State Recap

This is just a quick recap of the state games done primarily from memory.

Division One
Unfortunately the hyped match up of Sun Prairie vs Oshkosh North never happened. In my opinion kind of dropped the ball on their end. Sun Prairie really need to go through Jalen Johnson on every possession and the foul trouble of Marlon Ruffin didn't help things. Looking at the stats after the fact Marty Strey took the most shots of anyone on the team and that just can't happen if your Sun Prairie. Brookfield East did their part though. Patrick Cartier showed he is the top post player in the state and some hot shooting from freshmen Hayden Doyle was a huge factor. In the other game Oshkosh North appeared to be running Hamilton out of the gym and then went into cruise control and nearly let Hamilton back into the game. I know Haliburton is the top ranked player on the team but, honestly in my mind Quincy Anderson was the most impressive player for North on the weekend. Anderson has tremendously approved since last year when he was a top reserve and is an elite athlete. Freshmen Patrick Baldwin is right behind Washington freshmen Michael Foster for the top freshmen in all the land. Like Foster Baldwin is a guard in a posts body.

The final was a bit of a sleeper with Oshkosh North pretty much handling the game from the get go. Easts guards really couldn't handle the 1-3-1 trapping zone of North and they couldn't get Cartier much for touches in the paint.

Division Two 
Westoha Central kind of surprised me but, all the attention went to Kaukauna and Jordan McCabe. McCabe didn't play a great game as he had a few too many turnovers in my mind. Central was led by numerous juniors and I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a run at state next year. Kaukauna didn't shoot the ball very well but, the did their thing on the glass to get the win. The second game was filled with loads of talent in La Crosse Central and Milwaukee Washington. Central took the early lead behind their talented sophomore class but, in the end it was the experience of Washington that willed them back into the game. Some hot shooting from Jordan Dinsmore sealed the deal.

In the final despite the tremendous play of Deontay Long and Michael Foster Washington just couldn't put Kaukauna away. Some late clutch shooting from McCabe and company got them back in the lead and McCabe hit the shot late to get the win. This was probably the most exciting game overall at least in my mind with all the talent.

Division Three
Game one was a pair of very evenly match teams in Valders and Kettle Moraine Lutheran. I honestly knew nothing about Valders and paid most of my attention to Kettle Moraine Lutheran as they were the favorite in my mind having come out of the toughest sectional in the southeast. Big man Zachary Zulliger had a very good game as his perimeter team mates struggled a bit before Solomon Zarling got things going late in the game. I'll be honest I didn't notice much of Valders but, this game went to overtime and the only bucket scored was scored right at the end at the perfect time to give Valders the win. Game two wasn't nearly as well played game. I really think that it was East Troy that caused the poor play. I think that East Troy was in over their heads at state but, they were a very scrapping team that caused this game to be alittle ugly at time. Super soph AJ Vukovich was impressive but, I didn't see a lot more out of this East Troy team. Peter Brookshaw was his normal impressive self while fellow score Parker Nielsen struggled.

The final was nearly a one on one game with Brookshaw and Kyle Tuma of Valders. In the end Tuma hit the three to give Valders the lead with 10 seconds left but, that was too much time for Brookshaw who hit the game winner as time expired.

Division Four
This was basically Manitowoc Roncalli putting on a show. Despite having no one taller then 6'1 Roncalli played tremendous defense, moved well without the ball, and hitting the threes. Unfortunately for Pardeeville they were never really in this game and their top player Nicholas Henke turned his ankle early in the first half. The second game I thought would be better but, the bigs of Marathon really took it to the bigs of Clear Lake. Kind of an ugly game but, Marathon took control late and cruised.

In the final Marathon's size gave Roncalli problems early on as Marathon had the lead with about 10 minutes left in the game and then all heck broke loose. Roncalli turned up the pressure which led to turnovers and even when Roncalli didn't press Marathon's guards seemed flustered which led to a win for Roncalli of 20 plus. Chambi Lambert for Roncalli really put on a show scoring at will. Lambert used his quickness and cross over to drive the lane and then the threes were money whether he was spotted up over coming off the screen.

Division Five
Bangor Bangor Bangor. They dominated as a team in every which way. The best player was McDonnell Central's 6'5 Hayden Baughman but, the best team by far was Bangor. Bangor star Luke Reader didn't have a great game scoring wise but, he really did make his team mates better finding them wide open in the lane and drawing the attention to himself to free team mates. Also props to Caleb Miendema who really showed his athletic ability at 6'6 and came back from a pretty badly turned ankle.

Well the season has ended and I'm already looking forward to next years season. Also debating if this blog will continue or if it was just be my love of basketball on its own, as I feel that my content has dropped a lot this year.