The cream of the prep basketball crop
The high school basketball season ended prematurely last month, stopping the postseason runs of 40 boys teams and another 16 girls teams before they were eliminated.
No state champions were crowned by the WIAA for the first time since 1915. No boys teams even qualified for state.
That isn’t to say that there weren’t great moments and games before the season came to a halt, however. The flying dunks, big performances and buzzer beaters can’t be canceled, even if the COVID-19 pandemic took away teams’ chances to win a gold ball.
I took in more than 70 games over the nearly four-month season and dwindled the list down to what I considered to be the 10 best. There were certainly many more great games over the course of the season, but we will limit this list to only the ones I can vouch for from a first-person account.
10. Oak Creek girls 77, Racine Horlick 33 (Dec. 6)
This might have actually been the biggest blowout I saw in person this season, but the score isn’t why the game makes my list.
With the win, Oak Creek picked up its 100th consecutive Southeast Conference win, a streak that dates back to 2012. The Knights jumped ahead early and held the Rebels at arm’s length the rest of the way before cutting down the nets to celebrate the occasion.
The Knights finished the season with the streak intact at 112 games.
9. Waunakee boys 50, Oconomowoc 48 (Dec. 11)
An early-season tilt at Fiserv Forum went back and forth until the very end.
Waunakee’s Caden Hough buried a three-pointer with 17 seconds left for a 48-47 lead. After an Oconomowoc miss and one Waunakee free throw, the Raccoons had a chance to tie at the line in the closing seconds, but the second free throw rimmed off and the rebound fell to the Warriors.
8. Mukwonago girls 61, Oconomowoc 53 (Feb. 4)
In its first conference action since seeing its 31-game Classic 8 winning streak snapped, Mukwonago took on Oconomowoc with first place on the line.
Both teams entered with one Classic 8 loss and, after a tight first half, Mukwonago began to pull away in the second half, building a lead as large as 14 points.
That’s when the Raccoons started a rally in the final 4 minutes that cut the deficit to two. In the end, though, it was Angie Cera’s 25 points and five triples that helped Mukwonago stay above water and come away with the win that ultimately decided the conference title.
Oconomowoc would get the final word, though, as it advanced through the same sectional as Mukwonago to reach the state tournament.
7. Muskego boys 65, Catholic Memorial 60, OT (Feb. 11)
There wasn’t much separating the second- through eighth-place teams in the Classic 8 this year. That was evidenced on this night at Muskego as Catholic Memorial took the Warriors to the wire and nearly pulled off the win.
The Crusaders, the eighth-place finisher in the conference, led by 13 at the half as Luke Fox, who finished with 6 three-pointers, was on fire. That lead was still double digits with six minutes to go.
Muskego’s Hunter Wohler started to attack off the dribble on a regular basis, going against Memorial’s Cole Dakovich in a battle of Wisconsin football recruits, and finished with 15 points as he brought his team back in the game.
Luke Bara tied the score with a three in the final minute and Muskego got the ball back with a chance to win, but Richard Wauer’s layup in traffic didn’t go as the buzzer sounded.
The Warriors had more left in the tank as the game went into overtime, jumping ahead on the first possession and never trailing after that.
6. Brookfield Academy boys 77, Lake Country Lutheran 73 (Jan 28)
Aidan Clarey’s heroics and a balanced offensive attack helped the Blue Knights pick up a win over another of the Midwest Classic Conference’s best.
Clarey hit a tie-breaking three with about 40 seconds left and followed with some clutch free throws as he finished with a game-high 24 points and shot 5 of 7 from three-point range. Alex Leach had 19 points and Logan Landers added 18 for Brookfield Academy.
5. Germantown girls 85, Pewaukee 77 (Dec. 3)
These two teams opened the season ranked No. 1 and 2 in the Journal Sentinel’s area rankings, which added plenty of intrigue as they met at Germantown.
