WIAA State Tournament updates: Freedom, Bonduel, and Sheboygan Lutheran advance

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) - The Kohl Center is packed as 20 schools from across Wisconsin are looking to capture boys basketball state titles, including four from NE Wisconsin.

Champions were crowned on Saturday. In Division 3, Freedom missed a potential game-tying 3-point attempt in the closing moments as they fell to Milwaukee Academy of Science, 57-54. A controversial charging foul was called on Irish guard Drew Kortz in the final minute. If it was called a blocking foul, Kortz would have made a layup and stepped up to the free throw line down 1 with a chance to tie the game.

“We tried, gave it everything we got out there because it was the last game no matter what so we just had to leave everything on the court and hope for the best, but that didn’t happen,” Kortz said. “It really hurt. It was our main goal this year. Just came up really short. It’ll sting for a while but just gotta keep our heads high.”

In Division 4, Aquinas took down Bonduel, 74-45, to capture the title. It was Bonduel’s first trip to the state tournament.

“It means everything to me to set the standard for this program,” Bears senior guard Race Anvelink said. “The younger kids, the younger generation, they kinda looked up to us a lot this year, and I hope they can do the same thing in the future.”

“Being able to stick together as a team until the last game is just really awesome,” Bears junior forward Ryan Westrich said. “All the community members came out here to watch and support us. It means a lot.”

In the Division 5 state championship game, Sheboygan Lutheran fell, 60-54, to Cochrane-Fountain City. Crusaders junior forward Brennen Hackbarth led his squad with 26 points.

“It sure does suck to see them leave but it’s been an honor playing with most of those guys since 5K,” Hackbarth said. “Playing against them, playing with them. Going to miss them, but life moves on. We’re still a pretty young team. We’ll find our way back here.”

On Friday, Sheboygan Lutheran surged past Abundant Life, 80-51, to advance. Marion Boyland led the way with 23 points. The Crusaders opened the game up with an 11-0 run late in the first half.

“It takes a little bit to get these guys nerves going a little bit, and understand it’s just another basketball game,” Crusaders head coach Nick Verhagen said. “It’s a different environment, but it’s another basketball game. Once we got over that, then we knew we had a little bit of confidence going.”

“We have to cool ourselves down,” Boyland said. “The coaches always get on us about not being too high, not being too low. The coaches do a really good job of pulling us together as a family.”

In Division 1, Oshkosh North narrowly fell to #1 Wisconsin Lutheran, 58-57, after a last-second shot attempt came up short. The Spartans had won 12 of their last 13 games to advance to the state tournament, and on Friday, rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to take a lead in the second half before ultimately falling short.

“Not unbeatable, but unbreakable, and that I think that’s us,” Spartans head coach Brad Weber said. “We are unbreakable. We’re dented. We got beat tonight, but nobody broke us.

Oshkosh North star Xzavion Mitchell was named the WBCA’s Mr. Basketball award-winner earlier in the day and finished with 27 points.

“I think just us starting off slow built us for this moment,” Mitchell said. “Especially our conference, the FVA, I think every game in there it built us for this opportunity. I told our guys that every time. We’re built for this moment. Obviously we didn’t get one off tonight, but this is the only group I’d want it to be at for my senior year.”

In Thursday play, Freedom advanced past Elk Mound 66-32 in D3 semifinal play. And it wasn’t even as close as the final score would indicate. The Irish led 42-11 at the half and earned an easy win behind 27 points apiece from senior Drew Kortz and sophomore Donovan Davis. They made a living off of their pressure defense.

“When we got the hang of it, and they were just starting to throw turnovers after turnovers, I think that really has like a mood-swing on the game,” Davis said. “I think it really helps us.”

“Yeah, you can get really lost in the press,” Kortz said. “It just turned into a lot of easy points for us, easy dunks for Donovan. Yeah, a lot of easy points.”

