Loppnow’s takes down LaCerte Team in Basketball Classic final

MEDFORD BASKETBALL CLASSIC

After falling in last year’s title game, Loppnow’s Sports Bar of Wausau wasn’t going to be denied this time in the fifth annual Medford Basketball Classic.

Loppnow’s went undefeated in six tournament games, four of which were played Saturday at Medford Area Middle School.

The tournament drew 16 teams with each squad playing in two preliminary games to determine seeding for bracket play, which started Saturday afternoon. Quarterfinals, semifinals and finals were held Sunday.

Six teams went undefeated in the preliminaries to earn the top six seeds. Top-seeded Streignth Sportswear, second-seeded Hog Creek Bar and Grill, thirdseeded LaCerte Team and fourth-seeded Loppnow’s Sports Bar survived their first two bracket games to reach Sunday’s semifinals.

There, Loppnow’s rolled over Streignth Sportswear 60-31 to earn its spot in the championship. Marathon grad Carter Hanke, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, led the way for the winners with 22 points while Sun Prairie alum Brock Voigt added 13. Kooper Vaughn led Streignth Sportswear with 12. Another Wausau-based squad, the LaCerte Team bounced Hog Creek Bar and Grill 69-57 in the other semifinal behind 24 points from Wisconsin Valley Lutheran grad Branson Witucki and 18 from 6-7 Keith Hoffman, a Stevens Point grad. Andrew Fratzke, a 6-7 forward and a graduate of Hope Lutheran, Minn. led Hog Creek with 16.

In the championship game, Loppnow’s took down La-Certe 57-48. Hanke again led Loppnow’s with 20 points. Voigt had 15 and Marathon’s Cody Hanke added 10. La-Certe got 17 from Witucki and 11 from Fratzke in defeat.

Hog Creek Bar & Grill finished a 5-1 weekend by beating Streignth Sportswear 48-41 in the third-place game. Fratzke led the winnners with 19 points. Merrill alum Michael Casper led Streignth Sportswear, who also took fourth last year, with 10.

Joe Frombach Construction and Northside Grassland were the other 2-0 teams in the preliminaries and earned the fifth and sixth seeds. The reign for two-time defending champion Julie Kay’s Kitchen out of the Minocqua area ended with an 0-3 record.

The all-tournament teams were as follows: First team: Brock Voigt of Loppnow’s Sports Bar, Carter Hanke of Loppnow’s Sports Bar, Keith Hoffman of LaCerte Team, Oliver Barnes of Streignth Sportswear, Cole Lewis of Hog Creek Bar and Grill.

Second Team: Branson Witucki of LaCerte Team, Cade Faber of Flagship Pontoons, Andrew Fratzke of Hog Creek Bar and Grill, Spencer Page of Northwestern Mutual (also 3-point shootout champion), Quinn Steckbauer of Northwestern Mutual.

Third Team: Michael Casper of Streignth Sportswear, Mason Stangl of Dixon Greiner Realty, Jeffrey Wergin of Julie Kay’s Kitchen, Joe Scheithauer of Joe Frombach Construction, Jake Jurrs of Hog Creek Bar and Grill.

Honorable Mention: Ty Baker of Pro Designs, Cody Bowe of Undrafted Phenoms, Carter Brooks of Northwestern Mutual, Osy Ekwueme of Streignth Sportswear, Chris Ghess of Davis Auto Sales, Zach Haynes of Pro Designs, Cameron Paske of Streignth Sportswear, Braden Persinger of Hog Creek Bar and Grill, Mason Prey of LaCerte Team, Drew Rohde of Fidelity Insurance, Rob Seidel of Dixon Greiner Realty, Cameron Wenzel of Streignth Sportswear.

Medford Basketball Classic preliminary results Flagship Pontoons 34, Pro Designs 32

Leading scorers: FP –– Cade Faber 17. PD –– Ty Baker 13.

Streignth Sportswear 70, Undrafted Phenoms 42

Leading scorers: SS –– Oliver Barnes 12, Osy Ekwueme 12, Cam Paske 12, Cam Wenzel 12. UP –– Garret Locy 11, Justin Sullivan 10.

Loppnow’s Sports Bar 42, Fidelity Insurance 28

Leading scorers: LSB –– Carter Hanke 13, Brock Voigt 11. FI –– Drew Rohde 13.

Joe Frombach Construction 45, Backroad Basketball Club 39

JFC –– Peter Fuchs 14, Dalton Strebig 13, Isaiah Bundy-Smith 10. BC –– Jake Buchanan 13, Levi Ewan 11.

Hog Creek Bar and Grill 62, Northwestern Mutual 49

Leading scorers: HC –– Andy Maas 17, Andrew Fratzke 16, Cole Lewis 14. NM –– Quinn Steckbauer 14, Spencer Page 13.

Northside Grassland 52, Julie Kay’s Kitchen 48 (OT)

Leading scorers: NG –– Cameron Brussow 18, Tyler Johnson 10. JKK –– Zach Leahy 18, Jeffrey Wergin 12.

LaCerte Team 63, Teddy’s Little Generals 37

Leading scorers: LT –– Keith Hoffman 27. TLG –– Vaughn Breit 13.

Dixon Greiner Realty 45, Davis Auto Sales 38

Leading scorers: DGR –– Mason Stangl 13, Ray Daniels 12, Rob Seidel 11. DAS –– Chris Ghess 8.

