Grind Session Canada Recap: Fundamentals beats size as Wisconsin pulls away from CODE

Momo Sanogo — CODE Academy

CODE Academy had the size advantage, and it was obvious from the opening tip. Wisconsin Academy had the cleaner game. Wisconsin played fundamental basketball with nothing fancy, and it was enough to beat CODE 69-55.

The game turned in the second quarter. Wisconsin put up 24 points in the period to take a 38-27 lead into halftime, and the spark came from the bench. Wellingthon Barros checked in and started letting it fly. He finished with 18 points in just 16 minutes on 5-of-8 shooting, including four threes.

Inside, Tref Rademaker gave Wisconsin exactly what it needed. He didn't shy away from CODE's size and finished with 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting, all from inside the arc. Benoni Andrason added 13 points on an efficient 6-of-10, and Evan Ploeckelman, a UNC Greensboro commit with serious bounce, chipped in 8. Ploeckelman made one of the smartest plays of the night in the third quarter when he passed up a good shot to find a teammate for a great one.

CODE didn't go away. Momo Sanogo came alive in the fourth, KJ Perez knocked down a tough and-one three, and Lamar Murray kept getting loose off screens for long twos. By the 4:11 mark of the fourth quarter, CODE had cut it to 54-53.

That's when Wisconsin closed. Wisconsin outscored CODE 15-2 the rest of the way to turn a one-point game into a 14-point win.

The number that tells the story: Wisconsin's bench outscored CODE's bench 25-8, and Barros scored 18 of those 25 by himself.