. Barneveld- Champs
2. Columbus Catholic- Lost to Barneveld in semi and put up a better fight then Shullsburg.
3. Shullsburg- Beat most of the teams on this list before falling to Barneveld in final.
4. Seneca- Shullsburg.
5. Bangor- Shullsburg
6. Hilbert- Lost to Barneveld in sectionals.
7. McDonnell Central- Shullsburg.
8. Almond Bancroft- Lost to Columbus Catholic in sectional.
9. Gresham- Columbus Catholic.
10. Alma/Pepin- Lost to Bangor in regionals.
11. Pecatonica- Lost to Barneveld.
12. Black Hawk- Pecatonica.
13. Rio- Barneveld.
14. Clear Lake- Took McDonell Central to OT.
15. Drummond- Rough finish as the got upset in playoffs.

Well there are my final rankings. I know that I really valued playoff performance a bit too much but, in every ranking the last game is the most important.

State Review

Just a quick recap of state this past weekend. Just some of my thoughts of state and lasting impressions.

Division One
Well Stevens Point surprised everyone by getting to state but, they really didn't surprise winning state when they got there. Most people thought they were the favorite but, they way they beat Arrowhead in the championship was very impressive. Arrowhead had no one to guard 6'8 junior Joey Hauser. For Arrowhead 5'11 senior Trevell Cunningham really opened up some eyes I think. I've always loved watching him play the past two years and I think they rest of the state saw what I've been seeing. With how impressive Point was in the final really led me to be impressed with Madison Memorial, at least their defense. Everyone said how physical the Memorial vs Point game was but, honestly it just looked like every other Memorial game I've seen this year. 6'8 senior Chris Knight out played Hauser in this game and nearly gave Memorial a chance to win and I'd rate Memorial as the #2 team at state. Brookfield Central kind of gave a game away to Arrowhead after being up the majority of the game and Arrowhead won in an epic battle. Appears Stevens Point will be the early favorite going into next year.

Division Two
In game one it was just a replay of the La Crosse Central vs Waunakee game of January. Central was just too quick and athletic for Waunakee. 6'4 senior Kobe King did an exceptional defensive job on Waunakee star 6'3 junior Mitch Listau. Listau just wasn't quick enough to get around King or athletic enough to shoot over. 6'0 senior Bailey Kale had a monster game as well to go along with King's solid game. Game two was the 6'4 junior John Diener show. Diener hit every shot he took and really carried his team until late when 6'5 senior Jordan Johnson finally showed up a little bit. Milwaukee  Washington star 6'5 sophomore Deontay Longhad a very rough game but, thankfully Washington had enough talent to stay close and force this game into two overtimes before Cedarburg got the win.

What a final in this one,. Diener did his thing and Johnson hit some shots to keep Cedarburg in this game but, in the second half King completely took over. King was hitting everything from mid range out to three point range. Cedarburg had their shot at a full court shot to win and they just missed.

Division Three
Ripon came in with all the hype and were picked to take state but, it was another undefeated team that stole the show. Xaviers 6'0 junior Hunter Plaman and 5'7 junior Sam Ferris stole the show. They were hitting everything they took and used their speed and quickness to run and gun their way past Ripon who turned the ball over a little took much, and then ran right past Prescott whose big man 7'1 senior Owen Hamilton just look a little to slow for this game. Prescott defeated Lake Mills in game one because of the size of Hamilton. I love 6'1 senior Alex Ranney from Lake Mills and his bull dog mentality and I think Lake Mills was the more talented team. Ripon came in a little to confident and turned the ball over a little too much.

Division Four
This was Destiny's state to win from the get go. They were just too big and quick for anyone else in D4. 6'7 senior Sarion McGee was great to watch and he was a real team player and didn't care about his individual stats with his rebounding and passing. McGee might be the best passing big man in the state. 6'6 Terrance Banyard did it all and huge props to their bench players 5'7 Romaine Robinson and 6'0 Diovonte Caldwell. The two of the bench were immediate scoring impact when they came in the game. Darlington was a tremendous team that seemed to be very well coach and played with a ton of heart. Probably a once in a generation team for Darlington. Roncalli made a great run considering their regular season but, their shooting ran out against the power team of Destiny. Cameron had a ton of height but, Darlington was the quicker and smarter team.

