A guide to what WIAA has in store this week

AT A GLANCE

What: 103rd annual WIAA boys state basketball tournament.

Where: Kohl Center, Madison.

Tickets: $10 per session at the Kohl Center. $12 online at wiaawi.org.

Broadcast: All games will be shown live on WMLW (Channel 41), on the internet at wmlw.com or on mobile devices by downloading the WIAA’s Magic of March app.

Postgame: Postgame press conferences will be shown live on WIAA.TV.

2017 champions: Division 1 – Stevens Point; Division 2 – La Crosse Central; Division 3 – Appleton Xavier; Division 4 – Destiny; Division 5 – Barneveld.

SCHEDULE

THURSDAY Division 3 semifinals (4) Kettle Moraine Lutheran (22-5) vs. (1) Valders (23-3), 1:35 p.m.

(3) Prescott (24-2) vs. (2) East Troy (21-5), 3:15 p.m.

Division 4 semifinals (4) Pardeeville (23-3) vs. (1) Manitowoc Roncalli (21-5), 6:35 p.m.

(3) Marathon (22-4) vs. (2) Clear Lake (25-0), 8:15 p.m.

FRIDAY Division 5 semifinals (4) Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran (15-12) vs. (1) Bangor (25-1), 9:05 a.m.

(3) Chippewa Falls McDonell (17-10) vs. (2) Deerfield (23-4), 10:45 a.m. Division 2 semifinals

(4) Westosha Central (20-4) vs. (1) Kaukauna (23-3), 1:35 p.m.

(3) Milwaukee Washington (23-3) vs. (2) La Crosse Central (24-2), 3:15 p.m.

Division 1 semifinals (4) Sussex Hamilton (17-9) vs. (1) Oshkosh North (25-1), 6:35 p.m.

(3) Brookfield East (24-2) vs. (2) Sun Prairie (25-1), 8:15 p.m.

SATURDAY FINALS Division 5, 11:05 a.m. Division 4, 12:45 p.m. Division 3, 2:30 p.m. Division 2, 6;35 p.m. Division 1, 8:15 p.m.

THREE-POINT CHALLENGE

The three-point challenge will be held before the championship games at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. A ticket for the Division 3, 4, 5 championship session is needed for admittance to the event. The top two players in each division were selected based on the best three-point percentage of the season (minimum 75 attempts). The event can be viewed on WIAA.TV, a subscription service. Here is the field: Kyle Abatto, Kettle Moraine; Caleb Cracyalny, Clinton; Drew Haffner, Gresham; Zac Johnson, River Falls; Sam Kick, Onalaska; Bennett Laubenstein, De Pere; Black Pedrin, Howards Grove; Drew Severson, Eleva-Strum; Ryan Steffes, New Holstein; Trey Zastro, Manitowoc Lutheran.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH

NEW BLOOD: Dynasties have ruled Division 1 for the past six years. Stevens Point won the last three titles. Germantown was the three-time defending champion before that. Not only are neither of those schools in the field this year, but none of this year’s Division 1 teams has played for a state title. A firsttime champion will be crowned.

SEEDS TO SUCCESS: Last week at the girls tournament, the games played out as they were seeded in the semifinals, for the most part. The No. 1 seed reached the final in four of the five divisions, there were 1 vs. 2 matchups in three of the five finals and three times the top seed emerged as champion. There were also a lot of blowouts in the semifinals. Will seeding take some of the early drama from the boys tournament as well?

TOUGH FIELD: Any team that reaches this point is really good, but which bracket is the toughest? Our pick is Division 2 where Kaukauna, La Crosse Central and Milwaukee Washington each merited a No. 1 seed, with Kaukauna getting it. And let’s not forget about Westosha Central, which reached state by walloping Monona Grove in the sectional final. MG was ranked directly behind Kaukauna, Central and Washington in the final wissports.net state coaches poll and was third in the final Associated Press ranking.

STAR POWER: Not every great player’s team made it to state, but the high-level talent in this year’s field is special and it covers every class. From the class of 2018 are Mr. Basketball contenders Jordan McCabe of Kaukauna, a West Virginia recruit, and Oshkosh North’s Tyrese Haliburton, who signed with Iowa State. Milwaukee Washington junior Deontay Long, a 6-5 wing, was the City Conference’s co-player of the year. Representing the sophomore class is Sun Prairie’s Jalen Johnson, a 6-8 forward drawing the interest of the nation’s elite programs, and La Crosse Central’s trio Terrance Thompson and twins Jordan and Johnny Davis, all of whom have Division I offers. And in the 2020 class are Washington’s Michael Foster and Sussex Hamilton’s Patrick Baldwin Jr., whom people in this part of state have watched play beyond their years all season.

DOUBLE PLAY: Last week Bangor’s girls basketball team scored two double-digit wins to capture the Division 5 championship, its first title since 1997. Could the boys be next? The Cardinals are the only school that also qualified for girls state. Back at state for the first time since 1936, they’re the No. 1 seed in Division 5.

SCORING LEADERS

Name, school, ppg Peter Brookshaw, Prescott, 30.3 Deontay Long, Milwaukee Washington, 29.3

Jordan McCabe, Kaukauna, 26.6 Tyrese Haliburton, Oshkosh North, 23.0 Johnny Davis, La Crosse Central, 22.9 Hayden Baughman, Chippewa Falls McDonell, 21.7

Patrick Cartier, Brookfield East, 21.5 Samuel Meerstein, Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran, 21.3

A.J. Vukovich, East Troy, 20.5 Chombi Lambert, Manitowoc Roncalli, 20