WIAA GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
THE BASICS
What: The 47th WIAA girls basketball state tournament
When: Thursday to Saturday Where: Resch Center, Ashwaubenon
SCHEDULE Division 1
No. 1 Brookfield East (26-2) vs. No. 4 Germantown (23-5), Friday, approximately 6:35 p.m.
No. 2 Hortonville (24-3) vs. No. 3 Kettle
Moraine (26-1), Friday, approximately
8:15 p.m.
Division 2
No. 1 Pewaukee (27-1) vs. No. 4 Lakeland Union (22-6), Friday, 1:35 p.m. No. 2 Notre Dame (27-1) vs. No. 3 McFarland (26-2), Friday, approximately 3:15 p.m.
Division 3
No. 1 Waupun (21-7) vs. No. 4 Milwaukee Academy of Science (22-3), Thursday, approximately 1:35 p.m. No. 2 West Salem (26-2) vs. No. 3 Kewaskum (22-5), Thursday, approximately 3:15 p.m.
Division 4
No. 1 Aquinas (27-1) vs. No. 4 Mishicot (21-6), Thursday, approximately 6:35 p.m.
No. 2 Laconia (25-3) vs. No. 3 Colfax (21-6), Thursday, approximately 8:15 p.m.
Division 5
No. 1 McDonell Central Catholic (24-5) vs. No. 4 Albany (28-0), Friday, 9:05 a.m. No. 2 Blair-Taylor (27-1) vs. No. 3 Wabeno/Laona (21-7), Friday, approximately 11:15 a.m.
Championship games
The Division 5 state championship game starts at approximately 11:05 a.m. on Saturday morning, followed by the Division 4 and Division 3 title games. Each title game is scheduled to start approximately 15 minutes following the preceding game. The Division 2 title game is slated to start at approximately 6:35 p.m., followed by the Division 1 title game.
AREA TEAM MATCHUP PREVIEWS Division 1 No. 1 Brookfield East (26-2) vs. No. 4 Germantown (23-5)
In a surprising twist, Brookfield East was awarded the top seed in this year’s Division 1 tournament over defending champion Kettle Moraine and Hortonville, which defeated No. 1 seed Neenah for the second time this season. Don’t discredit the Spartans, however. In four playoff victories, they won by an average of 32.8 points, including a 20point victory over Arrowhead in the sectional final. They’ve lost just one game since Nov. 27, and that came to Division 2 top-seed Pewaukee on a neutral floor.
Annika Pluemer became Brookfield East’s all-time leading scorer against Germantown in the second encounter between the teams Jan. 24. And, if you’re building a first-team all-defensive team in the state and Shae Kelley’s name isn’t on that roster, you need to remake that roster. Maya Kovacic has had an impressive freshman season as a productive third member of the big three in the rotation.
For Germantown, it couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity at retribution. The Warhawks fell twice to Brookfield East during the Spartans’ unbeaten run to the Greater Metro Conference title and get one more shot with the best player in the matchup on their side. Ms. Basketball finalist and Connecticut commit KK Arnold has been en fuego for Germantown in her final days as a prep star, cooking up a 38-point tripledouble in a 94-67 destruction of Kimberly in the sectional final.
Not many have guarded Arnold better than Brookfield East has in its two victories over the Warhawks this season with their “wall” approach of putting four, almost all five sets of eyes on Arnold at all times and trying to limit anything she attempts to do in transition. The key for Germantown to pull off the upset is other players providing offensive production if Arnold is slowed down just a tiny bit. Danica Gosz had back-to-back stellar performances prior to the sectional final when she scored 35 total points and hit nine three-pointers in wins over DSHA and Fond du Lac. Arnold may be the engine, but the rest of the Germantown starters and the top of its bench will be the fuel toward any upset bid Friday. Prediction: Germantown 66, Brookfield East 59
No. 2 Hortonville (24-3) vs. No. 3 Kettle Moraine (26-1)
Kettle Moraine, the defending Division 1 champion and winner of its last 17 games, won four playoff games by an average of 44 points per game. Hortonville rides into the semifinals on quite a high. It has won six straight games and the sixth in that stretch might have been the sweetest with a 71-54 victory over Fox Valley Association champion Neenah in the sectional final to reach the final four.
West Virginia commit Grace Grocholski and Northern Michigan commit Braelyn Torres are why the Lasers have a shot at back-to-back titles. The duo have scored over 3,800 points and combined for 45 points in the 87-59 sectional final victory over Southeast Conference champion Franklin.