Division Five
Wow this game did not go the way I thought at all. The two public schools beat the privates and Shullsburg basically disappeared in the final against Barneveld. Not sure if McDonell Central wasn't used to see a team with the same size of them or what because Central had a tough time getting the ball inside to their big men and turned the ball over time and again when trying to get the ball inside. In the other game Columbus Catholic relied on their outside shooting too much and always see the teams that rely on their outside shooting struggle when they get to the Kohl Center. Barneveld just seemed to be a team destined to win.

D3, D4, and D5 State Preview

Division Three
Ripon vs Appleton Xavier
All year it's been Ripon, Ripon, Ripon for D3 and if there is one team that could take them down it's fellow undefeated team Xavier. These two teams were pegged to get here all year and now you have it. Ripon has the big man in Vander Plas and Xavier doesn't have the size but, there going to jack the threes up and that may just provide an upset. In the end though Ripon has too much talent.

Prescott vs Lake Mills
Another match up of quickness vs size. I think Lake Mills has more talent and I love their guards Alex Ranney and Brady Wagner but, Prescott's 7'0 man Owen Hamilton will be tough for them and could change game plans as Mills has no height what so ever. I'm gonna take Lake Mills here but, not super confident with it.

Ripon over Lake Mills
Lake Mills lack of height will be there down fall and Ripon has a little more talent then Prescott. Ripon is a team on a mission.

Division Four
Cameron vs Darlington
Ok I know nothing about Cameron or really Darlington for that matter but, Darlington is undefeated and only lost one or two games a year ago and there loaded with seniors. Those things make Darlington my pick.

Destiny vs Roncalli
I know not to judge Roncalli on their .500 record but, for them to have any chance they will have to be really knocking down the threes, which they can. Destiny is just too big or athletic in this one and the easy choice is Destiny. 

Destiny over Darlington
Once again Destiny is just too big and athletic for anyone in Division Four. This will bring about the private/public school debate in full force.

Division Five
Shullsburg vs McDonell Central
This has been a matchup I've been looking forward too all year. Both teams have a ton of size as will be watching a D5 game with six players starting that are 6'5 or taller. The size is something that is nearly unheard of and the talent of that size as nearly all those guys could play at the college level. McDonell Central won a year ago and that experience will carry them.

Barneveld vs Columbus Catholic
This game will be a huge contrast to the other game. There will be no height in this game and both teams will be playing with at least four guards at all times. Will probably be a fun exciting game because both teams are very quick and love to shoot the threes. I think Columbus Catholic's three headed guard monster will be too much and get them the win.

McDonell Central over Columbus Catholic
The height will be too much and Central does have some athleticism. I have a hard time picking teams that rely on the outside shooting as well.

D1 and D2 State Predictions

State starts is less then two days so I figured I would do a quick run down of my picks and some final thoughts on each of the divisions and match ups.

Division One
Stevens Point vs Madison Memorial
I really thought Oshkosh North was a shoe in to get to state here but, Stevens Point kind of shocked everyone even though they are the two time defending champs. Sounds like they are peaking at the right time and 6'8 junior Joey Hauser is looking every bit of the top player in the state and 6'3 junior Drew Blair is gunning from the outside. Prior to the start of the playoffs I gave Memorial a 33% chance to state with Middleton and Sun Prairie getting 33% as well. Memorial's D proved to be the difference behind the shot blocking of 6'8 senior Chris Knight. Despite Memorial's defense I don't think they have anyone to match up with Hauser. Stevens Point should move on.

Arrowhead vs Brookfield Central
This really is a tough one. Central was able to take down the Milwaukee City Conference which surprised me a bit. Central has the great record but, when I saw them they didn't have a ton of athleticism or that WOW factor or a real go to scorer at least from what I saw. Central is just one of those teams that's just solid and don't overally impress you but, they always get the W. Haven't seen Arrowhead this year but, I love their point guard 5'11 senior Trevell Cunningham. If I recal right they have a lot of height but, will the have enough scoring? I'll take Brookfield Central in a bit of a coin flip.

Final 
Stevens Point over Brookfield Central
Hauser and their overall size will be too much for Central.