Undrafted Phenoms 56, Backroad Basketball Club 45

Leading scorers: UP –– Cody Bowe 15, Peyton Kuhn 13, Austin Salzgeber 11. BC –– Austin Edwards 18.

Loppnow’s Sports Bar 44, Pro Designs 33

Leading scorers: LSB –– Carter Hanke 9, Sam Holtz 9. PD –– Ty Baker 9, Mason Rudolph 9.

Streignth Sportswear 61, Julie Kay’s Kitchen 37

Leading scorers: SS –– Oliver Barnes 18, Michael Casper 12, Kooper Vaughn 12. JKK –– Nate Erickson 15, Jeffrey Wergin 15.

Hog Creek Bar and Grill 57, Flagship Pontoons 37

Leading scorers: HC –– Cole Lewis 18, Braden Persinger 10. FP –– Cade Faber 22.

Joe Frombach Construction 59, Davis Auto Sales 49

Leading scorers: JFC –– Joe Scheithauer 24, Isaiah Bundy-Smith 11, Kamari Baskin 10. DAS –– Tevin Rue 15, Chris Ghess 11.

LaCerte Team 65, Fidelity Insurance 50

Leading scorers: LT –– Chase Bonnell 15, Branson Witucki 13, Keith Hoffman 10, Chaise Kraimer 10. FI –– Al Schanter 10.

Northside Grassland 64, Dixon Greiner Realty 37

Leading scorers: NG –– Andrew Brown 13. DGR –– Rob Seidel 14, Mason Stangl 12.

Northwestern Mutual 53, Teddy’s Little Generals 31

Leading scorers: NM –– Spencer Page 13, Carter Brooks 10. TLG –– Vaughn Breit 9, Teddy Redman 9.

Round of 16 #1 Streignth Sportswear 63, #16 Fidelity Insurance 49

Leading scorers: SS –– Oliver Barnes 16, Cam Wenzel 13, Michael Casper 12. FI –– Drew Rohde 17, Justin Bleck 11.

#9 Northwestern Mutual 69, #8 Dixon Greiner Realty 44

Leading scorers: NM –– Jake Schalow 18, Quinn Steckbauer 17. DGR –– Mason Stangl 22.

#12 Pro Designs 43, #5 Joe Frombach Construction 39

Leading scorers: PD –– Charlie Kleist 14, Ty Baker 13, Zach Haynes 11. JFC –– Joe Scheithauer 11.

#4 Loppnow’s Sports Bar 57, #13 Backroad Basketball Club 44

Leading scorers: LSB –– Alex Voigt 14, Brock Voigt 12, Carter Hanke 11. BC –– Jake Buchanan 15.

#3 LaCerte Team 51, #14 Julie Kay’s Kitchen 44

Leading scorers: LT –– Keith Hoffman 19, Mason Prey 13, Chase Bonnell 10. JKK –– Jeffrey Wergin 25, Zach Leahy 10.

#6 Northside Grassland 54, Teddy’s Little Generals 31

Leading scorers: NG –– Tyler Johnson 11, Hayden Hinker 10. TLG –– Teddy Redman 12.

# 10 Flagship Pontoons 45, #7 Undrafted Phenoms 43 (OT)

Leading scorers: FP –– Cade Faber 17. UP –– Peyton Kuhn 15, Cody Bowe 10.

#2. Hog Creek Bar and Grill 52, #15. Davis Auto Sales 44

Leading scorers: HC –– Cole Lewis 15, Andrew Fratzke 10. DAS –– Chris Ghess 13, Joey Northup 12.

Quarterfinals #1 Streignth Sportswear 59, #9 Northwestern Mutual 43

Leading scorers: SS –– Osy Ekwueme 14, Cam Paske 13, Michael Casper 10. NM –– Quinn Steckbauer 14, Spencer Page 11.

#4 Loppnow’s Sports Bar 48, #12 Pro Designs 30

Leading scorers: LSB –– Carter Hanke 13, Brady Nelson 11. PD –– Zach Haynes 9.

#3 LaCerte Team 81, #6 Northside Grassland 55

Leading scorers: LT –– Ryan LaCerte 17, Branson Witucki 17, Keith Hoffman 14. NG –– Trevyn Wilke 22, Cain Trunkel 16.

#2 Hog Creek Bar and Grill 57, #10 Flagship Pontoons 35

Leading scorers: HC –– Cole Lewis 16, Jake Jurrs 11, Andrew Fratzke 10. FP ––Cade Faber 10.

Semifinals #4 Loppnow’s Sports Bar 60, #1 Streignth Sportswear 31

Leading scorers: LSB –– Carter Hanke 22, Brock Voigt 13. SS –– Kooper Vaughn 12.

#3 LaCerte Team 69, #2 Hog Creek Bar and Grill 57

Leading scorers: LT –– Branson Witucki 24, Keith Hoffman 18. HC –– Andrew Fratzke 16, Braden Persinger 11.

Third place #2 Hog Creek Bar and Grill 48, Streignth Sportswear 41

Leading scorers: HC –– Andrew Fratzke 19. SS –– Michael Casper 10.

Championship #4 Loppnow’s Sports Bar 57, #3 LaCerte Team 48

Leading scorers: LSB –– Carter Hanke 20, Brock Voigt 15, Cody Hanke 10. LT –– Keith Hoffman 17, Branson Witucki 11.