Down To The Wire With Wofford

In Friday's opening round action, #4 seed Wisconsin survived the 13th-seeded Terriers rather than tame them.

The Badgers set themselves up for a tight finish in the first half, failing to pull away from Wofford when the Terriers went over nine minutes without a field goal. An eight-point halftime lead evaporated in a hurry when Wofford went unconscious to start the second half to lead 38-37. Give the Terriers credit: they were confident and hit some tough shots. But they didn't have to face UW's A-game by any stretch.

Wisconsin's perimeter defense was lackadaisical pretty much all game. The Wisconsin guards appeared slow of foot, allowing Wofford to get into the lane at will. This opened up a bevy of pull-up jumpers in the paint. Even when they didn't go in, defensive rotations allowed the Terriers to pick up tons of easy second-chance hoops around the basket. Maybe the Badgers were looking ahead to the kind of defense they want to extend to Cornell's 3-point shooters?? Okay, maybe not ...

Jon Leuer (20 pts, 8 rebs) was the star of the day, as he was impossible for Wofford to stop defensively. It was almost criminal that Wisconsin didn't force feed Leuer in the post during the stretch run. Instead UW tried to hang him out high running a fruitless pick-and-roll routine.

Luckily Leuer kept his touch in tact. After hitting the go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds remaining, Leuer also came up with the defensive play of the game by moving his feet against the smaller Cameron Rundles and forcing a ball handling mistake out-of-bounds. He also hit two clutch free throws in a game where neither team seemed to want the freebies. [box score]

It was refreshing to see Trevon Hughes get out to a hot start in this one, which allowed UW to overcome Jason Bohannon's goose egg. Thankfully Hughes also avoided going into full-on "Bad Pop" mode and was able to find Leuer for the winning shot rather than force up a ridiculous shot.

Hughes finished with 19 points, many of them on early drives to the hoop. Amazingly, the Badgers attempted only nine 3-pointers, their lowest total of the entire season.

Bohannon really seems like an all-or-nothing guy. I liked running a specific play for him coming out of halftime. You could tell by that play that Bo knew he needed a third scorer to get things going from the outside to make life easier. I wish they had made more of an effort to get him the ball earlier.

As for J-Bo's defense, what does it say about Bo's respect for Rob Wilson's defense to not put him in at all? I cannot wait until Bo is forced to play Wilson next year. He should have gotten at least a brief audition yesterday and it's hard to believe it's the end of the season and Wilson hasn't earned Bo's confidence yet.

Oh, and props to Jordan Taylor for hustling to poke the ball out of Jamar Diggs's control from behind to a waiting Hughes, whose ensuing lay in gave UW a 49-48 lead. For that, Taylor, you earned bragging rights.

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In high school hoops, the Madison Memorial Spartans will go for back-to-back Division 1 state championships tomorrow night after blowing away Appleton East, 68-48. Their opponent will be 7'1" Boise State recruit Ben Mills and his Arrowhead cronies. Arrowhead narrowly survived a comeback bid by Milwaukee Marquette by hitting a banked 3-pointer in the final seconds. Marquette had upset powerhouse Milwaukee Hamilton the night before. That's March Madness folks.

Mills has looked pretty mobile at the state tournament and might be the best prep big man in Wisconsin. Of course, it's easy for him to move fluidly when he weighs, what, about 190 pounds?! Regardless of his build, he's scored 42 points in two games and has one more to play.

In Division 3 -- you guessed it -- Racine St. Catherine's is back to face another private school in the title game. Meanwhile, Randolph looks capable of moving to 29-0 and taking home yet another gold ball, led by UW-Milwaukee recruit Kyle Kelm.

Tournaments Launch Today

Getting work done gets a little harder starting today when both the NCAA and WIAA state high school tournaments get underway.

The small high schools kick things off early with the Division 4 semifinals. I saw a video clip on the news the other night about Royall's first trip to state. Unfortunately those kids face perennial powerhouse Randolph. From the glimpse I got, let's just say if high school games had point spreads, they couldn't set this one high enough.

