Madison East and Swing Fam Weekend

Madison East 66 Madison LaFollette 64
Friday night I took in the Madison East game which was a tough ticket to get as they locked the doors shortly after I got in and probably a couple hundred people were turned away. This game lived up to the hype as it came right down to the wire. Madison East had a huge height advantage but, LaFollette really battled on the glass and they were a very scrappy despite that lack of height. LaFollette is an extremely quick team and they play extremely good defense. Player that really stood out for LaFollette was 5'9 senior Donneil Gray. Gray was the quickest player on the court and he was able to hit some big shots off the dribble. Despite his lack of height like everyone else on Lafollette Gray was over to finished around and over bigger defenders. For East their size eventually took over as well as the strong play of their star 6'3 junior Anthony Washington. Washington was able to get out and score in transition. East jumped out early took a lead and LaFollette crawled back into the game and took the lead mid way through the second half. Late in the game LaFollette had the lead by one and East number two man 6'3 junior Keonte Jones had the ball. Everyone assumed they would go to the Washington but, Jones seemed to be struggling to find the opening in the defense so he took it upon himself to score. Jones drove and then made a very nice step back move and drained the three to take the two point lead. LaFollette had enough time to attempt a last second three but, they couldn't get it in to Gray so ended up with a last second three that was just off.

Swingfam Shootout
Saturday I took in the swingfam shootout. I knew that it wouldn't be the greatest games but, any time you can take in four games in one day thats a plus to me.

Madison Edgewood 68 Ripon 46
This was kind of an interesting game. First half Edgewood struggled to hit a shot and Ripon controlled the tempo and had a one point lead at the half. IN the second half Edgewood got transition game going and hit some open three pointers. Edgewood doesn't have the talent of their past teams but, as most Zwettler coached teams they play as a team and it was really a team effort that got things done. 6'5 senior Michael Meriggioli is the leading scorer but, it really is a team effort. Nine players scored for Edgewood and four of those reached double digits. While Edgewood's offensive excelled Ripon's fell apart which led to the 20 point win for Edgewood.

Waunakee 47 Franklin 44
Really a defensive struggle in this game. Neither team could get anything going in the first half and neither team could hit the three point shot. Was a good game but, kind of boring as there wasn't much for scoring. 6'1 senior Jacob Vonderwell was the only one that could do much offensively for Franklin as they scored only 17 points in the first half. Really not a whole lot to write about as both teams struggled throughout. In the second half Franklin really struggled with foul trouble as with about eight minutes left Franklin had three starters for foul fouls and a fourth with three which really hampered a come back from Franklin. Waunakee is another team that is really a team effort as Edgewood. Waunakee doesn't really have that star and they play nine or ten guys very evenly.

Janesville Parker 50 Columbus 47
This was a very interesting game as you had a school with an enrollment of 1500 students playing a school of about 400. First half it appeared that Columbus was just going to discipline them to death and had the first half lead of seven. In the second half Parker really turned up the pressure led by 6'2 senior Tremar Curry. Columbus just didn't seem to have any idea how to deal with the pressure and looked completely lost in the second half. The refs did let things go a bit which allowed Parker to be super aggressive and Columbus wasn't ready for it. Parker was up about 10 with two minutes to go though and got a little over confident and then couldn't make their free throws and things got real interesting. Columbus ended up tying the game up before a last second three by Parker sophomore 6'5 Brenden Weis hitting a corner three off the Curry assist to give Parker the buzzer win. Yes it was a small school but, it was only Parker's second win of the season so, good for them.

Laconia 87 Lake Mills 76
Easily the most entertaining came of the day. Laconia jumped out to a 10 or 12 point lead early and after that the game was basically even. Not sure if Lake Mills thought they would come out and win this one easily or they were just shelled shocked but, they came out super slow while Laconia was firing on all cylinders. Laconia 6'0 sophomore Eli Leonard hit a pair of threes right off the bat and then it was 6'4 junior Reed Gunnink the rest of the way. Lake Mills settled for threes the entire first half and the shots weren't falling. Laconia led by 12 at the half. In the second half Lake Mills finally started driving the ball to the hoop led by their lone senior 6'0 JT Toepfer and 6'2 sophomore Charlie Bender. Toeper was very impressive driving hard to the rim and being able to finish in a variety of ways. For Laconia Gunnick kept it going all game long hitting the threes and being able to drive to the rim and score. Lake Mills really had no answer for sowing down Gunnick.