State Recap

Was a great three days of high school basketball in the state of Wisconsin. We saw some great games that came down to the wire and we saw some of the best players in the state and country for that matter. A fun three days and I'm exhausted and need to catch up for some much on some much needed sleep.

Division One
Didn't have the elite players on the smaller divisions but, have a pretty good team there. Everyone doubted Brookfield Central after losing their top scorer and point guard in 6'0 Gage Malensek but. 6'3 senior Cole Nau really took his game to another level and carried his team to the title. I don't know how you can't like Nau as a player. He does whatever it takes for his team to win, all the little things whether it's scoring, running the offensive, or just playing great defense. 6'6 sophomore David Joplin and 6'1 sophomore Ben Nau had nice showings of their own at state and will be exciting to watch these two playing together the next two years.

For Sun Prairie hats off to them. Now they may not be the most impressive team that has ever gotten to a title game but, they played their hearts out. All year I've loved 6'5 senior Brock Voigt who didn't play any minutes at state last year and has become the teams leading scorer. Voigt had a rough semi final game getting in foul trouble and then getting poked in the eye but, had a pretty good game in the final. juniors 6'1 Colin Schaefer and 6'6 Delware Hale had a pair of nice games and one has to think what would of been had they been healthy all year but, those two should have everyone on watch next year.

Brookfield Central was my pick at the start of the year and when Malensek went down I switched my pick and they were still able to pull it off.

Division Two
Well it basically went exactly how everyone thought. Nicolet over Milwaukee Washington in the final with La Crosse Central making it to state as well. The forth team in the mix was a mystery as it ended up being Elkhorn who played their best but, they were just over matched by Nicolet. La Crosse Central played a very good game and 6'5 junior Johnny Davis is making a believer out of me and everyone else in the state. Unfortunately he didn't get enough help from his team mates and some questionable decisions late in the game after Washington cost them in over time.

For Washington had it not been for the three point shooting of sophomore 5'10 Chianti Clay they might of lost to Central. Boy 6'9 sophomore Michael Foster has really improved his overall game. He was huge hitting two late shots to win the game against Central and then didn't his best against Nicolet in the final. Foster moves very well for a big man, can shoot the three, and also has a pretty nice post game. No doubt Foster deserves his ranking in the country as a top five player. 6'5 senior Deontay Long needs to get in a little better shape but, when he gets the ball in the post he's tough to stop. Even against the size of the Nicolet 6'9 juniors Jalen Johnson and Jamari Sibley, Long was able to score. If Long was just a little bigger like 6'7 or 6'8 he would be a big time recruit at this point he will be a mid range player. 6'6 freshmen Tre White shows all the ability to be a high major player but, right now he's just not there just the potential.

Nicolet lived up to all the hype. Johnson had some very impressive plays and dunks that brought the Kohl Center to their feet. Now I'm not saying Johnson is anywhere in Lebron James level but, his game at the high school level very much reminds me of James in the NBA. Johnson is a very willing passer and a good passer, prefers to play facing the basket but, can post up, and has an outside shot thats streaky but, he can get hot from out there. Sibley is a very very nice skilled post player. Doesn't handle the ball as well as Johnson but, he can hit the three point shot and can really post up. Sibley also can run like a deer and gets off the court very quick. Player that really stuck out to me was 6'3 sophomore Kobe Johnson. I'll be honest I really thought he just rode on Jalen's coat tales and was a little over rated. Kobe though really came out and played extremely well at state. Kobe was able to hit the three point shot, had a little floater in the lane, and unlike Jalen he was able to hit his free throws.

Division Three
Sadly there isn't much to say about Northwestern and Denmark for that matter. One thing for Denmark is that I did really like 6'8 senior Patrick Suemnik. Siemnik did a very nice job of guarding Mr. Basketball Waupun senior 6'6 Marcus Domask. Suemnik blocked Domask a couple times and was doing a great job on him until Suemnik picked up his fourth foul.

Anyway in the final Martin Luther's guards were just too quick for the Waupun defenders. 5'10 senior Trequan Carrington and 6'2 senior Ace Evans could get their shots any time they wanted with their ball handling and quickness. Carrington looked like the best player in the state this weekend outside of D2. Carrington could do anything he wanted both games at state but, Evans picked up when Carrington struggled a bit. 6'5 senior Xzavier Jones was a no show a bit mostly due to foul trouble.

Domask was Mr Basketball and he is a great player but, honestly the class was a little weak and it showed that he didn't have the athleticism or quickness. Domask struggled to get his shot at times and ended up forcing things late. No one else on Waupun really showed up for Waupun.

Division Four
Just wow. I said last week that I really liked New Glarus but, I didn't see them winning state. 5'10 senior Jaden Kreklow was hands down the best player in D4 at state. He handles the ball so well and can get anywhere he wants at anytime. They rest of the team for New Glarus was just solid and played a very solid game but, Kreklow was the guy that made things go. 6'2 senior Henry Noone for Oshkosh Lourdes is a very good shooter with a very pretty shot but, sometimes those things fail you at state, that along with some turnovers really killed Lourdes in the final. Not much else to play other then Kreklow dominating but, hats off to Osseo Fairchild 6'2 senior Logan Mulhern who had 34 points and 20 rebounds in the semi final game. Mulhern just worked so so hard and every rebound was his and he nearly single handly carried Osseo Fairchild to a victory.

Division Five
Sheboygan Lutheran had the best players so they won. 6'7 junior Jacob Ognacevic is the best player in D5 and 6'0 freshmen Casey Verhagen may very well be on his way to that. Verhagen sets everything up for his team and they don't score without him assisting on the basket and Ognacevic controls the inside. 6'0 senior Devin Barnstable chips in the outside shooting to help out.

Columbus Catholic played their heart out and had a big come back against Bangor to get to the final. 6'3 senior Jarred Mandel is a tremendous shooter from the outside and 6'3 senior Bryce Fuerlinger had 25 rebounds in the semi final game so that says it all for him. Unfortunately the two best players on the court in the final were on Sheboygan Lutheran.