The Division 1 quarterfinals follow. Though it lacks the overall star power of some previous seasons, there are good story lines even though there are no Wisconsin recruits among the eight teams. The state's second-leading scorer leads undefeated Antigo (24-0) against Dave Mader's nephew Sam of Appleton East. Madison Memorial (21-4) and Milwaukee Hamilton (20-3), with their respective sets of collegiate prospects, appear to be on a title game collision course and face over-matched squads in the quarters. Hartland Arrowhead topped J.P. Tokoto's Menomonee Falls team and takes on local underdog Verona.

I'd pick Hamilton, starting five talented juniors and led by former Vincent coach Tom Diener, if I were a betting man ...

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With all five Big Ten teams playing on Friday, I am looking forward to the (5)Butler-(12)UTEP game tonight. If these two teams weren't matched up together, I might have made both of them my sleeper picks in my bracket. The 6-11 tilt between Marquette and Washington ought to be good as well.

The pendulum has swung back in Wisconsin's favor at some outlets, becoming a somewhat trendy pick to knock off top-seeded Kentucky out East. Statistically, the Badgers have the best chance of surviving to the Final 4 out of that region, according to Ken Pomeroy (via John Gasaway). That's pretty lofty expectations for a team that has beaten only one NCAA tournament team in the last two months. It is a sign of hard-earned respect nonetheless.

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Following in the foot steps of Marcus Landry's burgeoning family, the most clichéd human interest story for Wisconsin's 2009-10 basketball team undoubtedly became Trevon Hughes' path from troubled Queens teen to a Wisconsin military school. Here's the latest piece (from the New York Daily News) to add to the collection.

Badgers and Diamonds and Preps, Oh My!

UW now the undisputed champion; Top Big Ten teams falter
Without exception, Wisconsin is the best of the Big Ten again. The Badgers did not want to share that recognition with any others and as expected, took care of business at Northwestern to ensure this title was all theirs. Anticlimactic? Yes. Trite? Not in the least.

It was a banner day for multiple reasons, in front of a crowd of red in Evanston. Jason Bohannon set a UW record by making his 39th consecutive free throw. With the 65-52 win, Wisconsin also lowered their nation-best scoring defense average (54.4 ppg coming in). Seniors Brian Butch and Michael Flowers added to their career totals in rebounds and steals, respectively. Butch led the Badgers with 20 points and a career-high 14 boards [box score].

With a trophy on the team's resume, it seems the Badgers are even getting more recognition for the talented players they are. Northwestern coach Bill Carmody referred to them as "big, strong guys who overpowered" the Wildcats.

Although it does not diminish UW's accomplishment, the Sunday performances of some other top conference teams may give detractors more fuel for the anti-Big Ten fire. Eric Gordon could not save Indiana as Penn State shocked the Hoosiers in overtime at Happy Valley and Ohio State added to its postseason credentials with a big win over Michigan State. These two losses didn't exactly buff the image of a couple of Wisconsin's signature wins. Before Purdue righted the ship against Michigan on the road, it appeared as though the Big Ten's second, third and fourth place teams would all lose on the same day.

On the bright side, the Buckeyes seem to have bolstered their reputation enough in the last week to get a NCAA bid. Just keep in mind that while getting five bids would be nice for the conference, getting actual wins in the tournament is way more important for dispelling the national perception that the Big Ten is weak.

Vote for Flowers for the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance of the Year. The other candidates pale in comparison. To not get a mention in the CBS 's corny dialog would be a slap in the face if it was not so expected.

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Do not bother searching around for videos of Diamond Taylor on the Internet. I don't think there are any yet, except for this low quality one featuring his entire AAU team. Taylor has worn #30 for the Illinois Wolves in the past and is planning to play for them again this summer.

Although Taylor might want to develop into a Devin Harris-type of player, from what I have read, his ball handling will need some work. At least we know that he is a smart kid who apparently really wanted to be a Badger.

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Bridesmaids once again: Madison Memorial takes second
We have beenhearing words like "monster" and "beast" a lot this weekend and it has not been in reference to Kansas State frosh Michael Beasley. I guess people don't bother to think of any new adjectives to describe Madison Memorial's Jeronne Maymon because the existing ones fit too well already.