Division Two
La Crosse Central vs Waunakee
This game already happened about a month ago and Central straight up dominated and I don't see this game being much different. Waunakee will play straight up man to man and no one will be able to stop 6'4 senior Kobe King. On the other side King will guard Waunakee's top scorer 6'3 junior Mason Steffen. Steffen just didn't have the quickness to get around King or the elevation to shoot over him. Both these teams were expected to be here and the result is expected with La Crosse Central getting the win.

Milwaukee Washington vs Cedarburg
This game should really be an exciting one to watch. Both team like to score a lot and don't take a lot of time to do it. Washington loves to run and gun and Cedarburg has a pair of big time scorers in 6'4 junior John Diener and 6'5 senior Jordan Johnson. Both teams were incredibly tested in regionals and sectionals and deserve to be here. I think the D of Washington will turn Cedarburg over and lead to the Milwaukee Washington win.

Final 
La Crosse Central over Milwaukee Washington 
Everyone thinks that Central will just walk through this but, I wouldn't be completely shocked in any one of the other three teams were to beat them. I'll go with the favorite though if I was betting.

Madison Memorial makes state

I took in sectionals this weekend watching Madison Memorial getting back to state. It's been a while but, Memorial has finally made it to state after missing out on the past four years. I'll have to admit I'm alittle surprised with this team but, with their defense anything is possible. If they can keep a game low scoring in the 60s or lower they have a good chance to win. 6'8 senior Chris Knight is the only guy that averages double digits in points and outside of him it's really a team effort.

The sectional semi final saw Memorial taking on Middleton. Memorial had beaten Middleton twice during the season but, I wouldn't be surprised to see Middleton to take this one. Both games had been relatively close and Middleton was my preseason pick to get to state. Middleton's two senior stars 5'11 Storm Murphy and 6'5 Tyree Eady really struggled from the outside. Memorial took a big lead and just couldn't put them away. 6'5 senior Jake Ferguson had a tremendous game doing all the little things as always while Knight struggled a bit. Some extremely poor free throw shooting late gave Middleton a chance and they nearly capitalized on it but, a pair of turnovers sealed the deal. Middleton didn't shoot the ball and Memorial was their normal self dominating on the glass.

In the sectional final Memorial took on the red hot Madison East that had already upset a pair of higher seeds. Ferguson once again did his thing having a great game while Knight struggled again until late when he took the game over. This was a very low scoring game that played completely to Memorial's game. East had the lead throughout the first two thirds behind the strong play of their 6'6 big men junior Keshawn Justice and Steve Wooten. Justice and Wooten did it all hitting threes and driving to the hoop but, I think in the end they just ran out o energy. Both Justice and Wooten played the entire game and just seemed a little drained late to make their shots. Knight finally did his thing late getting the fans to their feet with three monster dunks. They aren't the most entertaining team but, they were able to make it state.

Memorial is for sure not a favorite going into state but, don't be shocked to see them win a game or even push for a title. Their defense will keep them in all the games and if something strange or funny goes their win they could get a W or two. To be honest thought against Stevens Point I see Hauser shutting Knight down and no one on Memorial will be able to stop Hauser.

Regionals

The WIAA tournament is fully under way now and the regionals didn't disappoint. Have been a few upsets, one of which I was witness to but, overall the favorites have been strong.

Madison Edgewood 60 Lakeside Lutheran 51
Foul trouble was the story of this one as both teams were plagued by it. Three of Edgewood's starters were saddled with a pair of early fouls including one of their stars 6'3 junior Mandela Deang. Deang played very little in the first half and he just never got himself going throughout this one. Lakeside had not as much foul trouble but, their star 6'4 senior Cameron Kuepers battled foul trouble all game. Kuepers still got his points scoring 19 in the game but, it was on the defensive end that it was real felt. Kuepers was unable to guard Edgewood's star 6'4 senior Alex Arians and unfortunately no one could stay with Arians. Arians was able to get to the rim and score and he was hitting all of his outside shots. Arians had the highlight of the night with a baseline drive and very nice dunk. Arians had 18 in the first half before finishing with 29 for the game. Arians was just too good and that's why they won.