The Lasers have been a machine since their lone defeat this season to D2 No. 2 seed Notre Dame on Dec. 28, but this might be the best team they’ve faced since that loss. Hortonville holds a pair of wins over Neenah, a win over 19-win Kaukauna and a victory over 20-win Sun Prairie West.
In two of the three games that Kettle Moraine has won by less than double digits since the end of January, Torres battled foul trouble late in the game. If Torres stays out of foul trouble and the Lasers shoot like they did this past weekend (15 made three-pointers against Franklin), they’ll be tough to slow down once again.
Prediction: Kettle Moraine 72, Hortonville 64
State championship prediction: Kettle Moraine over Germantown Division 2
No. 1 Pewaukee (27-1) vs. No. 4 Lakeland Union (22-6)
If Pewaukee clears this semifinal hurdle and five-time state champion Notre Dame handles its business, we’re on a crash course for Pewaukee-Notre Dame IV; the fourth matchup between the two programs since the start of last season.
The Tritons took both matchups last season, including the Division 2 state title game, but the Pirates took the season opener this year in a one-possession thriller.
But, there’s still meat on the bone for both teams.
Lakeland Union started 0-3, had a stretch from late December to late January when it went 4-3 and has won its last 11 games. The notable takeaway is that from its six losses on the season, three of them have come at the hands of teams in the state tournament brackets: Kewaskum, Aquinas and Waupun. Pewaukee’s lone defeat this season came in a two-point loss to Kettle Moraine. The Pirates have beaten Notre Dame and half of the Division 1 bracket in Brookfield East and Germantown. They beat regional champions Oak Creek and Union Grove. They just beat a 24-win Pius XI team for the third time this season.
The Thunderbirds will have their hands full with the three-headed monster of Amy Terrian, Anna Terrian and Giselle Janowski. Prediction: Pewaukee 71, Lakeland Union 58
State championship prediction: Pewaukee over Notre Dame
Division 3 No. 1 Waupun (21-7) vs. No. 4 Milwaukee Academy of Science (22-3)
Milwaukee Academy of Science pulled off the upset of Dominican and then dominated Racine Lutheran – the team that eliminated it in the Division 4 playoffs a year ago – to find itself two wins away from the program’s first gold ball. It speaks to the quality toward the top of the East Central Conference when its top two programs this season are two of the final four teams in Division 3. Top-seed and defending Division 3 champion Waupun split the title with Kewaskum, defeated Division 4 No. 2 seed Laconia, and played the likes of Brookfield East, Sussex Hamilton and Grafton this season. Marquette commit Kayl Petersen (20.6 points per game) can take over a game. The Warriors are the defending champion, but if this game gets sped up a bit and the Novas can do what they like to do, and that’s turn you over, don’t count them out.
Lalani Ellis and Beautiful Waheed are one of the most athletic, exciting duos in the state and both can fly in transition. Their hands are all over the passing lanes and if you get lazy trying to move the ball, the Novas will speed you up and make you pay in the blink of an eye.
The keys for the Novas are not letting the bright lights of state blind them, keeping Ellis and Waheed out of foul trouble and hitting threes. If the others like Dasharia Williams (four triples in the sectional final) get into the act with the Warriors likely to try and close down driving lanes for Ellis and Waheed, this won’t be a 1-4 matchup that you’d expect.
Prediction: Milwaukee Academy of Science 59, Waupun 55
No. 2 West Salem (26-2) vs. No. 3 Kewaskum (22-5)
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a team hotter coming into the weekend than Kewaskum. It has won 12 straight, nabbed a late-season split of the ECC title with Waupun and survived a 48-46 sectional final over top-seeded Freedom to advance to its first state tournament since Don Nelson was coaching the Milwaukee Bucks. Kewaskum hit its stride at the right time and sometimes, that’s all that matters. Madilyn Dogs, Morgan Adams and Julia Steger will be the catalysts on offense, but it could be the other end of the floor that puts Kewaskum into the title game Saturday.
Prediction: Kewaskum 49, West Salem 46
State championship prediction: Milwaukee Academy of Science over Kewaskum
Division 4
Semifinals predictions: Aquinas over Mishicot, Laconia over Colfax State championship prediction: Aquinas over Laconia
Division 5
Semifinals prediction: McDonell Central Catholic over Albany, Blair-Taylor over Wabeno/Laona
State championship prediction: McDonell Central Catholic over Blair-Taylor