Maymon averaged 30 pts, 14.6 rebs, 4.7 blks, 3.7 stls & 3 assts over the course of three games at state, the obvious choice for tournament MVP. The junior forward was also announced as the only unanimous selection to the WBCA's Division 1 All-State team on Saturday. Not even 2008 Mr. Basketball DeMarcus Phillips can say the same.

It is a shame that Maymon's teammates and coach did not offer him more support in the championship game against Wauwatosa East [audio]. To see that talented squad make the same defensive mistakes over and over again seemed to be an indictment of head coach's Steve Collins ability to make and respond to adjustments. The second part of the equation was the youth and depth of the Spartans.

A couple of moments stood out that could have swung the game in Memorial's favor, mistakes that can be chalked up to inexperience. First, I recall toward the end of the first half a possession where the Spartans forced the Red Raiders into an awful shot, but simply did not break to get the rebound. The lack of hustle backfired as a red jersey sneaked inside a circle of white and grabbed the rebound. On the reset, 'Tosa East hit one of its five first-half treys, part of a splendid overall shooting performance.

Secondly, Vander Blue's bullheaded drive to the basket on a 3-on-1 fast break with 1:12 remaining in the game was an error in judgment, plain and simple. Instead of passing to one of his open teammates or pulling the ball back out, the charging foul was a critical turning point. But in the end, Memorial's complete inability to shoot from the outside was the simplest explanation for the loss. Fortunately, many of the Spartans have a chance to redeem themselves next season.

Oddly, I've never thought of Memorial's uber-talented teams as having much depth. In Saturday's game, there was no doubt that Maymon would play all 32 minutes -- there was simply no substitute for his presence. The rotation only seemed to go about seven deep at most throughout the entire weekend, which is odd for a team that specializes in full-court, manic defensive pressure.

WIAA - Thursday Session Updates

Live stats :: Streaming audio (ESPN 1070)

11:59 p.m. - Just a quick note on Evan Anderson from tonight: As we know, he is not dominant in any way; he's just too young and too raw still. I would not go as far as saying that he impressed me, but he made an impact defensively with several blocks and was able to be a go-to guy on some possessions for Eau Claire North. At nearly seven-feet-tall, Anderson does not have much trouble getting a shot off at this level. The Huskies, however, got zero points from their bench and fell to a superior Wauwatosa East team, 50-38.

The Red Raiders, who count Devin Harris and Jerry Smith as alumni, will play Brookfield Central (as expected) in tomorrow's late game.

5:45 p.m. - Ridiculous finish to the second D1 quarterfinal. I couldn't resist and listened to the entire second half, with the accompanying live stats, which were actually running about 10-15 seconds ahead of the audio.

As I suspected, 3-point shooting was the key. Nick Doedens in particular kept Germantown in the game, going 6-of-10 on treys to keep the Warhawks in the game. Bowers then hit the game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation. Overtime began tied 58-58.

In the end, however, Germantown also died by the three. It was a vicious cycle, as the Warhawks settled for threes, only to see Oshkosh West's big boys snatch all the rebounds. Shoddy free throw shooting by the Wildcats kept this close, as Averkamp's 3-pointer rimmed out on the final play. Germantown's big man had a quiet game down the stretch, neutralized by Benkoske and Anderson. Oshkosh West advanced again with the 66-63 win.

West's zone could pose a problem for Memorial in the semifinals. A lot of its offense is predicated on penetration and with two 6'8" players waiting for the Spartans in the lane, nothing will come easy out of an offensive set, even for Maymon. It will be an interesting clash in style; braun versus full-court pressure.

The next game (Bay Port vs. Brookfield Central) does not thrill me, so it's time for a dinner break. Make sure you catch tonight's game, though, to get a glimpse of Eau Claire North's 6'11" sophomore, Wisconsin Badger recruit Evan Anderson. I'm admittedly excited for that because I have not seen him play live yet. The Huskies run up against a darn good team in Wauwatosa East -- a team definitely capable of winning it all.