Madison East 82 Sun Prairie 68
Wow is all I can say as the eight seed took down the one. East was picked to go to state in the preseason for a reason East came out firing behind 6'6 junior Keshawn Justice firing threes from the outside and East jumped out to a 21 to 2 lead and never looked back. Throw in that a pair of seniors 6'6 Steve Wooten and 6'1 Cameron Cratic had their best games of the year. Wooten controlled the inside while Justice and Cratic did their thing on the outside. For Sun Prairie 6'6 freshmen Jalen Johnson had maybe one of his worst games of the season. Johnson couldn't buy a three point shot and even the layups weren't falling. Johnson did get 19 but, a lot of those were on offensive rebounds and put backs. Sun Prairie's other star 6'4 junior Marlon Ruffin struggled early on as well but, he played his heart out in this game and nearly willed his team back into the game before he ran out of gas. Ruffin couldn't hit any threes either until very late in the game and got his team within six at one point before Justice and company sealed the deal.

Sauk Prairie over Baraboo

Tonight was opening night of the WIAA playoffs and there aren't a ton of good early games and I picked the Sauk Prairie verse Baraboo game. These two teams are conference rivals and Baraboo was just a coupe games under .500 despite the fact that they won only two conference games.

This game didn't disappoint. Now this wasn't a match up of the most talented teams this game was still a very good one. Sauk seemed to have a handle on the game throughout but, they just couldn't put Baraboo away. Baraboo was actually able to take the lead with about five minutes left in the game but, they just didn't have the depth to sneak this game out.

Sauk really did it with a team effort as know one really got going until 5'9 junior Spencer Kostroski got things going late and a good portion of points from the line. Sauk did a nice job of knowing when to push the tempo and taking good shots. Sauk hit only three three point shots but,they didn't shoot a ton and did a nice job of driving and finding open team mates or slashing to the rim. While Sauk was a team effort Baraboo was really individual effort. 6'2 Baraboo junior Mason Peterson may of been the best player on the court but, at times he really forced things and took some bad shots. Peterson was able to use his ball handling to get around defenders and had a pair of nice and one baskets. On the inside 6'4 senior Paddy O'Rouke really battled and got some big baskets off put backs and buckets off of team mates passes. Late it was the three point shooting of 6'1 senior Spencer Klemm that kept Baraboo around but, in the end Sauk hit there free throws and Baraboo couldn't hit the threes.

Top Players 
Spencer Kostroski 5'9 junior Sauk Prairie- Doesn't look like much but, he's a player. When given the open three he's going to knock it down and he hit his free throws late. Had a 7-0 run of his own late in the game. Had some very nice drives where you could see that he was the quickest player on the court.

Mason Peterson 6'2 junior Baraboo- Really a nice point guard that handled the ball very well. Think he would be better suited to be on a team where he could just run the point and not need to score as much. Was able to drive the lane and finish through contact.

Paddy O'Rouke 6'4 senior Baraboo- Battled foul trouble all night long but, he really did battle on the offensive glass.

Box Score
Sauk Prairie 66- Kostroski 23 Dawson Evert 10 Josh Holler 9 Cole Miller 8 Trevor Wilkinson 7 Elijah Jorgensen 5 Carson Radl 4 Aidan Young 0 Devin Ballweg 0
Baraboo 60- Peterson 15 O'Rouke 14 Klemm 13 Connor Grogan 7 Austin Burkhalter 6 Justus Neuman 4 Caden Blum 1 Joe Stout 0 Caden Carpenter 0

Well the season is over for Baraboo but, the future is bright as they had numerous juniors and sophomores that saw some big minutes. Sauk will move on, unfortunately I don't see them beating Stoughton in the next round.

Week 14 Rankings

Well here we are with the regular season coming to an end and these are my final rankings of the season. Just don't see the reason to do rankings once the playoffs have started.

Division One
Vincent lost to Milwaukee Riverside in overtime and fall a spot to three. Brookfield Central was beaten pretty badly by Menomonee Falls and fall a spot as well to four. Kimberly lost to Oshkosh North and Neenah and drop all the way to eight. Arrowhead lost to Muskego and drop just behind them at 13. Racine Case lost to East Troy and Franklin and fall from the rankings and are replaced by Franklin.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Bay Port
3. Milwaukee Vincent
4. Brookfield Central
5. Milwaukee Riverside
6. Sun Prairie
7. Madison Memorial
8. Kimberly
9. Stevens Point
10. Oak Creek
11. Middleton
12. Muskego
13. Arrowhead
14. Eau Claire North
15. Franklin

Division Two
Pewaukee lost to Brown Deer and drop a couple spots to six. Stoughton lost to Madison Edgewood and drop all the way to 13 being there second consecutive lose. Mcfarland lost to Portage and Kaukauna lost to Fon du Lac with both teams dropping from the rankings being replaced by Medford and Rice Lake.

