La Follette over Memorial

This game was totally going to be about tempo. If it was an up and down game then it was going to favor La Follette if it was a slow paced game it would favor Memorial. Well I guess you can say it was up tempo or at least La Follette was playing uptempo and Memorial was playing a slow down game and that didn't work out. La Follette just came out and ran Memorial out of the gym. La Follette was trapping and getting their hands on everything which led to fast break and transition buckets where they are at their best. Despite Memorial having a huge height advantage it was La Follette who dominated the glass, grabbing long rebounds off the long shots.

If the first half I think Memorial just got over whelmed right off the bat. In warm ups and during the anthem I thought the La Follette guys looked a little jittery and alittle too pumped but, that correlated in to them jumping out to a early lead. It really seemed like a team effort as everyone was getting steals, rebounds, and knocking down shots. La Follette's two top scoring guards 5'9 junior Donnell Gray and 5'10 senior Anthony West didn't even combine to break 10 points. If I had said those two would combine that little I would of thought there is no way they won this game. Memorial got back into it behind some hotting shooting from 6'5 junior Ian Brown but, then Memorial seemed to get stuck on seven points. La Follette ended up doubling up Memorial in the first half 32-16.

I didn't mention it earlier but, foul trouble really limited Memorial as well and many people would probably blame the refs for this but, really it was the style of play. La Follette was just to quick for Memorial and even when Memorial tried to go to a zone La Follette did a nice job of pulling the ball out and stretching the Memorial defense allowing them to get driving lanes. On the other side Memorial just wasn't quick enough to drive past the La Follette defenders who were in their face all game and didn't force the contact like La Follette did. In the end La Follette was just quicker and more athletic then Memorial.

Top Players 
Donneil Gray 5'9 junior Madison La Follette- Didn't have a huge scoring night but, really did a great job of running the offense. Really controlled La Follette's offense and knew when to push it or pull it out. Had a couple real nice finished in the lane but, excelled at driving and kicking to open shooters.
Kierre Washington 6'2 senior Madison La Follette- Really did a nice job of battling on the inside even though he was giving up a few inches and was able to use that mismatch to his advantage on the offensive end.
Nate Seward 6'2 senior Madison La Follette- Like Washington did a nice job of battling in the post against bigger Memorial players. Showed a nice little offensive game driving to the rim as well which I hadn't seen earlier.
Isaiah Stewart 5'10 sophomore Madison La Follette- Really the MVP tonight coming off the bench. Hitting some huge threes from the corners, showcased a nice floater in the lane, and like everyone else did a nice job of rebounding.
Ian Brown 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Really the only guy that showed much on the offensive end. Hit some outside shots and showed some nice moves driving to the lane. Showed the aggression I wish I would of seen all year.

Box Score
LaFollette 63- Stewart 15 Seward 12 Washington 11 Troy Reeves 11 Gray 6 West 5 Ben Probst 3 Drekwon Smith 0 Sam Schmitt 0 Malik Cameron 0 Derek Gray 0 Jaden Nix 0 Charles Suggs 0
Memorial 40- Brown 9 Nick Caropreso 6 Elliot Grays 4 Daemiontae Bates 4 Michael Cerniglia 4 Cade Ellingson 3 Tyshawn Caldwell 2 Damajha Pollard 2 Jack Krumbach 2 Yacouba Traore Jr 2 Colin Kennedy 1 Amaree Howard 1 Adam Bergman 0 Dryden Schaefer 0 34 0 33 0 32 0

After watching this game I'd like to say La Follette has a real chance to make a run at state but, after seeing Sun Prairie play them just a week ago, I see no chance for La Follette to beat Sun Prairie. On the other side Memorial return the majority of their team and will probably be one of the top teams in D1 next year because of their size and experience.