4:30 p.m. - Germantown--my darkhouse pick of the D1 tournament--is now trailing two-time defending champion Oshkosh West 41-37 after a flurry of action at the end of the third quarter. By the way, have you noticed how everyone on ESPN is now referring to halftime as "recess" these days. I feel like I missed a memo or something ...

Regardless, this game features some serious height. The Warhawks feature 6'7" junior Ben Averkamp, but West counters with 6'8" twin towers: senior John Benkoske and sophomore David Anderson. All three of the talented young big men are attracting significant collegiate interest. Averkamp has an impressive 118 blocks on the year entering the contest and the radio guys cannot stress that enough apparently. He's blocked a few so far, but foul trouble has again limited the star players in this game. Guard Ricky Bowers and the outside shooters from Germantown could be the difference because you know the Wildcats will want to pack it in defensively with their 2-3 zone.

Speaking of blocked shots, Maymon totaled a D1 tounrey record eight blocked shots in Memorial's 79-63 win earlier today. The junior's stat line was sickening -- including 28 pts, 12 rebs, 5 stls & 4 assts. I hope Maymon can get his academics in order at a junior college and find his way into a D1 college program. I would hate to see all that talent go to waste.

2:07 p.m. - The morning session concluded a few minutes past noon at the Kohl Center, with the Division 3 semifinals kicking things off. Fouls down the stretch against Eau Claire Regis allowed Iola-Scandinavia to complete a great comeback in the first game.

We already have an "upset" of the day, as LaCrosse Aquinas started and finished strong to beat D3 favorite Whitefish Bay Dominican. Both Jerel Harris and Kwamain Mitchell [listen] fouled out for the Knights, squashing any hopes of a comeback. Rising star Jimmy Whitehead led the Blugolds with 17 points.

Madison Memorial ran out to a nice lead in the first Division 1 quarterfinal to start the afternoon session. Just a few minutes ago, Jeronne Maymon picked up two quick fouls and went to the Memorial bench with the team leading 28-16, giving Lake Geneva Badger some life. The Spartans were playing an inverted triangle-and-two defense during this period, in which the Badgers closed the gap to 34-29 at the half.

Since I cannot really follow along on radio consistently right now, I am also checking the March Blogness posts off the Wishoops.net's state tournament coverage page.

State Tournament Field All Set

Maymon, Blue advance; Wilson's big game not enough
This weekend brought to rest many dreams in the world of high school basketball. In Wisconsin, the Division 1 field has been pared to eight, while the three lower divisions have now determined their final four participants.

Personal fave Janesville Craig lost a heart breaker on Friday night, 65-62, when Lake Geneva Badger made 15-of-32 treys, including one in the final seconds. Lake Geneva (18-5) then jumped all over top-seeded Verona in the first quarter of the Sectional #6 final, thus sailing into Thursday's first quarterfinal match-up with Madison Memorial. The triumphant Spartans (21-2) marched through three games as the top seed in Sectional #3, winning by an average of 21 points. On Saturday, Memorial pulled away from Waunakee, who entered the game 23-0 after sneaking by Madison LaFollette.

After fighting off a midweek ankle injury, junior forward Jeronne Maymon poured in 27 points against the Warriors, while sophomore guard Vander Blue contributed 16 for the Spartans. Memorial exhibits fearsome pressure that opposing coaches have called "relentless." The style reminds you of a few Milwaukee high school teams from years past, which is ironic now that the boys state tournament will lack a team from the Cream City for the first time since 1978. Memorial has the look of a favorite.

Of course, several Milwaukee area teams may still stand in its way. Top-seeded Germantown (22-1) escaped Sectional #5 by beating second-seeded Milwaukee Vincent. Ready to greet Germantown in Madison is gritty defending champion Oshkosh West. West (17-7) got no love in being assigned a 4-seed, but "upset" crosstown rival Oshkosh North to make their third straight trip to the Kohl Center.

