Madison East over Madison Memorial

Took in a Big Eight battle last night between Madison Memorial and Madison East. Memorial the perennial power that has dominated the conference the past 15 years while East is the up and coming team that appears to be the cream of the crop now. East has had some very good teams that always seemed to run into some great Memorial teams, while this year Memorial's team is down a bit so this could be East's year.

Game started out early with East struggling a bit to hit any outside shots and looking a little lost on offense. I'm not sure if it was something new or not but, Memorial was playing a straight up 3-2 zone defense of 1-2-2 whatever you want to call it. I'm not sure if it was this zone of not but, East's offense was really struggling. Memorial struggled just as well but, they've seemed to struggle to score all year long and rest their hat on the defensive end. 6'4 senior Nick Caropreso really came out firing early looking for his three point shot as he scored 10 points in the first half including a pair of threes. For East 5'10 senior Damontae Thompson got himself going a bit hitting some very tough mid range jump shots. East got a little transition game going late with 6'3 junior Anthony Washington getting out and running a bit. At the half the game was tied 24 all.

The second half started out a bit of the same but, East did eventually get themselves going. The biggest impact was probably the choice to start 6'5 sophomore Jevan Boyton. Boyton hit some huge threes from the corners and worked very well with fellow big man 6'4 junior Marcus Justice. Whether it was Boyton in the high post finding Justice or Justice in the high post working into Boyton the offense just seemed to flow a little better in the second half. East turned up the pressure late in the second half which forced some turnovers and led to a pair of big dunks from Washington and fellow junior 6'3 Keonte Jones. Jones dunk in particular really got the crowd and team pumped up which always seems to be the case with anything involving Jones. For Memorial Caropreso continued to play strong including a very nice dunk in traffic but, never could get much help from his team mates. 6'3 senior Cade Ellingson scored some points late in the game but, at that point the game was basically over as East won 56-50.

Top Players 
Nick Caropreso 6'4 senior Madison Memorial- Really has greatly improved his offensive game this year. Showed the ability to step out and hit the three point shot and show the ability to drive to the hoop and score. The dunk he had in the game really surprised me and frankly surprised the East defense.
Damontae Thompson 5'10 senior Madison East- With out question is the leader of this team and he is really able to do that running the point for the team. Just a tremendous ball handler that can get to the middle of the defense where he loves that mid range jump shot and when he gets hot he's tough to stop.
Jevan Boyton 6'5 sophomore Madison East- Kind of a silent killer as he does stick out but, just gets the job done. Hit some huge threes from the corner in the second half and like I said earlier did a nice job of working with Justice in the post. Really battled on the glass as well. With Boyton starting in the second half really swung things East's way.

Box Score
East 56- Boyton 16 Washington 12 Thompson 10 Jones 9 Justice 6 David McKinley 3 Jadyn Walsvick 0 Michael McIntosh 0
Memorial 50- Caropreso 20 Ellingson 12 Kyle Yu 6 Dryden Schaefer 4 Ian Brown 2 Logan Younk 2 Justin Jackson 2 Kwan Lewis 1 Daemiontae Bates 0 JR Mitchell 0 Drew Collins 0

Unfortunately I don't see Memorial doing to much this year, their size and defense give them a chance against anyone but, they just don't have that scoring punch this year. Madison East on the other side could very well be a state team. Part of the reason though is because there just really isn't anyone in East's way. East is a very talented team but, I do question any scoring outside of their big three. If they can keep getting the play out of Boyton they will be tough to beat.