WIAA State Girls Basketball Preview: Division 2
Thursday, March 8th, 2018 -- 1:12 PM
The 43rd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Basketball State Tournament is going on thru Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Here's a preview of the Division 2 field....Friday, March 9
Division 2
#1 Beaver Dam (23-2) vs. #4 Hortonville (20-6) - 1:35 p.m.
#2 Monroe (24-2) vs. #3 New Berlin Eisenhower (23-3) 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 2 FIELD: Defending champion and top-seeded Beaver Dam is back attempting to win its second title. It is the Golden Beavers’ fourth appearance overall. They made their initial State appearance back in 1991 when they finished runner-up in Division 1. Their return to the State Tournament comes by virtue of a 70-49 victory over West De Pere in the Neenah Sectional final. The Golden Beavers are the champions of the North Division of the Badger Conference this season. Second-seeded Monroe is making its second consecutive appearance and its 10th overall. The Cheesemakers have won three State championships, those coming in 1989, 2006 and 2008. In addition, they placed runner-up in 1988 and 2000. Monroe is the champion in the South Division of the Badger Conference this season. The Cheesemakers downed Jefferson 68-31 in the final of the Sun Prairie Sectional to qualify for the State tournament field. Third-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower won the State title in its most recent experience in 2016. The Lions also won the championship in 2010 and made back-to-back appearances that resulted in runner-up finishes in 2012-13. This will be their sixth appearance overall. The Lions edged Pius XI Catholic 41-39 in the Brown Deer Sectional final to advance into the final field of four. They finished the regular season atop the standings in the West Division of the Woodland Conference. Fourth-seeded Hortonville is in the State tournament field for the third time and for the second straight season. The Polar Bears have lost in the semifinals in each of their previous appearances. They are the survivors of the Stevens Point Sectional having eliminated Onalaska 69-59 in the final. They finished third in the Fox Valley Association this season behind Division 1 qualifier Appleton North and Kimberly.
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 2 are juniors Laijanique Perry-Ellis of Milwaukee Washington and Hannah Belanger of Grafton.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.