Five Takeaways From Memorial’s 68-64 Win Over La Follette
MADISON — Five takeaways from Madison Memorial’s 68-64 win over Madison La Follette on Saturday… The More Disciplined Team Won Memorial was certainly the beneficiary of some home cooking when it came to the officiating, but they did the…
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Continue ReadingMADISON — Five takeaways from Madison Memorial’s 68-64 win over Madison La Follette on Saturday…
The More Disciplined Team Won
Memorial was certainly the beneficiary of some home cooking when it came to the officiating, but they did the little things that you need to in order to win close games.
One of those little things was get to the free throw line while not putting their opponent on the charity stripe. The Spartans spent were in the bonus for roughly half of the final period and those attempts added up and negated a strong push by La Follette late.
Give Steve Collins and company credit, every time the Lancers made a run and looked as if they were going to take control, Memorial ran their stuff, forced La Follette to defend for long stretches, and either got a quality look or got to the line. The Spartans also stayed composted after every La Follette surge and often answered with a timely 3-pointer, including four from senior forward Nick Carapreso, who contributed
The Spartans have now knocked off Sun Prairie and La Follette, two of the three preseason favorites in the Big Eight Conference.
When Donneil Gray Comes Back…Watch Out
If you’re La Follette, you take comfort in knowing that you were right there without your best player.
Donneil Gray, a Big Eight Player of the Year candidate, did not play on Saturday. However, the Lancers got contributions from just about everywhere.
The Lancers also were without second-leading scorer Troy Reeves for a large chunk of the game. Reeves, who picked up his fourth with 10:38 remaining, finished with 15 points, including a big 3-pointer late to pull La Follette within a score.
Ben Probst and Isaiah Stewart both helped pick up the slack were in double figures. Probst had a strong first half, while Stewart came up big in the second with timely plays. Despite being undermanned, La Follette and facing a substantial foul disparity, La Follette found ways to hang in there on the road.
As a shot creator, Reeves continues to prove that he’d be a feature scorer at most schools. The senior guard was fantastic early and late as he refused to let the Lancers die. Reeves finished with 15 points in limited duty, with a lot of his damage coming in the final three minutes to give his team a shot down the stretch.
La Follette might have lost round one, but it’s tough to say they’re still not the favorite in the conference.
Size Isn’t as Big of a Concern For La Follette
Coming into the season, La Follette’s biggest worry had to be their lack of size. The Lancers weren’t a big team last season and got even smaller in 2018-19.
Despite starting five guards, La Follette wasn’t hindered by their lack of size. Granted Memorial’s bigs spend a lot of time on the perimeter and don’t challenge you much offensively in the post, but the Lancers did an excellent job on the glass and really limited second chance points for Memorial.
On the other end, the surplus of guards will create a ton of mismatch opportunities. If La Follette can continue to force teams to beat them from the outside, they’ll have a good chance of making a deep run in March.
Probst is One of the Top X-Factors in the State
A big reason why La Follette went into the break leading 34-32 was Probst.
The junior guard finished with a team-high 18 points on Saturday. Memorial seemed keyed in on Reeves from the start and perhaps wasn’t ready for what Probst was bringing to the table. Known more for his glue-guy approach, Probst attacked the Spartans and sliced his way into the teeth of the defense for high percentage looks.
The added offense was in addition to everything else that Probst brings to the table.
In a small lineup, Probst is forced to defend bigger players, often giving up plenty of inches and pounds. He’s relied upon to do the dirty work, protect the paint, clean up the glass, etc. and yet the fact that he still had energy to be a go-to threat offensively was impressive. Probst also nailed two 3-pointers late in the second half that silenced a raucous crowd at the time.
Ellingson Stepped Up When It Mattered Most
In big games, you need your seniors to make plays in key moments. Memorial got that from Cade Ellingson.
In a game that was going back and forth throughout, Ellingson, didn’t throw the knock out blow, but certainly had the biggest punch. The senior guard connected on back-to-back triples in a 30-second span that gave Memorial a six-point lead, one they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
After another Lancer push, Ellingson delivered more daggers and kept the Lancers at bay. He converted a 3-point play to make it a six-point game and later beat the press with an assist to Ian Brown as La Follette never got a chance to tie or win the game in the final minute.