Pewaukee had a chance to tie the game at 75 with a free throw with just over 90 second left but missed, and Germantown freshman KK Arnold went the length of the court for a three-point play. The Warhawks then got another defensive stop and Kate Richmond’s layup built the lead to six and all but secured the game.
Arnold finished with 23 points, six rebounds and eight assists in a breakout performance and Germantown’s Natalie McNeal scored a game-high 28 points.
Pewaukee trailed by as many as 14 in the first half and led by one when Katie Pampuch’s three gave Germantown the lead back for good with 1:47 remaining.
4. Whitnall boys 53, Greenfield 50, OT (Jan. 31)
This was the lone game-winning buzzer-beater that I covered this season.
Whitnall guard Nate Valcarcel caught an inbound pass with 3 seconds remaining and pulled up from well beyond the three-point line and drilled the shot. Valcarcel made just 13 three-pointers in his career, but this one was certainly the biggest.
In regulation, Damien Jimenez had a buzzer-beater of his own to keep Greenfield alive, driving and scoring through traffic to send the game to overtime.
3. Brookfield Central boys 78, Sussex Hamilton 73 (Feb. 14)
On one of the coldest nights of the winter, the hottest ticket of the season was found in Sussex.
With doors closed and tickets sold out more than an hour before tip, the top two teams in the Journal Sentinel area rankings faced off in what has been the best rivalry of the past two seasons.
The Lancers came out on top for the third straight game thanks in large part to the biggest game of David Joplin’s career. The versatile forward scored 36 points, hit 6 threes and made a pair of critical free throws to put the game out of reach at the end.
There were moments when Patrick Baldwin Jr. took over in the second half with Hamilton trailing. He finished with 29 points and helped the Chargers get a shot to take the lead in the final 30 seconds, making the right pass to an open shooter in the corner.
A third round of this matchup was set for the sectional finals but the rest of the season being was canceled days before the teams were scheduled to play.
2. West Bend West girls 73, Germantown 67, OT (March 5)
What didn’t this game have? There were two of the state’s top seniors on the floor. A trip to the sectional final on the line. A 20-0 run by Germantown. A late rally by West Bend West to tie in the final minute. A chaotic finish to regulation.
In the end, the Spartans bounced the top-seeded Warhawks with a strong defensive effort in overtime.
West trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half before slowly clawing back. Maddison Baker scored 29 points and shot 13 of 17 from the field.
Baker had a chance to give the Spartans the lead with 7 seconds to play in regulation but missed the front end of the bonus. Natalie McNeal, the Warhawks standout guard, drove the length of the floor and pulled up for a runner near the free throw line but couldn’t connect as the buzzer sounded.
1. Brookfield East boys 60, Milwaukee King 58 (March 7)
Playoff games, especially between two state-ranked teams, can get loud. Playoff games between state-ranked teams in King’s gymnasium, where the fans are right on top of the action, get louder.
Brookfield East never trailed in this regional final, but also never had a lead of more than eight points against the Generals, who entered undefeated.
But the Spartans’ only losses came against Brookfield Central (three times) and Sussex Hamilton (twice), and they played as poised as can be while playing in an envelope of noise for nearly the entire second half.
Hayden Doyle scored 16 of his gamehigh 22 points in the first half for East as it led, 29-25.
The Spartans stretched the lead to eight, but King came firing right back with its athletic wings. The Generals continued to attack the rim and twice tied the game, including on an Anthony Whorton dunk with 5:35 to play.
After King went on a 5-0 run to tie again with 3:30 to go, East swung the ball around for nearly 90 seconds looking for a good shot. The Spartans finally got it as Michael Poker buried a three to regain the lead.
The sequence of the final 20 seconds were even more hectic. The Generals scored to make it a one-point game and nearly forced a turnover immediately following East’s inbounds pass, but the Spartans were granted a timeout moments before Doyle was called for a travel.
Doyle was fouled and missed both free throws but grabbed his own rebound, was fouled again and split the pair. Rickey Bradley Jr.’s last-second layup to tie was no good for King at the buzzer, allowing the Spartans to escape.