1. La Crosse Central
2. Milwaukee Washington
3. Beaver Dam
4. Cedarburg
5. Waunakee
6. Pewaukee
7. Luxemburg Casco
8. Onalaska
9. New Berlin Eisenhower
10. Brown Deer
11. Pulaski
12. Milwaukee Pius
13. Stoughton
14. Medford
15. Rice Lake

Division Three
GET lost to La Crosse Logan and fall a couple spots to six. Waupun lost to Ripon and drop to 10. Martin Luther lost to Dominican and sit tight at eight. Bloomer lost to Hayward and drop to 13. Westby lost to GET and fall to 15 while Lakeside Lutheran lost to Columbus and fell from the rankings. New Holstein checks in at 14.

1. Ripon
2. Xavier
3. Prescott
4. Prairie du Chien
5. Lake Mills
6. GET
7. Evansville
8. Martin Luther
9. Southern Door
10. Waupun
11. Adams Friendship
12. Valders
13. Bloomer
14. New Holstein
15. Westby

Division Four
Cochrane-Fountain City lost to Melrose Mindoro and The Prairie School lost to Racine St Catherines but, both sit put becasue the top four are so far ahead. Wabeno/Laona lost to Northland Pines and drop to nine. Stanley Boyd lost to Edgar and fall to 10. Laconia lost to Valders and Winnebago Lutheran and just barely hang on to the rankings at 15 Young Coggs Prep lost to Milwaukee North and drop just one spot to 13. Wild Rose lost to Almond Bancroft and Rosholt and fall from the rankings replaced by Spring Valley at 12. New Glarus lost to Lake Mills but, stay put at 14.

1. Darlington
2. Destiny
3. Cochrane Fountain City
4. The Prairie School
5. Marathon
6. Deerfield
7. Edgar
8. Eau Claire Regis
9. Wabeno/Laona
10. Stanley Boyd
11. Shiocton
12. Spring Valley
13. Young Coggs Prep
14. New Glarus
15. Laconia

Division Five
Barneveld lost to Black Hawk and fall to eight. Rio lost to Wayland Academy and Deerfield and drop all the way to 14. Loyal lost to Owen Withee and Eau Claire Regis falling from the rankings and are replaced by Hustisford.

1. Seneca
2. Bangor
3. Hilbert
4. Columbus Catholic
5. McDonnell Central
6. Shullsburg
7. Almond Bancroft
8. Barneveld
9. Drummond
10. Gresham
11. Alma/Pepin
12. Black Hawk
13. Pecatonica
14. Rio
15. Hustisford

Madison Memorial over Beloit

Originally I didn't plan on going to this game as I had planned on going to the Middleton verse Madison East game but, looking at standing wise this game was probably a better one to go to. Also gave me my first chance to watch Beloit play this year. 

I have to say that there just isn't a ton to say about this game because quite frankly it was a pretty boring game that lacked much scoring at all. I have to say that I was a little disappointed in Beloit. For a team that beat Middleton twice I really expected a little more. This Beloit team reminds me a lot of the past Madison West teams that seemed to have a ton of talent but, just couldn't put things together and just didn't play like a team. This was the first time that I've seen Beloit so I can't say this with total certainty but, they really relied on the three point shot and that just doesn't seem like that should be their game. Beloit really struggled from the outside and continued to shoot three after three. 

In the first half Memorial just couldn't buy a basket and this was probably the worst game that I've seen them play all year. The shots weren't falling they were turning the ball over and they weren't getting the second shot chances. Thankfully for Memorial their defense was their normal solid self as they limited Beloit to 14 first half points but, unfortunately Memorial had only 11 points. 6'8 senior Chris Knight really tied things together on the defensive side as he had probably close to 10 blocks and then in the second half Knight got things going in the second half. Knight was able to score in the paint in the second half using his size and quickness.Memorial did use their overall size as well going to 6'6 senior Jake Ferguson in the post at times when he was guarded by sub 6'0 defenders. In the end Beloit only scored 13 points in the second half and lost 42 to 27. 