Another team making its third straight appearance is Brookfield Central, which will play Bay Port in the quarterfinals. The Lancers (18-5) overcame a mammoth performance from Jamil Wilson to beat Racine Horlick and secure their seventh trip to the state tourney in nine years. Central countered Wilson's 37 points and five threes with its own 3-point shooting in Horlick's own gym. Luckily for Wilson, he has one more year to get to state with most of the team returning intact next fall.

While Milwaukee King toppled undefeated juggernaut Milwaukee Washington, 59-58, on Thursday, Wauwatosa East (23-1) eliminated the Generals to win Sectional #8. Now it will be the Red Raiders facing off against Eau Claire North (18-4) in the late game this Thursday. So college fans will get to see at least one potential Wisconsin recruit, center Evan Anderson, on the big stage. UW assistant Gary Close was in attendance at the Marshfield sectional final, so you can bet Anderson is the team's to priority for 2010.

Breaking it down, four #1 seeds, three #2 seeds and one #4 seed advanced to the D1 state tournament. Monroe is one of three #1 seeds that moved on to State in D2. The Cheesemakers will take their first step toward a repeat championship when they play upstart 4-seed New Berlin Eisenhower.

In Division 3, the expected domination by parochial schools continues. As I suggested about a week ago, the percentage of private school teams from larger urban areas increased each round. They comprised five of the eight sectional finalists and now three of the four semifinalists.

A few years ago, many thought undefeated state champ Whitefish Bay Dominican was the best team in any division. With St. Louis-signee Kwamain Mitchell at the point, this season's squad is in the hunt for another gold ball. Over the weekend, top-ranked Dominican avenged last season's tournament loss to fellow D3 powerhouse Racine St. Catherine's. Joining Dominican at the Kohl Center will be Iola-Scandinavia, Eau Claire Regis and LaCrosse Aquinas. In another case of dominating margin of victory, Aquinas has won by 59, 31, 26, 29 and 29 points over its five-game waltz through the bracket. Unfortunately, Aquinas and Dominican meet right away in the semifinal round.

Not surprisingly, Randolph punched a ticket to Madison for the 12th time in the last two decades. Leading scorer Bryan Johnson teams with 6'9" sophomore Kyle Kelm and another Tillema (Tyler) for the Rockets, who are looking for their sixth D4 state championship in seven years. See Wishoops.net for a description of how Tyler differs from his more recognizable older brothers.

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Links:
- The Star Ledger has a couple of interesting tidbits in a recent article on Devin Harris.
- Somehow, Hoops Marinara was mentioned in an ongoing argument regarding recruiting in the comments section at the JSOnline's Badger Blog. I'm flattered to be sure -- people are reading. But to the fellow who wasn't too pleased with my "blogger" profile, next time you quote something, at least be accurate.

Seasoned Badgers Solve The Buckeyes

Earlier in the year, I wouldn't have been excited about a match-up with a team playing strictly zone defense. With the recent emergence of Jason Bohannon, I was cautiously optimistic about today's game and Wisconsin proved me right with an important 58-53 win over Ohio State.

Despite the outstanding play of two Badger guards this afternoon, the play of the game was made by a big man. Brian Butch's block of Matt Terwilliger with two minutes left prolonged a game-ending Buckeye drought and kept the home crowd at bay. This enabled Wisconsin to pull out the victory even though it squandered chance after chance to put Ohio State away in the final minutes.

CBS named Bohannon the Player of the Game after shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point land en route to 16 points and five rebounds. [box score] With the win, UW takes a temporary half-game lead atop of the Big Ten standings with three games remaining.

Bohannon was not alone, however. Michael Flowers continues to be the guiding force for this team. I have not written about this yet, but I've been making the point for a few weeks now: Flowers is the most important piece on this team. As opposed to a player like Greg Stiemsma, the improvement made by Flowers has been very evident over his career, even more so this season. You could make an argument for Flowers as team MVP on the basis of his tireless defense alone, but his evolution into a 3-point threat seals the deal in my eyes.

For instance, Flowers played a team-high 35 minutes and dished out a game-high six assists. With 13 more assists, Mike will move into the top ten in school history for a career. His two steals today moved him into sixth place all-time with 152 career thefts.

