Friday night was the first time I had a chance to see either Laconia or Mayville, and although the Spartans came away with the 51-44 victory, both teams showed me something.
For starters, Mayville's obvious strength is Matt Haass. At 6-foot-4, he's not exactly the tallest post player around but he's physical enough to get done what he needs to get done. He also showed some nice perimeter skills, including a wicked spin move in the lane on one drive and some nice court vision to find Tyson Apfelbeck for 3-pointer.
That being said, I think its going to fall on the shoulders of the other players on the team to make enough shots to either prevent the double-team or at least soften up defenses enough that it will have to respect the outside shot. It's been a rough stretch of games for the Cardinals, and while the conference championship may be out of reach, there's still time for Mayville to regain some offensive confidence and put together a nice postseason run.
As far as Laconia, I was impressed with the first and fourth quarters, but the second and third have me a bit concerned about their state tournament chances. The one thing I love about this team is that they play with tons of emotion. But that can also be a bad thing. Even coach Tom King said after the game that he thought his team was drained a little in the second and third quarters.
But when Laconia turns it on, man, can they turn it on. Granted, Mayville kind of shot itself in the foot, but that was some fantastic defense the Spartans played in the fourth quarter.
The other thing that impressed me about Laconia was its depth. Kieran Weed is the superstar, but Aaron Rickert and Derek Semenas can score in bunches and the Wittchow boys provided added toughness. I think the Spartans may be the deepest team in the league, something that will help come playoff time.
That was the first game I ever saw at Laconia, and I liked the gym a lot. I bet it got quite loud there back in the day.
Finally, take a look at this picture. Honestly, what is up with the people ignoring Schellpfeffer's perfect shooting form?
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3 comments:
While Laconia is deep, I dont think they are the deepest team in the league. Horicon returned all but 1 player from last years team yet you never talk about them. I like to hear everything about the Flyway conference because I love watching all the teams in the conference play, but there is never anything said about Horicon when they are near the top?
Anonymous (why doesn't anyone use their name):
The reason I don't mention anything about Horicon is that, because of time, staff and newshole constraints, we have dropped Horicon from our coverage area. Since I'm not in contact with those coaches on a regular basis, I don't think I should be making comments on the team. However, I may take in Thursday's Laconia-Horicon game and let all you Marshmen know what I think, as if that means anything.
the best part of schellpfeffers shot is to the left of him in the picture...his right...are his mom and dad...how cute!
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