Top Players 

Chris Knight 6'8 senior Madison Memorial- Knight was the dominater on the defensive end as always blocking shot after shot. He got things going in the second half on the block and doing his thing on the offensive glass. 

Jequan Pegeese 5'9 senior Beloit- One of the few Beloit players that was able to hit some outside shots and get things going. Was the only real consistent offense. 

Box Score 

Madison Memorial 42- Knight 15 Ferguson 9 Logan Knecht 5 Billy Wilson 4 Robert Bennett 4 Ian Brown 4 Matt Caropreso 1 Chase Danielson 0 Grayson Lehmann 0 Nick Caropreso 0 Elliot Grays 0 Cade Ellingson 0 Jack Krumbach 0 

Beloit 27- Pegeese 10 Drew Freitag 5 Fred Brown 4 Anthony Johnson 4 Trayvon Fair 2 Bryanth Farr 2 Migul Betancourt 0 Jadden McAtee 0 Jason Neal 0 JJ Chandler 0 Skyler Coleman 0 Kobe Yarbrough 0 Javis McClendon 0 

As I've said before and I'll say it again Madison Memorial is a team that needs to win ugly. They rely on their defense and their size to win and whatever scoring Knight can give them in the post. Right now I would say the chances of getting to state at 33% evenly with Sun Prairie and Middleton. The sectional is really up for grabs for all three teams. Beloit is a team that could probably pull an upset beating one of these top teams which would be Sun Prairie who they would play first. 

 

Week 13 Rankings

Week has ended  and it's Monday so time for another round of rankings and more then likely my final rankings as I don't necessarily see a reason to do the rankings because the tournament speaks for it self.

Division One
Kimberly dropped a game to Fond du Lac and fall a couple spots to four. Stevens Point was destroyed by Middleton, who in turned lost to Beloit, Point drops to 10 while Middleton falls to 12. Muskego lost to Franklin and drop just a spot to 13. Eau Claire North lost to Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire Memorial and drop a pair of spots to 15 but, hang on to the 15 spot.

1. Oshkosh North
2. Milwaukee Vincent
3. Brookfield Central
4. Kimberly
5. Bay Port
6. Arrowhead
7. Milwaukee Riverside
8. Sun Prairie
9. Madison Memorial
10. Stevens Point
11. Oak Creek
12. Middleton
13. Muskego
14. Racine Case
15. Eau Claire North

Division Two
Beaver Dam was upset by Wisconsin Lutheran and drop two spots to three. Pulaski lost to Green Bay Southwest and Bay Port and fall all the way to 12. Onalaska lost to La Crosse Central a tough one and fall just a spot to nine. Pius lost to Greendale and drop to 13. Kaukauna lost to Oshkosh North and hang on to the rankings because it was Oshkosh North.

1. La Crosse Central
2. Milwaukee Washington
3. Beaver Dam
4. Pewaukee 
5. Cedarburg
6. Waunakee
7. Luxemburg Casco
8. Stoughton
9. Onalaska
10. New Berlin Eisenhower
11. Brown Deer
12. Pulaski
13. Milwaukee Pius
14. Mcfarland
15. Kaukauna

Division Three
Southern Door lost to Luxemburg-Casco and fall to 12. Bloomer lost to GET and fall to 11. Westby lost to Prairie du Chien which is to be expected and fall just a spot to 13. New Holstein lost to Valders and fall from the rankings being replaced by Valders.

1. Ripon
2. Xavier
3. Prescott
4. Prairie du Chien
5. GET 
6. Lake Mills
7. Waupun
8. Martin Luther
9. Evansville
10. Southern Door
11. Bloomer
12. Adams Friendship
13. Westby
14. Lakeside Lutheran
15. Valders


Division Four
Regis lost to McDonell Central and drop a couple spots to Regis. Cedar Grove Belgium lost three games and fell from the rankings. Shiocton jumps back into the rankings.

