Hortonville gets big FVA win over Kimberly
Hortonville takes control of Fox Valley Association with win over Kimberly
St. Mary Catholic girls basketball coach Jeff Chew will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association on Sept. 29 as part of the 2024 class.
Former Lawrence University men’s basketball coach John Tharp is also being inducted as a college coach. Dan Valentyn of Freedom will be inducted as Friends of the Game.
Chew recently won his 500th game and has the Zephyrs ranked among the top teams in Division 4 in both the wissports.net coaches poll and the Associated Press poll.
He has a 503-200 record overall and is in his second stint as head coach of SMC. He led the Zephyrs to the WIAA Division 4 state title in 2009 and a runner-up finish in 2008. He also coached the Hortonville girls basketball team for five seasons, compiling an 83-41 record.
SMC is 17-1 this season and was 26-2 last season when the Zephyrs reached the Division 4 sectional final.
Other high school coaches in the 2024 WBCA Hall of Fame class include Black Hawk’s Mike Flanagan, Fond du Lac’s Ed Furth, Washburn’s Duane Gasperini, Kewaunee’s Lynn Geier, Hartland Arrowhead’s Craig Haase, Oak Creek’s Steve Hluchnik, Almond-Bancroft’s Curt Lamb, Marshall/Racine Horlick’s Jason Treutelaar and West Salem’s Mark Wagner.
Girls players to be inducted include South Shore’s Jolene Anderson, Racine Case’s Mynette (Clark) Oliver, Milwaukee Washington’s Helen Johnson, Three Lakes’ Breehan (Kelley) Chancellor, Oshkosh Lourdes’ Steph (Krumrei) Dragani, and Bay Port’s Nicole (Soulis) Kulkarni.
Boys players include Cudahy’s Terry Benka, Madison West’s Reece Gaines, Milwaukee Madison’s Terry McKissick, Milwaukee Washington’s Latrell Sprewell, Randolph’s Greg Stiesma, Kettle Moraine’s JJ Weber and Sussex Hamilton’s Terry Youngbauer.
FVA dominates in girls 3-Point Challenge standings
The Fox Valley Association has six players in the latest 3-Point Challenge leaderboard in Division 1.
The 3-Point Challenge is sponsored by the WIAA and part of the girls basketball state tournament at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon. It will be held March 9 at 9:30 a.m.
Neenah’s Allie Ziebell (second, .465 3-point percentage), Hortonville’s Rainey Welson (fifth, .407), Appleton East’s Ella Sweeney (sixth, .406) and Lilly Meulemans (seventh, .404), Oshkosh West’s Laina Hammen (eighth, .400) and Fond du Lac’s Brooklynn Butler (10th, .393) are ranked in the top 10.
Freedom’s Vander Loop gets 400th win
Freedom girls basketball coach Mike Vander Loop secured his 400th victory in the team’s win over Clintonville on Jan. 16.
Freedom is 12-5 overall and tied atop the North Eastern Conference with Marinette with a 10-2 record.
Niebauer, Peters get big wins at Pulaski wrestling invite
The Pulaski Invite on Saturday was a showcase of top wrestling teams from the area. Luxemburg-Casco won the team title with 258.5 points, with Kaukauna close behind (251).
Two championship matches stood out: Kaukauna’s Lucas Peters with a 5-2 victory over Freedom’s Peter Tomazevic in the 132-pound title match and Henry Niebauer of Hortonville with a 4-2 decision over Luxemburg-Casco’s Max Ronsman.
Peters, who won last season’s Division 1 126-pound state title, is the second-ranked wrestler in D1 and entered last week with a 28-3 record, with Tomazevic (31-4) ranked third in D2. Niebauer (26-2) is also ranked second in D1 at 150, with Ronsman (27-4) ranked second in D2.
Basketball livestreams of the week: West De Pere at Xavier boys and Appleton North at Kimberly boys
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has two livestreams this week: West De Pere at Xavier boys Thursday and Appleton North at Kimberly boys Friday.
Both livestreams begin at 7:15 p.m. and can be seen on postcrescent.com, the Post-Crescent’s Facebook page and on YouTube on the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin channel.
Area basketball rankings
* Teams are ranked “pound-for-pound” based on success against similar enrollments. Tuesday results not included.
GIRLS
1, St. Mary Catholic (17-1): Zephyrs are the new No. 1, have won six consecutive games and have a two-game lead atop the Big East-North with a 9-0 record. Next: Tuesday vs. Kohler.
2, Hortonville (13-4): Polar Bears move up a spot and have won nine straight Fox Valley Association games with their win Friday against Fond du Lac. Rainey Welson leads the team in scoring (21.9) and assists (4.1). Next: Tuesday vs. Kaukauna.
3, Kimberly (14-3): Papermakers drop from top spot to No. 3 after loss to Hortonville last week. Team is tied for second in the FVA (10-2) with Neenah. Next: Tuesday at Oshkosh West.
4, Neenah (15-3): Rockets finish 3-0 last week and have won five of their last six games behind McDonald’s All-American Allie Ziebell, who is averaging 28.2 points and 8.4 rebounds. Next: Tuesday vs. Appleton East.
5, Xavier (13-6): Hawks beats West De Pere last week and are tied with the Phantoms atop the Bay Conference with 7-1 records. Next: Friday vs. New London.
Also: New London (15-3), Menasha (12-6), Appleton East (11-6), Freedom (12-5), Chilton (12-6), Wrightstown (10-7).
Vote for the top athlete: Choose from seven top basketball players for Cellcom Press-Gazette high school athlete of the week
Who was the top athlete?: Two wrestling standouts and four top basketball players: Vote for Cellcom Post-Crescent high school athlete of the week
BOYS
1, Xavier (13-1): Hawks take over top spot with Appleton North losing last week. Hawks’ last loss was to Pius XI on Dec. 29 and they have won four consecutive games. Next: Tuesday vs. Menasha.
2, Brillion (16-1): Lions have won four consecutive games since their 66-54 loss to Kiel on Jan. 5. The rematch is set for Feb. 16 at Kiel and could determine the Eastern Wisconsin title. Next: Tuesday vs. Freedom.
3, Appleton North (14-2): Lightning suffer humbling 57-37 loss to Neenah on Saturday and team drops two spots in rankings. Team has tough week ahead with games at Fox Valley Association leader Oshkosh North and home against Kimberly. Next: Tuesday at Oshkosh North.
4, Fox Valley Lutheran (15-1): Foxes continue to win and lead North Eastern Conference by two games over Freedom. Adam Loberger leads the team in points (24.5) and rebounds (8.6). Next: Tuesday at Wrightstown.
5, Freedom (12-3): Irish have won five consecutive games since back-to-back losses to West De Pere and Fox Valley Lutheran. Next: Tuesday at Brillion.
Others: Kimberly (11-5), Neenah (10-7), Kaukauna (10-6), St. Mary Catholic (13-5), Clintonville (12-5), Little Chute (11-6), Seymour (9-7), New London (9-6), Waupaca (9-8), Weyauwega-Fremont (9-8), Hortonville (9-7), Manawa (9-8), Shiocton (9-7).