WIAA State Girls Basketball Preview: Division 1
Thursday, March 8th, 2018 -- 1:36 PM
The 43rd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Basketball State Tournament is going on now thru Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Here's a preview of the Division 1 field.....Friday, March 9
Division 1
#1 Arrowhead (24-2) vs. #4 Appleton North (22-4) - 6:35 p.m.
#2 Mukwonago (24-2) vs. #3 Oak Creek (24-2) will begin approximately 15 minutes following the previous game.
STATE TOURNAMENT ON THE AIR: The State Tournament will be televised live in our area on WAOW-TV in Wausau, WXOW-TV in La Crosse, and WQOW-TV in Eau Claire. Also, download the Magic of March app for live streaming video, scores, highlights and more about the WIAA State basketball tournaments. Live coverage of the tournaments on iOS or Android phones and tablets are also available on the app.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Top-seeded Arrowhead is making its 10th appearance at State and its first since 2015. The Warhawks have claimed a pair of titles from their nine previous appearances, one in 1988 and the other in 1991. They finished in a first-place tie with Mukwonago in the Classic 8 Conference this season. The Warhawks are the representatives out of the Sheboygan North Sectional following their 49-34 win over Bay Port in the final. Second-seeded Mukwonago is making its ninth appearance at State and its fourth in the past six seasons. The Indians finished runner-up in their most recent experience in 2016 and also in 2013. They earned a return trip to State with a 61-56 win over Madison East in the Janesville Craig Sectional final. They are the co-champions of the Classic 8 Conference with Arrowhead this season. Oak Creek, which was issued the third seed, returns to the tournament field for the second time in the past three seasons and for the third time in five years. The Knights are making their seventh appearance overall, which includes a title won in 2014. The Knights had a string of three straight appearances from 1982-84, which produced a runner-up finish in 1983. They are the champions of the Southeastern Conference this season, and they advance to the State semifinals from the West Allis Central Sectional after defeating Milwaukee King 66-57 in the final. Defending champion and fourth-seeded Appleton North returns to State for the third year in a row and for the fifth time overall. The Lightning cruised past Kimberly in the final of the Oshkosh North Sectional final, 65-41, to earn the opportunity to retain the title. They finished first in the Fox Valley Association this season.
THREE-POINT CHALLENGE: The WIAA will conduct the third annual 3-Point Challenge prior to Saturday’s championship games. The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Resch Center. 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 senior Justice Filip of Madison East, who advanced to the semifinals in the competition last year, and sophomore Christine Fortune from Appleton West.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.