You cannot say enough about the confidence the team has been building from the outside. Just as he did against Indiana, J-Bo followed up an airballed 3-pointer with a swish a minute later. No more hesitation. Let's just hope the resurgence is not coming at the expense of other facets of the offense.

Wisconsin's big men generally had trouble finishing on the blocks and were out-sized with Butch on the bench for much of the game with early foul trouble. The Badgers were out-rebounded again, "forced" into 12 first-half turnovers and only shot 10 free throws. In their defense though, they really tightened down the rebounding and ball handling (2 TOs) after halftime.

I can't forget to mention that Tim Jarmusz is officially in the rotation with another 12-13 minutes today. Bo is clearly more comfortable with Jarmusz handling pressure than Jon Leuer and seemed to want the IQ and passing ability of the former against Ohio State's zone. Jarmusz also added a sweet turnaround jumper from eight feet at a fairly critical juncture. That's more great news for Badger fans.

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Rob Wilson and Garfield Heights battle Cleveland Heights on Wednesday night for the right to advance to the district finals.

Back in Wisconsin, chalk is holding court throughout D1. Madison LaFollette welcomed back sublime shooter Cashton Craig and the Lancers are surprising some as they tear through the competition right now. LaFollette plays Waunakee -- which shut down Marquis Mason and the pesky 11-seed Madison East -- when most of the tournament resumes Friday. On Thursday, however, top-ranked Milwaukee Washington collides with Milwaukee King early in an epic Sectional clash.

Sixth-seeded Pius XI was eliminated the same week former King transfer Korie Lucious was snubbed from the McDonald's All-American Game to be held in Milwaukee next month. Lucious pulled out a win for the Popes just before the tourney started with two tough last-second 3-pointers [video]. The 5'10" shooting star once tabbed by Sports Illustrated For Kids as the best 8th-grader in the country will play for Tom Izzo in the fall. Good luck to him.

Eau Claire North (Evan Anderson) is still alive in D1, but Flavien Davis and Wisconsin Lutheran got bounced unexpectedly by Brown Deer in D2. Locals Madison Edgewood and Monroe also cruised into the D2 sectionals, while the division's top team Waupaun faces sixth-ranked Plymouth for a third time this season. Waupaun destroyed Jared Berggren's Princeton (MN) team a month ago, but dropped two close games to Plymouth to finish two back of the Panthers in the Eastern Wisconsin Conference.

Five of the 16 remaining teams in D3 are private, parochial schools. Keep an eye on that number, as the percentage will likely rise as the field dwindles. Whitefish Bay Dominican escaped with an 81-79 overtime win against Milwaukee Northwest to keep a potential sectional final game with Racine St. Catherine's a distinct possibility.

Breaking The Seal On '09: Mike Bruesewitz

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin secured a verbal committment from Minnesota's Mike Bruesewitz late last night. Bruesewitz is a 6'7" junior at Henry Sibley High School in the Minneapolis area whose coach compares him to Joe Krabbenhoft. His school's official fight song? On Wisconsin.

The commitment from Bruesewitz could be viewed as good or bad, depending on your tastes. While I've never seen him play, Bruiser fits the bill physically and even has the ready-made nickname straight out of high school like Krabbenhoft did. If Bo Ryan indeed has found Krabby 2.0, it's unfortunate that the kid will have to learn from scratch, since Joe will graduate next season before his red-headed replacement arrives. Despite his shortcomings scoring-wise, no one would be opposed to getting another four years of Krabbenhoft-like effort and production.

As I've said before, though, there is a fundamental stubbornness to Bo Ryan that infiltrates his style, whether it be managing his rotation, his defensive philosophies or in this case, recruiting. Unlike Krabbenhoft, Bruesewitz is not regarded as a four or five-star player. He had offers from a couple of high-majors and a mid-major. By suddenly making Bruesewitz a priority, the Badgers are basically saying they are giving up on at least one of the following players: Jamil Wilson, Royce White, Rodney Williams, and Jordan Prosser.

