MILWAUKEE – Madison Memorial senior guard Vander Blue had been just lying in the weeds for most of the game. Barely noticed except for when he was needed Saturday night at the Al McGuire Center.

His back-to-back three-pointers in the final two minutes of the third quarter put the Spartans ahead and his dunk in the final 10 seconds of the game put the punctuation on a 56-43 victory over Milwaukee Rufus King in the nightcap of the second annual Converse/Eastbay Classic.

“It was a close game, but to win close games you have to play defense,” Blue said. “We stayed together as a team, did what our coaches told us to do and got the ‘W.’

“We showed heart at the end, not giving up.”

While Blue and Tre Creamer did the heavy lifting, with 22 and 21 points, respectively, it was senior big-man Ed Kluender who was the surprise of the night, scoring 12 points in a fill-in starting role. The last four were the ones that broke a 40-40 tie and put the Spartans (4-1) up for good.

“You see him run out on the court and my grandma might be faster than him getting down the court,” Memorial coach Steve Collins said with a smirk. “He does everything well. He knows the spots to be. He’s a very smart kid and rebounds like no other.”

The defense played a big role in the win, too, holding King to just 18 of 53 (33 percent) shooting for the game and 2 of 11 in the fourth quarter. With a 29-27 lead at halftime King shot just 5 of 25 (20 percent) in the second half from the field.

“The first three games, we gave up 68 points,” Collins said. “If you look at the last three games, I would put our defense against any in the state. The job we did against (Janesville) Craig (Friday) night was great and we just gave up 43 points to a really good Milwaukee King team.

“We’re getting there. We’re young and we’re not where we need to be, but we’re getting there.”

King coach Jim Gosz knows the shooting is something that will have to be a focal point for the Generals (1-2) who have now lost two in a row.

“We’re just not getting done,” Gosz said. “We’re a few possessions away from putting the game away and we’re very inconsistent. You can’t do that against Memorial.

“We just can’t shoot. It’s not like we don’t work on it. We have a lot work to do.”

Notes:  Memorial was playing with out Brendan Ortiz who injured his foot and will be out until January. … Only four players from Memorial scored. … Courtlin Scott-Johnson led the way for King with 14 points. … King has lost its last three games at the Al McGuire Center dating back to the Wauwatosa East sectional final in March 2008.

MILWAUKEE RUFUS KING…..9 20 6 8—43

MADISON MEMORIAL………..11 16 11 18—56

MRK—Marcus Kirk 4, Dominique Borom 2, Courtlin Scott-Johnson 14, Mike Ward 2, Quintrell Rowe 6, Justin Newell 7, Silas Mills 1, Leon Gray 3, Anthony Hatfield 4. 3-PT: Scott-Johnson 2, Gray 1. FT: 4-8. Total Fouls: 22.

MM—Miles Chamberlin 1, Tre Creamer 21, Vander Blue 22, Ed Kluender 12. 3-PT: Creamer 3, Blue 2. FT: 17-20. Total Fouls: 11.