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Memorial shows off talent against Janesville Craig

JANESVILLE — By its own incredibly lofty standards, this season’s Madison Memorial High School boys basketball team is not its most successful in recent memory.

But that doesn’t stop the Spartans from putting on a show.

Madison Memorial sophomore Junior Lomomba and Marquette University recruit Vander Blue overwhelmed Janesville Craig with an impressive athletic display and led the defending state champions to a 60-43 victory in Big Eight Conference game here Thursday night.

Lomomba had 16 points, while Blue added 15 to help Memorial (14-3, 11-2) keep pace with first-place Madison East (15-1, 12-1) in the Big Eight.

Meanwhile, Craig (0-16, 0-13) did all it could to stay in contention against one of the state’s most prolific basketball programs.

“I was happy with our effort in the second half, but in the first half, I thought we weren’t ready to play,” Craig coach Mike Miller said. “We took a couple of timeouts and made adjustments, but we didn’t have people in the positions I told them to after the timeout. That was a little disappointing.”

Of course, the Spartans did their best to keep the Cougars out of position.

On the Cougars’ first possession of the game, Lomomba nabbed a lazy pass at the Cougar three-point line and gracefully glided down court for an impressive one-handed slam dunk.

And after that initial score, the Spartans unloaded their trademark pressure defense that helped build a 17-4 lead after one quarter.

“In the first half, they used their three-quarter court trap, half-court trap and a quarter-court trap, and we struggled with all three of them,” Miller said. “I thought they were the most athletic and I thought the best team we played so far.”

The Spartans athleticism is anchored by Blue, who scored eight quick points in the second, capped by an ally-oop dunk that helped Memorial build a 35-12 lead by halftime.

“I thought he lived up to the hype,” Miller said of Blue. “I thought he played fantastic.”

The Cougars didn’t threaten in the second half. They drew as close as 17 in the fourth quarter on Tom Kitching’s three-pointers at the buzzer.

Jon Condon led Craig with 11 points.

MEMORIAL 60, CRAIG 43

Memorial (60)—Burnette, 2-0-4; Blue, 7-1-15; Lomomba, 7-1-16; Morris, 5-3-13; Chamberlain, 3-0-6; Kluender, 1-0-2; Scharch, 1-0-2; Klatt, 1-0-2. Totals: 27-5-60.

Craig (43)—Johnson, 1-0-3; Condon, 4-3-11; Dare, 2-3-8; Holznecht, 1-0-2; Brault, 1-0-3; Kyle, 2-0-4; Bates, 1-0-3; Bordwell, 2-0-6; Kitching, 1-0-3. Totals: 15-6-43.

Memorial 17 18 17 8—60

Craig 4 8 13 18—43

Three-point goals—Memorial 1 (Lomomba), Craig 7 (Bordwell 2, Johnson, Dare, Brault, Bates, Kitching). Free throws missed—Memorial 2, Craig 2. Total fouls—Memorial 8, Craig 14.

Sophomores—Memorial 56, Craig 51