WIAA State Girls Basketball Preview: Division 1
Thursday, March 12th, 2015 -- 1:55 PM
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 1 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
6:35 p.m. Middleton (22-4) vs. Divine Savior Holy Angels (24-2)
8:15 p.m. D.C. Everest (26-0) vs. Arrowhead (21-5)
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Arrowhead is making its second appearance at State in the past three seasons and for the ninth time overall. The Warhawks have claimed a pair of titles from their eight previous appearances, one in 1988 and the other in 1991. They finished in a first-place tie in the Classic 8 Conference this season with Waukesha West. The Warhawks are the representatives out of the Sheboygan South Sectional following their 55-48 win over De Pere in the final. Middleton is also making its ninth appearance in the State Tournament and the first since a run of five straight ended in 2012. The Cardinals have finished as State runner-up twice, once in 1993 and again in 2003. They advance to the State semifinals after beating Janesville Craig 66-57 in the Sun Prairie Sectional final. The Cardinals finished third in the Big Eight Conference this season behind co-champions Janesville Craig and Verona. D.C. Everest returns to the State Tournament for the first time in 21 years and for the sixth time in the program's history. The Evergreens lone State championship came in 1986. They are the undisputed champions of the Wisconsin Valley Conference this season. The Evergreens won the Stevens Point Sectional with a 59-42 win over Neenah in the final. Divine Savior Holy Angels is making its fourth appearance at State and its first since 2006. The Dashers have been ousted from title contention in the quarterfinal round in each of their three previous appearances. They won one title and were runners-up twice as a former member of WISAA. The championship came in Division 1 in 1996. They are the champions of the Greater Metro Conference this year and are the representatives out of the Brookfield Central Sectional by virtue of their 48-35 win over Oak Creek in the final.
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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