Recent reports have Wisconsin in good standing with Illinois guard Diamond Taylor. If Taylor were to verbal next, you'd have one spot left for 4-5 really good prospects. What if Wisconsin also offers SG Jacob Jenkins from Kentucky? Bo then risks being officially out of the running for any of the more sought-after forwards before the jockeying even heats up. What is worse is that Wisconsin was hot on the trail of those aforementioned blue-chippers as early as anyone in the country.

More importantly, UW is sending a message to its Midwestern competitors that the program takes what it can get and does not need to be reckoned with when it comes to top regional recruits. But on the flip side, Wisconsin doesn't seem to mind getting out-muscled for big-time athletes. That is where the stubbornness seeps in. It seems even a little arrogant that the current staff will not wait around for a top recruit to take his time with quite an important decision. As if not jumping at the chance to commit to Wisconsin suddenly makes that player "a bad fit for Bo's system," as some would have you believe. It's a fine line between due diligence and failing to covering your own caboose.

For what it's worth, getting Bruiser as the first 2009 commit probably means the end of Isiah Nunn's chances of landing in Madison in 2008. Downsizing to one more available scholarship in '09 at this juncture would be ridiculous.

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Speaking of recruits, the incoming 2008 Badgers are beginning the journey to possible high school championships in their respective states. I whould be able to keep pace with the updates for all four players, so stay tuned, as things are just getting rolling.

- Ian Markolf had 13 points to help his San Antonio Churchill team defeat Austin High to open Class 5A Bidistrict play on Tuesday night. Churchill will play San Antonio Taft this weekend. Taft beat Churchill by two points in the first game of the year. The winner will probably play highly-ranked San Antonio Madison, which also beat Churchill earlier this season.

- Garfield Heights, led by Rob Wilson, recently clinched on a conference title as a first-year member. Wilson teams with Carl "Tay" Jones to lead the Bulldogs into action on Friday, Feb. 22 in the Division 1 Warrensville Heights District bracket.

- Minnesota does not start their playoffs until March. Jordan Taylor's Benilde St. Margaret's squad is in Class AAA, as are Jared Berggren's Princeton Tigers. Bruesewitz and the Sibley Warriors will compete among the largest schools in Minnesota in the Class AAAA tournament.

2008 WIAA Boys Basketball Tournament

My exposure to high school basketball in Wisconsin has been minimal this year, but that does not make tourney time any less exciting. Finally, it's that time of the year when you can cheer on your alma mater or just support your local teams. We get to marvel at the most talented players in the state and in some cases, future collegiate stars.

The WIAA boys basketball tournament kicks off around the state once again on Tuesday, Feb. 19 with first-round regional action. The Division 1 bracket features some familiar names back in positions of power, like Madison Memorial, Verona, Kaukauna, Sheboygan North, Brookfield Central, Wauwatosa East, Milwaukee Vincent and undefeated (20-0) and top-ranked Milwaukee Washington.

Over the last five years in Division 1, an average of five #1 seeds advanced to the 8-team state tournament at the Kohl Center each season. In fact, 37 of the last 40 participants at State have been at least a 3-seed. There are exceptions, however, as evidenced by the 2007 results which saw both a 4-seed (Milwaukee King) and an 8-seed (Kimberly) crash the party. The seedings also were changed last year to award only nine #1 seeds rather than two in each sectional. (Sectional 1 has had two #1 seeds the past two seasons for some reason.).

History tells us at least two of these top seeds will not make it to State: Eau Claire North/Wausau West (Sec. 1), Bay Port, Madison Memorial, Sheboygan North, Germantown, Verona, Racine Horlick, Milwaukee Washington. An experienced Wausau East team could knock off the co-top seeds in Sectional 1 and Vincent looms as the 2-seed in Germantown's sectional. Defending champion Oshkosh West is seeded fourth in Sectional 4 (featuring Sheboygan North) and the always tough Milwaukee King is also a 4-seed in Washington's sectional.

Locally, undefeated Waunakee (20-0) seems like an unlikely underdog. But the Warriors are only four years removed from Division 2 and find themselves stuck in the same sectional as Madison LaFollette (#2) and Memorial.

