WIAA State Girls Basketball Preview: Division 2
Thursday, March 12th, 2015 -- 11:08 AM
The 40th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Basketball State Championships will take place today thru Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Here's a preview of the Division 2 field....STATE TOURNAMENT ON THE AIR: The State Tournament will be televised live in our area on WAOW-TV channel 9 in Wausau, WXOW-TV channel 19 in La Crosse, and WQOW-TV channel 18 in Eau Claire.
Friday, March 13
1:35 p.m. Waunakee (15-12) vs. Pius XI (26-0)
3:15 p.m. River Falls (15-11) vs. Cedarburg (23-2)
ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD: Pius XI is making its second straight tournament appearance and its fifth overall. The Lady Popes won the Division 1 championship in 2010 for their lone title. They are the champions in the West Division of the Woodland Conference this season. The Lady Popes navigated through the Brown Deer Sectional to advance to the State semifinals with a 38-33 win over New Berlin West in the sectional final. They were a perennial power during its membership in WISAA. They won 18 championships and finished runner-up once. They had 12 straight championships from 1982-1993 and four straight from 1997-2000. Waunakee qualifies for State for the first time since 2001 by claiming the title of the Janesville Craig Sectional with a 68-55 victory over Waterford in the final. The Warriors one State title came in Division 2 in 1993. This season, the Warriors placed third in the North Division of the Badger Conference. The only other experience in the State Tournament for Cedarburg came in Division 1 in 2006 when the Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals. This year, they finished second to Germantown in the North Shore Conference standings. They earned their way into the State Tournament with a 56-52 win over Green Bay Southwest in the Fond du Lac Sectional final. It's the first State Tournament experience for River Falls. The Wildcats run through the playoffs came on the heels of a fifth-place finish in the Big Rivers Conference. They advance to the semifinals following a 49-40 win over Mosinee in the final of the Marshfield Sectional.
THREE-POINT CHALLENGE: The WIAA will conduct its first 3-Point Challenge prior to Saturday's championship games. The event will begin at 9 a.m. at the Resch Center. A ticket for the Division 3, 4 and 5 championship games session is required for admittance into the event. The top two players per division were selected for the contest based on the best 3-point field goal percentage with a minimum of 75 attempts during the regular season. The contestants representing Division 1 are sophomore Caroline Busch from Brookfield Central and senior Katie Walz of Waukesha West. Representing Division 2 are seniors Sammy Kozlowski of New Berlin Eisenhower and Madison Blair of Waterford. The Division 3 participants are junior Kylie Moe of Brodhead and senior Riley Spear of Marshall. Division 4 will be represented by senior Jamie Spanbauer of Lourdes Academy and sophomore Emily Hafemann of Martin Luther; and the Division 5 contestants are freshman Amber Baehman of Tri-Country and senior Shelly Kneifl of Abbotsford. Visit the information on the WIAA website for more details.
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