1. Darlington
2. Destiny
3. Cochrane-Foutain City
4. The Prairie School
5. Marathon
6. Wabeno/Laona
7. Deerfield
8. Stanley Boyd
9. Edgar
10. Laconia
11. Eau Claire Regis
12. Young Coggs Prep
13. Wild Rose
14. New Glarus
15. Shiocton

Division Five
Columbus Catholic lost to Loyal with their top player out and fall to four. Shullsburg lost last week to Darlington which I evidently missed which dropped them to seven. Pecatonica lost to Barneveld and fall to 15. Phelps lost to Wabeno/Laona and fall from the rankings and are replaced by Loyal.

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

Middleton over Stevens Point

Tuesday night went to Middleton to watch two potential state teams match up. This was my first chance to see Stevens Point star 6'8 junior Joey Hauser without his two incredible team mates in brother Sam Hauser and Trev Anderson both starting at D1 college's at this point. Hauser has missed much of the season due to a football injury and Point has very new team as last years state champions were senior dominated. This game also gave me a chance to see Middleton play an elite team outside of the Big Eight where teams know each other so well and know each others strengths and weaknesses.

Middleton came out gunning behind the strong play of 6'5 senior Tyree Eady who hit two big threes right off the bat. Those two threes where a pair of 13 threes that Middleton hit in this game. This game was one of the best I've seen Eady play as his complete game was on display. Eady was hitting the threes which I really hadn't seen this year, was driving to the lane, handled the ball, and most importantly took the job of guarding Hauser. Hauser had a tremendous game but, one thing I didn't like is that his team mates didn't look for him enough in my opinion. Most of Hauser's baskets came in one on one settings and he showed a wide array of game. I'm not sure if Hauser was quick enough or if he likes the short jumper but, Hauser really seemed to like the short pull up jumper that he could take at any time using his height to get his shot off. Hauser also showed a very nice spin move at times, some nice ball handling dribbling the ball behind his back to get to the hoop, and was able to finish through contact. The biggest struggle for Point was the fact Hauser had no help. 6'3 junior Drew Blair picked up two early free throws and was basically a non factor in the first half and no one else could get going. Hauser scorers 18 first half points but, was matched by Eady who also scored 18 points.

Throughout the first half Middleton's other star 5'11 senior Storm Murphy couldn't buy a basket and was missing everything but, in the second half he took off. I believe Murphy had only two points and finished with 19 for the game. Murphy was getting to the paint and scoring and hitting his classic step back threes off the dribble. Hauser continued his game but, got no help once again until the game was too late and when Hauser went to the bench for good Point was down 27 and eventually lost by 30.

Top Players
Joey Hauser junior 6'8 Stevens Point- Like I said already he's a big time scorer and can score in a variety of ways as well as dominate the glass. One thing that really impresses me is the ball handling of Hauser. He ran the point a good amount of time and showing the ball handling with the behind the back dribbles and ability to get in the lane.

Tyree Eady 6'5 senior Middleton- Did it all tonight. Hit the three, drove to the rim, and played the D. His best game of the year that I have seen.

Storm Murphy 5'11 senior Middleton- First half was rough but, he didn't his thing in the second half. Outside of Jordan McCabe he's the most fun player to watch in the state in my opinion and the best ball handler outside of McCabe.

Box Score 
Middleton 96- Eady 26 Murphy 19 CJ Fermanich 12 Ben Jackson 11 Brett Wipfli 5 Chan Bowman 5 Cole Ragsdale 5 Alan Roden 4 Davis Roquet 3 Brogan Brunker 2 Parker Sigmon 2 Myron Ashford Jr 2 Jack Smith 0 Nick Michaels 0 Brian Vergenz 0 Joel Ticknor 0 Francesco Cinti 0 Ryan Lewis 0
Stevens Point 66- Hauser 32 Blair 9 Sam Simmons 6 Brennan Mueller 6 Keon'te Williams 5 Beau Rosenthal 4 Drew Cullen 2 Logan Lewis 2 Andrew Erdman 0 Spencer Tyson 0 Max Hofmeister 0

Well Middleton appears poised to make a big tournament run that could end at state and things seem to be clicking at that right time. Stevens Point will probably make it to sectionals because of the sectional their in but, I just do see them as a state team this year, possible next year though with the strong junior class.