La Crosse Central Edges Stoughton in D2 Battle
STOUGHTON — Two of the top teams in Division 2 squared off on Tuesday as Stoughton hosted La Crosse Central. In what could shape up to be a state tournament matchup down the line, the Red Raiders edged the Vikings 58-53 for a solid road victory…
Johnny Davis – 2020 – SG – La Crosse Central
Davis cooled off, but put together a huge first half with 15 points, finishing with 21 for the game.
A relentless slasher, Davis lives in the paint. He’s not overly skilled yet, but gets into high percentage areas with sheer force of will. A plus-length wing, Davis has great touch from 6-8 feet and uses the glass about as well as any guard in the state. Davis isn’t a great 3-point or mid-range shooter, but he’ll knock down those shots consistently enough to make defenders respect it.
Davis had 21 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday’s win.Defensively and on the glass is where Davis really makes his mark. So tenacious, few, if any players can match Davis’ motor. The sophomore guard recorded nine rebounds and a handful of steals. Davis loves to get after people and pressure for 90 feet. He also plays the passing lanes extremely well, always in anticipation mode.
A big area of improvement for Davis going forward will be continuing to play fast, while staying under control. Over the past few games, he’s gotten himself into foul trouble. Davis gets greedy defensively and commits fouls either away from the ball or when the offense isn’t even threatening to score. Similar mistakes happen on offense as well. Going zero to 100 as soon as the possession changes, Davis can be susceptible to turnovers, which he had eight of Tuesday night.
UNLV, Wisconsin, and UW-Green Bay are in with offers thus far. Whoever gets Davis in 2020, will land one of the better defenders in the country. If his offensive skill set catches up, this is an easy offer from a lot of high major programs.
Brady Schipper – 2018 – G – Stoughton
With Stoughton down its leading scorer Max Fernholz, Schipper stepped up. The Wisconsin football commit scored 13 of his team-high 16 points after halftime, keeping the Vikings around.
Defended by Davis, Schipper was able to mix things up. He connected on some tough, off-balance jumpers and stretched the floor, knocking down two 3-pointers. A strong, athletic guard, Schipper absorbed contact around the rim well and had a key 3-point play late as Stoughton stormed back.
The football background paid dividends on the defensive end. Shipper has excellent lateral quickness to cut off baseline drives where he’d then wall up and send the ball handler back towards the perimeter.
Tommy McClain – 2018 – PF – Stoughton
McClain is going to play football at St. Cloud State, but he’d have a future on the hardwood at a small school program.
The 6-foot-4 senior just does a little bit of everything. McClain handles the basketball very well for his size and his passing is a really nice weapon for Stoughton. McClain can whip the ball across the floor on time and on target to shooters. McClain is probably too unselfish to a fault. He’s got a nice skill set and is too versatile to only be taking six shots like he did on Tuesday.
His interior defense was also outstanding. McClain went toe-to-toe with the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Terrance Thompson and really made him work for everything he got. In 1-on-1 settings in the post, there were a lot of battles that McClain won and forced Thompson to kick out the basketball on.
Terrance Thompson – 2020 – PF – La Crosse Central
This was a physical game and while it took Thompson a half or so to adjust, he made it known who the alpha dog was in the front court.
Thompson scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, including a big put back slam that shifted the momentum of the game. Thompson was a warrior inside, not allowing Stoughton many looks at the rim and when the opposition tried to back him down, Thompson’s power and strength wouldn’t let opposing posts get much closer to the rim. Recording a double-double, Thompson grabbed 14 rebounds on Tuesday. He eliminated all but a few second chance opportunities.
Terrance Thompson (@TTerrance_21) coming into your picture. #wisbb pic.twitter.com/SXUj3LoF01
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) January 31, 2018
Offensively, there’s a lot to like, but a lot of room to grow. Thompson is young for his grade, but already possesses a 7-foot wingspan. Post prospects of this size and athleticism don’t come out of the Badger State often. Thompson provides the muscle around the rim and can bully people inside for easy finishes. He runs the floor well and makes a killing during the travel season with fast break layups and dunks.
Thompson has an offer from UW-Green Bay. Wisconsin, Virginia, Xavier, Iowa, Iowa State, Miami (OH), Milwaukee, and South Dakota State are expressing interest.