However, I've always had a soft spot for Janesville Craig and I will be rooting for them to reach a face-off with top-seeded Verona in Sectional 6. Coach Bob Suter has a nice collection of long, inside-out players on the team -- one of the few teams I have been able to watch this year -- and you know Craig will be well-prepared. Verona has a great program but lacks the marquee firepower of recent Wildcat teams (edit: 6'4" junior Jason Ziemer actually led the county in scoring at over 21 ppg). I see the Cougars taking out the Wildcats to end Verona's last season in the Badger South Conference.

The state tournament also provides some great memories of individual players. I can recall Alex Compton draining threes for Madison West's 1992 champions ... burgeoning thug Sam Okey destroying everyone in Division 4 en route to back-to-back titles with Cassville ... Kyle Weaver strapping his Beloit teammates on his back in 2004 before running out of gas against a Memorial team that featured three current or future Mr. Basketball winners (Michael Nelson, Welsey Matthews and Keaton Nankivil) ...

Since Wisconsin's 2008 recruiting class does not include any homegrown talent, Badger fans will have to hope for a few upsets to see some of the top college-bound seniors play at the Kohl Center. Milwaukee Pius XI, featuring Michigan State signee Korie Lucious, is a 6-seed in the Milwaukee-loaded Sectional 8. Lucious fired a 30-foot strike at the buzzer to beat Catholic Memorial a week ago to give the (14-6, 12-2) Popes a share of the Classic Eight Conference title. Whitefish Bay Dominican's Kwamain Mitchell hopes to lead his squad to another Division 3 championship before heading off to St. Louis University. In Division 2, seventh-seeded McFarland will go only as far as UW-Milwaukee recruit Riley Walker, a 6'6" forward, can take the Spartans in the Sun Prairie Sectional.

While it might be your last chance to catch those players on the high school level, even bigger names litter the rosters of some more talented teams. This group of younger players has the chance to grab the spotlight right away. Junior All-Everything Jamil Wilson led Racine Horlick to a top seed this year, so failing to make State would be a disappointment. If the Rebels can get past Brookfield Central, Wilson and Co. should be on a collision course for the Washington Purgolders in the semifinals.

Many other have "Madison or Bust" expectations. Big man Evan Anderson transferred to Eau Claire North for the better competition and now has to prove his team's top seed in Sectional 1 is no fluke. Jeronne Maymon and Vander Blue earned another #1 seed for Madison Memorial (Sec. 3), while Germantown's Ben Averkamp helped the Warhawks notch a top seed after last season's #2 seed. Superstar sophomore Flavien Davis has fourth-ranked Wisconsin Lutheran positioned for a run as a 1-seed in D-2.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee Bay View will struggle to get out of the first round as a 12-seed despite an impressive roster led by Marquette target Johnnie Lacy. Explosions from Nate Zastrow, Luke Russell and Marquis Mason are the only hope Manitowoc Lincoln (#7), Menomonee Falls (#6) or Madison East (#11) has in picking up more than one or two wins.

2008 Boys Brackets [pdf]:
Division 1 : : : Division 2 : : : Division 3 : : : Division 4

If you are interested, there is a lot of historical tournament data available at the WIAA's website as well. Also, the esteemed Mark Miller will be making predictions on every game in every division on Wishoops.net.

Tip-off Time Y'all

The WIAA Boys Basketball State Tournament beat the NCAA tourney to the punch, tipping off after 9 am today. Turn the radio dial to 1070 AM in Madison for the call. Division 3 is loaded this year, with 2003 champion LaCrosse Aquinas leading Manitowoc Roncalli in the first game at the Kohl Center after three quarters, 34-28. Defending D3 champ Racine St. Catherine's (who also won a D2 title in 2005) plays Eau Claire Regis in the division's other semifinal.

If you are observant, you notice that all four are private schools from larger metropolitan areas. Don't think that fact didn't ruffle some feathers. Having experienced first-hand the venom spat back and forth between public and private fan bases, I don't see this debate going away any time soon.

In other unfortunate state tournament news, Madison Memorial and Milwaukee Vincent must face off in the D1 quarterfinals.