WIAA - Thursday Session Updates

Live stats :: Streaming audio (ESPN 1070)

11:59 p.m. - Just a quick note on Evan Anderson from tonight: As we know, he is not dominant in any way; he's just too young and too raw still. I would not go as far as saying that he impressed me, but he made an impact defensively with several blocks and was able to be a go-to guy on some possessions for Eau Claire North. At nearly seven-feet-tall, Anderson does not have much trouble getting a shot off at this level. The Huskies, however, got zero points from their bench and fell to a superior Wauwatosa East team, 50-38.

The Red Raiders, who count Devin Harris and Jerry Smith as alumni, will play Brookfield Central (as expected) in tomorrow's late game.

5:45 p.m. - Ridiculous finish to the second D1 quarterfinal. I couldn't resist and listened to the entire second half, with the accompanying live stats, which were actually running about 10-15 seconds ahead of the audio.

As I suspected, 3-point shooting was the key. Nick Doedens in particular kept Germantown in the game, going 6-of-10 on treys to keep the Warhawks in the game. Bowers then hit the game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation. Overtime began tied 58-58.

In the end, however, Germantown also died by the three. It was a vicious cycle, as the Warhawks settled for threes, only to see Oshkosh West's big boys snatch all the rebounds. Shoddy free throw shooting by the Wildcats kept this close, as Averkamp's 3-pointer rimmed out on the final play. Germantown's big man had a quiet game down the stretch, neutralized by Benkoske and Anderson. Oshkosh West advanced again with the 66-63 win.

West's zone could pose a problem for Memorial in the semifinals. A lot of its offense is predicated on penetration and with two 6'8" players waiting for the Spartans in the lane, nothing will come easy out of an offensive set, even for Maymon. It will be an interesting clash in style; braun versus full-court pressure.

The next game (Bay Port vs. Brookfield Central) does not thrill me, so it's time for a dinner break. Make sure you catch tonight's game, though, to get a glimpse of Eau Claire North's 6'11" sophomore, Wisconsin Badger recruit Evan Anderson. I'm admittedly excited for that because I have not seen him play live yet. The Huskies run up against a darn good team in Wauwatosa East -- a team definitely capable of winning it all.

4:30 p.m. - Germantown--my darkhouse pick of the D1 tournament--is now trailing two-time defending champion Oshkosh West 41-37 after a flurry of action at the end of the third quarter. By the way, have you noticed how everyone on ESPN is now referring to halftime as "recess" these days. I feel like I missed a memo or something ...

Regardless, this game features some serious height. The Warhawks feature 6'7" junior Ben Averkamp, but West counters with 6'8" twin towers: senior John Benkoske and sophomore David Anderson. All three of the talented young big men are attracting significant collegiate interest. Averkamp has an impressive 118 blocks on the year entering the contest and the radio guys cannot stress that enough apparently. He's blocked a few so far, but foul trouble has again limited the star players in this game. Guard Ricky Bowers and the outside shooters from Germantown could be the difference because you know the Wildcats will want to pack it in defensively with their 2-3 zone.

Speaking of blocked shots, Maymon totaled a D1 tounrey record eight blocked shots in Memorial's 79-63 win earlier today. The junior's stat line was sickening -- including 28 pts, 12 rebs, 5 stls & 4 assts. I hope Maymon can get his academics in order at a junior college and find his way into a D1 college program. I would hate to see all that talent go to waste.

2:07 p.m. - The morning session concluded a few minutes past noon at the Kohl Center, with the Division 3 semifinals kicking things off. Fouls down the stretch against Eau Claire Regis allowed Iola-Scandinavia to complete a great comeback in the first game.

We already have an "upset" of the day, as LaCrosse Aquinas started and finished strong to beat D3 favorite Whitefish Bay Dominican. Both Jerel Harris and Kwamain Mitchell [listen] fouled out for the Knights, squashing any hopes of a comeback. Rising star Jimmy Whitehead led the Blugolds with 17 points.

Madison Memorial ran out to a nice lead in the first Division 1 quarterfinal to start the afternoon session. Just a few minutes ago, Jeronne Maymon picked up two quick fouls and went to the Memorial bench with the team leading 28-16, giving Lake Geneva Badger some life. The Spartans were playing an inverted triangle-and-two defense during this period, in which the Badgers closed the gap to 34-29 at the half.

Since I cannot really follow along on radio consistently right now, I am also checking the March Blogness posts off the Wishoops.net's state tournament coverage page.