“It went pretty close to script,” said Freedom head coach Andrew Gibbons. “Like if we were going to draw it up, like how we would want it to go. Things went well. Obviously there’s some things we want to clean up here and look to just keep getting better.”

Thursday evening in the Division 4 semifinals, Bonduel roared past The Prairie School 59-41 in its first ever trip to the State Tournament.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said senior guard Race Anvelink. “We’ve all dreamed of this since the beginning of the season. I had a vision ever since summer to get to this point, and I’m really proud of these young guys that stepped up and played way past their years in this playoff run.”

“I’m just really grateful that we have this opportunity,” said junior forward Ryan Westrich. “I mean our coaches have pushed us hard in practice. Making sure we’re prepared for these kind of moments. Guys in practice are pushing each other to be better, and the whole town is supporting us. It’s just really awesome to get to the state championship game for all of them.”

For live stats, tournament information, and online livestreams of the games, you can visit the WIAA’s State Tourney Central page.

At Division 1, the Oshkosh North Spartans are #4, matching up with top-seed Wisconsin Lutheran. This is their 8th state tourney appearance and their first since winning it all in 2018. They finished 4th in the Fox Valley Association and beat De Pere in the Appleton North sectional.

At Division 3, the Freedom Irish are the #1 seed, coming off of a 1-loss season and starting with #4 Elk Mound. The North Eastern Conference champs are returning to state for the first time in 25 years, defeating Little Chute in the Seymour sectional to earn their spot.

At Division 4, the Bonduel Bears are also top-seeded after a 1-loss season, starting with 14-15 The Prairie School. The Central Wisconsin Conference East Division champion Bears are making their first-ever state appearance, beating Auburndale in the Stevens Point sectional to get to the Kohl Center.

At Division 5, Sheboygan Lutheran is the 2nd seed, facing off against #3 Abundant Life Christian. The Crusaders are making their 4th-ever state appearance and their first since winning the title in 2019. They were tri-champs of the Big East Conference’s South Division with Kohler and Oostburg. The Crusaders went through the Pulaski sectional to get to Madison, beating Almond-Bancroft in the final.

THURSDAY, MARCH 20

Division 3

#1 Freedom vs. #4 Elk Mound, 1:35 p.m.

- Freedom wins, 66-32

#2 Milwaukee Academy of Science vs. #3 Lake Mills, 15 minutes after game 1

- Milwaukee Academy of Science wins, 65-61

Division 4

#1 Bonduel vs. #4 The Prairie School, 6:35 p.m.

- Bonduel wins, 59-41

#2 Mineral Point vs. #3 Aquinas, 15 minutes after game 1

- Aquinas wins, 57-54

FRIDAY, MARCH 21

Division 5

#1 Cochrane-Fountain City vs. #4 Turtle Lake, 9:05 a.m.

- Cochrane-Fountain City wins, 66-54

#2 Sheboygan Lutheran vs. #3 Abundant Life Christian, 15 minutes after game 1

- Sheboygan Lutheran wins, 80-51

Division 2

#1 Racine Park vs. #4 Cedarburg, 1:35 p.m.

- Racine Park wins, 65-63

#2 Wauwatosa West vs. #3 Wausau East, 15 minutes after game 1

- Wauwatosa West wins, 75-63

Division 1

#1 Wisconsin Lutheran vs. #4 Oshkosh North, 6:35 p.m.

- Wisconsin Lutheran wins, 58-57

#2 Waunakee vs. #3 Marshfield, 15 minutes after game 1

- Marshfield wins, 57-47

SATURDAY, MARCH 22

Division 5: Cochrane-Fountain City wins, 60-54, vs. Sheboygan Lutheran

Division 4: Aquinas wins, 74-45, vs. Bonduel

Division 3: Milwaukee Academy of Science wins, 57-54, vs. Freedom

Division 2: Racine Park wins, 60-57 in overtime, vs. Wauwatosa West

Division 1: Wisconsin Lutheran wins, 57-55, vs. Marshfield.

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