The Div. 2 overview

Sectional 1B in the WIAA’s Division 2 boys basketball tournament has a top-heavy look with four teams appearing to be head and shoulders above the other seven, but as basketball fans know, things don’t always go according to plan during March Madness.

The WIAA’s new computer seeding might not have seeded the top four as people in Great Northern Conference country would’ve liked, but the only way to prove the computers wrong is to keep winning.

Fox Valley Lutheran is the lone team from the North Eastern Conference to land in the sectional and the Foxes drew the one-seed behind a 19-4 overall record and a league championship with a 16-1 mark. The Foxes are led by 6-3 senior Josiah Butler who pours in 25 points per game and, according to WisSports.net stats, shoots about 54% from the field.

The Foxes’ lone conference loss was a surprising 52-41 defeat at Clintonville on Jan. 25, a team it had destroyed 77-42 on Dec. 9. The other three losses have come to quality opponents. Onalaska (61-39) and DeForest (57-49) beat them at the La Crosse Center on Jan. 14 and 15 and Appleton West got them Monday in non-conference play 76-69.

Fox Valley Lutheran is ranked 10th in the state in Division 2 this week by the Associated Press and unranked in the WisSports.net coaches poll.

Mosinee (21-2) is the Great Northern Conference champion and might have had the one-seed had it not lost 66-55 at Medford on Friday. The Indians had won their first 10 GNC games and were 9-0 against sectional teams until that loss. Their other loss was a 62-58 defeat Dec. 23 at Stratford, a top-10 team in Division 4.

Mosinee has beaten New London (65-52), Merrill (74-69) and Wausau East (93-52) to go along with season sweeps of Rhinelander, Lakeland and Antigo. Mosinee beat Medford 52-40 on Jan. 11, holding the Raiders to just 25% shooting from the field that night. They’ve also beaten Division 1 teams Wisconsin Rapids, Green Bay Preble and D.C. Everest and swept Northland Pines, a one-seed in Division 3.

The Indians have good size with 6-6 junior Davin Stoffel and 6-4 senior Trenton Dorn and solid guards to go around them.

Shawano (16-7) can finish no higher than third in the Bay Conference, currently sitting at 8-5 but got the threeseed. They split with fifth-seeded New London, who is just 3-10 in the Bay and 8-14 overall. The Hawks have sectional wins over Merrill (87-54), Lakeland (59-50) and Antigo (74-48) and split with Green Bay East, the team they’re tied with for third in the Bay. Rhinelander beat them early in the year 58-52.

Michael Metcalf-Grassman, a 6-3 junior, scores nearly 19 points per game for the Hawks.

Medford (17-6) is playing some of its best basketball at the right time after a bit of a rough patch in January and hopes its strong non-conference schedule pays off in March. The Raiders went 9-3 in the GNC with losses to Rhinelander, Mosinee and Northland Pines, but they got double-digit wins over all three in the last two-plus weeks.

Friday’s win over Mosinee was obviously a big one. The Raiders took top-ranked La Crosse Central to the final moments in a 74-68 loss on Jan. 15 and gave Oshkosh North, who was once a top-10 ranked team in Division 2, an entertaining run in an 80-64 loss at Sheboygan North Dec. 29. Medford lost a down-to-the-wire 50-44 game at River Falls, the two-seed on the other side of the sectional last week.

Logan Baumgartner, Joey Sullivan and Tanner Hraby can be an explosive scoring trio if shots are falling and others have capably filled their roles for the Raiders under head coach Ryan Brown.

The most eye-catching results for fifth-seeded New London are a 55-53 loss to Fox Valley Lutheran way back on Nov. 30 and a 69-52 win over Shawano on Jan. 7. Sixth-seeded Rhinelander (9-13) has the wins over Medford (55-49) and Shawano to its credit.

