La Crosse Central over Madison Memorial

Last night made the trek up to La Crosse to watch my last high school game of the regular season. This was a chance to see Central play again which is a team that I really don't get much of a chance to see during the season and to play a pretty decent team in Madison Memorial.

I knew Memorial had the size to battle Central but, I questioned if they would have the athleticism. Having seen Memorial play quite a bit this year I was kind of surprised by the way the game went. Central absolutely dominated the glass on both ends which typically Memorial does that and Memorial was shooting a ton of threes and making them. The reasoning for the rebounding advantage for Central was because of their athleticism that I previously mentioned. Early on for Central it was the offensive rebounding getting it done and the quickness of Central point guard 6'1 senior Noah Parcher. Parcher was just to quick for the Memorial defenders and too strong as he has numerous three point plays where he was fouled and still scored. Like I mentioned earlier Memorial was actually dropping the threes early. I'm not sure if it was poor scouting and just no other choice but, Central had their big man 6'7 junior Terrence Thompson guarding Memorials 6'4 senior Dryden Schaefer. Thompson refused to come out on Schaefer early and in my personal opinion Schaefer is probably their best three point shooter and he came out firing tonight and hit a pair of threes to lead the charge early as did everyone on the team tonight. I think Memorial hit ten plus threes in the first half. It took a while for super star 6'5 junior Johnny Davis to get things going for Central but, he did eventually get going with his slashing game attacking the rim. Davis was able to get a few three point plays of his own.

Typically I don't complain much about coaching but, something I can't stand is how Memorial's coach Collins loves to constantly sub his guys. Most of the guys play very limited minutes when they come in and I feel like guys come in afraid to take chances or be aggressive because they are going to get pulled right away. I'm not sure what has happened with 6'5 senior Ian Brown but, he seems to of completely lost it right now. That being said there could very well be things going on that limit his minutes and has caused him to be off his game but, right now he is only playing short minute spurts and seems to timid to me. This was also the case for 6'6 junior Yacouba Traore Jr tonight. Traore was hurt early in the year or at least out so I know he's behind right now. With Memorial being killed on the glass they brought Traore in and he did a solid job on the glass and battling but, his offensive game was clearly lacking. Every time Traore would make a turnover or poor shot selection he was back to the bench. I know he was hurting them offensively but, I think having that big body on the glass would of benefited them so much more. That being said in this game it wasn't going to matter.

Second half left much to be desired for Memorial as the shots just stopped falling and Central continued their strong game. Central finally hit a pair of threes in the second half which they didn't do in the first half and they cruised to a 23 point win.

Top Players
Dryden Schaefer 6'4 senior Madison Memorial- Played the way I thought he would all year. Was really aggressive from three point range and seemed to be looking for his shot a little more then normal.
Johnny Davis 6'5 junior La Crosse Central- Really aggressive driving to the hoop and crashing the glass on both ends. Had some very pretty finish around the rim and a couple nice mid range jumpers hit. Just too strong and athletic in this one.
Noah Parcher 6'1 senior La Crosse Central- Just too too quick tonight. Memorial had a very tough time staying in front of Parcher as he was able to drive to the lane all game long.
Terrance Thompson 6'7 junior La Crosse Central- Big man created so much havoc on the glass tonight. Even when he was getting the boards he was creating rebounds for his team mates.

Box Score
Central 84- Parcher 25 Joh Davis 24 Thompson 16 Jordan Davis 7 David Hayden 7 Clayton Philips 3 Jacob Servais 2 De'Andre Davis 0 Jaiquon Ingram 0 Brecken Austin 0 Devon Fielding 0 CHarlie Maseqicz 0 Payton Fife 0 Porter Pretasky 0
Memorial 61- Schaefer 14 Nick Caropreso 8 Kyle Yu 8 Cade Ellingson 7 Daemiontae Bates 6 Brown 5 Amaree Goodall 4 Kwan Lewis 3 Justin Jackson 3 Logan Younk 2 Traore 1 Drew Collins 0 Kole Kerkhoff 0 JR Mitchell 0

Well it seems that Central may just be peaking at the right time and I would be very surprised if we didn't see them in Madison when the season ends. Now there probably not going to beat Nicolet by any means but, they will be in the final four. Memorial is going to have a very tough time just making it out of regionals let a lone sectionals but, when your battling conference opponents anything can happen.