Midwest Showcase

I know this is another post that is a little late but, Saturday was up in La Crosse watching the Midwest Showcase at the La Crosse Center which has become one of the top basketball days in the state of Wisconsin. They always seem to get some elite talent and paired with the fact that La Crosse has some very good basketball right now in their own right made this one of the top Showcases they've had. Since it has been a while since the games were played I will keep this short and sweet of each game and of course there were six games as well so can't go into any of the games too deep.


La Crosse Logan 57 Rushford Peterson 56
Logan may of won this game but, I came away more impressed by Rushford Peterson. Watching warmups I thought that Logan would win this game easily going away but, the Trojans really surprised me. Obviously I don't know much about them being that they are from Minnesota buy RP seems to be a very well coached team. They have no one over 6'1 that played and they play with a ton of heart and intensity. Their also very patient in their offense which very minimal dribbling, which are always calling cards of well coached teams. If not for some late game heroics from Logans 6'0 junior CJ Siegel this game could of very easily gone the other way.

Onalaska 77 Minnehaha Academy 65
Minnehaha had all the hype in this one but, Onalaska just out played them from the get go. 6'4 senior Jared Sample did a good job on the nationally ranked 6'3 freshmen Jalen Suggs but, Suggs really took himself out of the game with settling for outside shots and then getting in foul trouble. I was another freshmen 5'11 Terry Lockett that was huge for Minnehaha knocking down threes and driving the lane and finishing. Onalaska really has some good senior guards as 5'10 Jalen Zubich didn't have a great game but, that didn't matter. 5'11 Noah Fredrickson was hot from the outside as was 6'2 Tyler Hughes who also was able to drive the lane strong and finish over bigger defenders.

La Crosse Aquinas 46 Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 34
Unfortunately this game wasn't the most entertaining. Both teams struggled to get any rhythm in the first half and thankfully for Aquinas in the second half 5'10 senior Eddie Harwick got things going. Harwick is a superior ball handler who did a nice job of finding his mid range shot as he scored 18 points in a low scoring game. Assumption looked to get the ball to the inside but, it just wasn't there all game.

Wauwatosa West 74 Caledonia 68
Tosa West came out like gang busters in this one as they were just too fast for Caledonia early on. This looked to be a blow out early on as Caledonia was missing everything and took those misses and pushed the tempo leading to quick bucket after quick bucket in transition. Caledonia didn't go away though like well coached teams do and I've seen them enough in the past three years to believe this, and clawed back into the game. Caledonia star 6'3 junior Owen King had some hot shooting to carry his team but, just couldn't get enough with their leading scorer brother Noah a 6'1 freshmen who was out with an ankle injury. West had a huge size advantage but, that didn't seem to matter.

Woodbury 82 Milwaukee Riverside 65
Missing 6'6 senior Terrence Lewis really hurt Riverside. 6'3 junior Carlos Curtis and 6'5 senior Alondis Williams played extremely well as they both scored 20 in the game and Williams is an exceptional passer and Curtis did a lot on the glass but, they lacked the consistent outside shooting of Lewis. On the other side Woodbury had that outside shooting in the form of 6'4 junior Michael Jones who was on fire from the outside making eight three point shots and scoring 37 points.

La Crosse Central 75 Waunakee 54
This game was over very early as the senior pair of 6'4 Kobe King and 6'0 Bailey Kale where just to much for Waunakee. Kale was knocking down the three point shot and King was hitting the mid ranges and also had to dunk of the year driving pass line and finishing the dunk with the and one. King also did a great job of guarding Waunakee star 6'3 junior Mitch Listau. Listau just wasn't quick enough to get around King and his long arms and really got frustrated in this game. The entire Waunakee team as a whole just couldn't hit anything and you have to wonder if playing with the open back ground played a part in this.

My All Tournament Team
1st
Michael Jones 6'4 junior Woodbury- Just couldn't miss as he hit those eight three pointers and was the high scorer of the day.
Bailey Kale 6'0 senior La Crosse Central- First time I've seen Kale shooting the ball well and he really did tonight really creating space off the dribble and knocking threes down.
Kobe King 6'4 senior La Crosse Central- Has really improved his mid range shot and I would say it looks very pure right now. Everyone knows he can jump which can be seen by his monster dunk.
Tyler Hughes 6'2 senior Onalaska- Missed much of last year and now I see what they were missing. Hughes shot the three well but, really excelled taking the ball to the rim and scoring over bigger defenders.
Alondes Williams 6'5 senior Milwaukee Riverside- Really not a point guard but, ran it a lot and he's an exceptional passer. Not quick but, he has eyes in the back of his head I swear and he hit some big threes. Not to mention he's playing with one hand as he has some sort of injury to his left wrist and it's heavily tapped and you can tell he favors it.

2nd
Terry Luckett 5'11 freshmen Minnehaha Academy- Hit spot up three pointers from the outside and was also able to really drive the lane and score.
Owen King 6'3 junior Caledonia- King carried his team at times hitting monster threes when nothing else was falling. I've loved this kid since I saw him play as a freshmen. Competiter is all you need to say.
Noah Fredrickson 5'11 senior Onalaska- Superb ball handler but, he was really hitting from the outside tonight.
Carlos Curtis 6'3 junior Milwaukee Riverside- Kind of took over Lewis's off the ball game rebounding and scoring on the inside in this one. I really like Curtis and can't wait to see what he has to offer next year.
CJ Seigel 6'0 junior La Crosse Logan- Seigel had a full length drive and finish at the buzzer to send his game to over time which really sticks out. Just a smooth player that doesn't force things and lets the game come to him. Has a very nice mid range jump shot.

Top Scorers
Michael Jones Woodburg 37
Owen King Caledonia 29 
Tyler Hughes Onalaska 27
Carlos Curtis Riverside 20 
Terry Luckett Minnehaha 20 
Bailey Kale Central 20
Kobe King Central 20 
Alondes Williams Riverside 19
Noah Fredrickson Onalaska 19
Ike Thilgen Woodbury 18
Eddie Harwick Aquinas 18
CJ Siegel Logan 18