WIAA State Boys Basketball Preview: Division 5
Thursday, March 15th, 2018 -- 8:28 AM
The 103rd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Basketball State Tournament will take place today - Saturday at the Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Here's a preview of the Division 5 field....Friday, March 16
Division 5
#1 Bangor (25-1) vs. #4 Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran (15-12) - 9:05 a.m.
#2 Deerfield (23-4) vs. #3 McDonell Central Catholic (17-10) 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. The championships will also be streamed on the statewide network station websites. Also, download the Magic of March app for your source for live streaming video, scores, highlights and more about the WIAA State Boys Basketball Tournament on iOS or Android phones and tablets.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 5 FIELD: Top-seeded Bangor is a State qualifier for the second time in school history. The Cardinals’ only other experience came way back in 1936. They lost in the quarterfinals in Class C that season. This year, they celebrate their advance to the State tournament following a convincing 76-36 win over Southwestern in the La Crosse Logan Sectional final. They are the champions of the Scenic Bluffs Conference this winter. Second-seeded Deerfield will embark on its first State tournament experience in school history following its 65-42 defeat of Lourdes Academy in the Watertown Sectional final. During the regular season, the Demons tied with Palmyra-Eagle for the championship in the South Division of the Trailways Conference. Third-seeded McDonell Central Catholic will appear at State for the third straight season and for the fourth time overall. The Macks’ won the State championship in 2016 and ended their season in the semifinals in 2012 and again last season. They earned their third straight berth with a 62-48 win over South Shore in the Spooner Sectional final. The Macks finished fourth in the Western Division of the Cloverbelt Conference this season. Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran, the fourth seed, makes its fifth appearance in the past six seasons and its seventh overall. The Blazers have finished as the State runner-up three times. They had back-to-back second-place finishes in 2013-14 and another in Division 4 in 2010. This season, they finished sixth in the Packerland Conference and squeezed past Columbus Catholic 57-56 in the Antigo Sectional final to continue their crusade for their first State title.
THREE-POINT CHALLENGE: The WIAA will conduct the fourth 3-Point Challenge prior to Saturday’s championship games. The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Kohl 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 5 are seniors Drew Haffner of Gresham and Drew Severson of Eleva-Strum.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.