The other side

The top four seeds from the other side of the bracket are: 1. La Crosse Central (22-1 overall, 11-0 Mississippi Valley). The Riverhawks are 13-0 against potential sectional teams, including 10-0 against MVC teams and wins over Medford, River Falls (65-40) and Menomonie (54-31). Solid defensive team that has picked up its scoring pace as well in second half of the season. Central is ranked number one by the AP this week and second behind Pewaukee in the state coaches poll.

2. River Falls (18-5 overall, 10-3 Big Rivers). Got swept by Big Rivers champion Eau Claire Memorial but Wildcats fared very well for a second straight year in that rugged league. Physical team defends well. Did lose to four-seed Rice Lake 60-48 on Feb. 5. Also lost 59-58 Monday to Division 3 one-seed Prescott.

3. Onalaska (16-5 overall, 7-4 Mississippi Valley): Defending sectional champions are down a bit from last year but can never be counted out. Beat Fox Valley Lutheran and narrowly lost 40-38 to La Crosse Central on Jan. 20. Always a tough out.

4. Rice Lake (14-8 overall, 6-6 Big Rivers): Last year’s sectional runner-up is led by Tyler Orr, who scores about 21 points per game.

The sectional final will be played Saturday, March 12.

Lakeland Conference powers took most of the high seeds in the local Division 5 bracket, but there are a couple of teams from other leagues looking to make a run as well.

West Lakeland champion Clear Lake (21-2) carries a 12-game winning streak into its regular-season finale tonight at Bruce. The Warriors went 16-2 with losses to Turtle Lake and Unity, who both have won 14 league games. Clear Lake opened its season with a 54-52 win over McDonell Central. The team has two 6-5 players with Riley Peterson being the biggest threat as he averages 20 points and over seven rebounds.

Turtle Lake (18-5) has been a solid team in this sectional for the past several years and this year is no exception. The Lakers played two close games with Clear Lake, winning 65-61 on Dec. 17. Lost at Bruce Monday 56-43 and got swept in league play by Grantsburg, another 14-win team in league play. Brendan Steinke gives them 18.5 points and six boards per game.

Flambeau (23-1) had its bid for perfection in the East Lakeland ruined with a 47-42 home loss to Bruce on Feb. 10. For the most part, the Falcons went mostly unchallenged in that league otherwise behind Harley Opachan’s 21 points per game. The Falcons did struggle to beat 13th-seeded Rib Lake 59-49 on Jan. 17.

Fourth-seeded Athens (17-6) is a team to watch out of the Marawood North. The Blue Jays were battle tested with crossover games against the Marawood South and get 18.5 points per game from four-year letter winner Cooper Diedrich and 15.5 more from 6-5 Aiden Janke.

Fifth-seeded Bruce (18-5) is obviously a capable team with wins over Turtle Lake and Flambeau to its credit. The Red Raiders went 14-2 in the East Lakeland and nearly swept Flambeau, losing the teams’ first matchup 45-43. Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (14-7) will win the Dairyland Small Conference with its 11-3 record. While McDonell Central (11-12) is down a bit, everyone in this sectional knows to never, ever take the Macks lightly at tournament after they get battle-tested each season in the Western Cloverbelt.

The other side

The top four teams from the other side of the bracket are: 1. Hurley (18-3 overall, 16-1 Indianhead): The Northstars will win the Indianhead Conference and feature several of the same athletes from the school’s outstanding football team this past fall. Two losses to bigger schools Northland Pines and Northwestern weren’t real close. They’re at Medford tonight.

2. Drummond (18-3 overall, 13-3 Indianhead): Lumberjacks handed Hurley its lone conference loss, 41-36 on Jan. 28. Got swept by Solon Springs.

3. Solon Springs (16-5 overall, 13-4 Indianhead): While the Eagles swept Drummond they had no luck with Hurley, losing 64-41 and 72-46 on Friday.

4. South Shore (16-6 overall, 13-3 Indianhead): One loss apiece to Hurley, Drummond and Solon Springs. Also losses to larger schools Hayward and Chequamegon and a 91-79 win over Ashland.

The sectional final will be played Saturday, March 12.

–– Compiled by Sports Editor Matt Frey