Madison gets a pair of wins

Saturday I took in a pair of games down in Madison. In the afternoon I took in Madison Memorial verse Dekalb Illinois who I actually knew nothing about obviously but, they were a solid team that gave a good game. The night cap I saw Sun Prairie verse Madison East which was one of the better games of the year I've seen this year. Overall I would say that it was a successful day of basketball in Madison.

Madison Memorial 55 Dekalb Il 52
This game was very obvious that these two teams were not familiar with each other as it felt that they were feeling each other out the entire time and neither team really seemed to fall into their normal flows. Early on Dekalb really struggled from the outside but, they were able to find the opening in the Memorial zone. Typically it was 6'3 Dekalb senior Michael Newman that was finding himself right in the middle of the zone with the ball where he was able to score. Things got a little sloppy at times which seemed to favor Dekalb in this one. Madison Memorial couldn't get anything going on the offensive end throughout the first half but, they were able to control the glass on both ends. At half time Dekalb was up four points.

In the second half Memorial was able to force the pressure and force Deklab into turnovers which allowed Memorial to take the lead. Memorial was also able to start hitting threes which combined with the defense allowed them to take a big lead. 6'4 Memorial senior Dryden Schaefer was the offensive leader hitting the threes from the outside. Memorial got up double figures before Dekalb started getting things going offensively as the threes began to fall for them. 5'10 junior Zach Russell came off the bench to make four three point shots all in the second half while 5'11 sophomore Trenton Kyle hit four of his own in leading Dekalb. Some poor Memorial free throw shooting let Dekalb back into the game. In the end Dekalb had the chance to tie the game at the buzzer but, a three point shot with a questionable non foul call fell just short.

Madison Eat 65 Sun Prairie 59
This was an intense game from the get go. The fans were into it and the players were in to it. When you watch Madison East everything starts and ends with 6'3 junior Keonte Jones. Jones seems to love when the crowd gets on him and he can give it back to the crowd. I really think he loves the back and forth and being a bit of enemy number one of the opposing fans. During warm ups the Sun Prairie students were giving it to Jones and Jones was doing some talking back. Right off the bat Jones drove baseline out of the half court set and through down the job and gave it right to the Sun Prairie students. That was one of the few highlights for East in the first half as the shots just weren't falling from the outside and they struggled with the size of Sun Prairie. Sun Prairie's size combined with the foul trouble of 5'10 East senior Damontae Thompson allowed Sun Prairie to jump out to the first half lead. Jones did his best driving to the lane and scoring but, they just couldn't stop Sun Prairie from scoring in the paint. 6'5 Sun Prairie twins Brock and Alex Voigt both had big nights scoring in the post throughout the entire game. At half Sun Prairie led by nine and threatened to blow the game out.

In the second half Madison East showed why they were one of the best teams in the state and took it too Sun Prairie. Sun Prairie fans will probably blame this on the reffing and East being allowed to play very physical with Sun Prairie. Easts stars came to play in the second half as well. Thompson came out in the second half very fresh gunning as he nailed a pair of threes right out of the gate. The last couple games Thompson has been the most consistent offensive player for East and despite his height he can get his shot off at any time. 6'4 big man Marcus Justice was really able to use his size and strength in the post to score over the longer defenders in the post. Jones continued to be his tough self slashing to the lane and scoring or finding his open team mates on the week side. Jones hit a pair of monster back to back threes mid way through the second to give East the lead for good. Late the pressure got to Sun Prairie which allowed East to get out and run and that's when their top guy 6'3 junior Anthony Washington is at his best. Washington sealed the deal with a monster two handed dunk.

I truly think that Keonte Jones has nearly caught Washington as top player on East and could very well be playing himself into a D1 scholarship player. Washington is a better athlete, leaper, and rebounder but, I think Jones handles the ball better and shoots it better at this point. Both can play very good defense when they want to which is a huge thing. Typically Jones takes the better offensive player but, Washington might actually be the better defender. In conclusion East may of finally made me a believer. that they can get to state and maybe even challenge for a title.