Monona Grove wrapped up a second straight Badger South title, while Madison Memorial won its sixth game in a row and Madison East fended off Janesville Craig in high school boys basketball action on Tuesday night.
Madison Memorial and Verona battled it out in The Big 1070's Game of the Week Tuesday night, with each team playing relatively even in a quick back-and-forth first half. Memorial took a 20-16 lead into the locker room.
Verona came out swinging to start the second half. Ryan Van Handel went on a personal 5-0 run to give Verona a brief 21-20 lead, but after the teams exchange buckets to make it 23-22 Verona, the Wildcats never led again.
Cade Ellingson and Kyle Yu scored a combined 22 points in the second half to lead Memorial to their sixth straight win, with Ellingson notching 16 for the game to lead all scorers. The Spartans led by as many as 16 points before settling for a 59-47 victory over Verona.
Both teams open up WIAA State Tournament play next Friday. Memorial will host Madison West, while Verona will travel to Sun Prairie. Should both teams win, they'd meet again in a regional final.
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MEMORIAL 20|39=59
VERONA 16|31=47
Memorial Scoring: Cade Ellingson 16, Dryden Schaefer 11, Kwan Lewis 9, Kyle Yu 9, Daemiontae Bates 4, Yacouba Traore 3, Drew Collins 3, Nick Caropreso 2, Ian Brown 1, JR Mitchell 1.
Verona Scoring: Ryan Van Handel 15, Tyler Slawek 12, Reagan Klawiter 7, Malik Odetunde 6, Haakon Anderson 4, Cam McCorkle 3.