State Tournament Preview: Division 2

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MADISON -- </strong>A look ahead to the Division 2 state tournament, which tips off on Friday at the Kohl Center...</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(1) WISCONSIN LUTHERAN vs. (4) NICOLET</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This should be a good one and has the potential to be the game of the year in Wisconsin. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nicolet certainly has a chip on its shoulder for a variety of reasons. Most notably, the Knights got the 4-seed and drew the short end of the stick for the second straight season in Madison. At 24-4 overall, Nicolet lost two games to out-of-state opponents, one to Division 3 favorite St. Thomas More, and the other to Cedarburg in a game where [player_tooltip player_id='1390443' first='Davion' last='Hannah'], the number one player in the junior class, did not play. The Knights said they'd be back after letting a late lead against Pewaukee get away in last year's semifinals. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='1598239' first='David' last='Bolden'] and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1781157' first='Rashaad' last='Davis'], along with Hannah, backed that up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>However, they're going to have to go through Wisconsin Lutheran, who have been almost untouchable this season. At 28-0 overall, the Woodland West champs have played one game decided by less than five points all season. Future Mr. Basketball and Duke commit Kon Knueppel leads the way for the Vikings. Lutheran has also gotten its role players to step up this season, including senior [player_tooltip player_id='1159275' first='Logan' last='Rindfleisch']. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1552512' first='Zavier' last='Zens'] is also starting to come on down the stretch of the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1142123"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65f07b91e98dd"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>(2) PEWAUKEE vs. (3) WEST SALEM</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These two teams are no strangers to the Kohl Center.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pewaukee is amid a three-peat, now working on four. Their star, Nebraska commit [player_tooltip player_id='1089682' first='Nick' last='Janowski'] has never done anything less in his career than walk out of Madison with a gold ball. The Pirates took a little step back after losing such a prominent senior class after last season's title, but junior [player_tooltip player_id='1412882' first='Luka' last='Momcilovic'] and senior [player_tooltip player_id='1682519' first='Owen' last='Hake'] have helped keep Pewaukee among the state's top teams. Pewaukee did get swept by Wisconsin Lutheran during the regular season, but might be turning a corner here in March. Since a disappointing home loss to De Pere, the Pirates have won six straight and handled the likes of Wauwatosa West and Stoughton in playoff action.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After back-to-back runner-up finishes in Division 3, West Salem made the jump to Division 2. Didn't matter. Despite losing a ton of seniors from their 2022-23 squad, the Panthers are back behind senior [player_tooltip player_id='1160035' first='Tamarrein' last='Henderson']. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='2388785' first='Kyle' last='Hehli'] also emerged for West Salem, navigated arguably the most stacked sectional in terms of depth. Case in point, the Panthers had to beat a pair of 20-win ball clubs and their sectional semifinal matchup was against a 16-8 New London squad.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1160035"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65f07b91e9934"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PREDICTIONS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Semifinals</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) Wisconsin Lutheran over (4) Nicolet</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As much as I love this Nicolet squad and actually think they might be better, I can't bet against Knueppel in a game of this magnitude. He's waited a long time to get to this spot. The Knights are going to need a special performance. I'm not ruling it out by any means. This group should have beaten Pewaukee a year ago and have the best starting five in the field. But in AAU and high school, I've witnessed too many times what Knueppel is capable of in big moments like this. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) Pewaukee over (3) West Salem</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Think this might be a better game than people expect. West Salem has one loss since Jan. 29 and that's against Milwaukee Academy of Science, who is loaded with talent. The Panthers can also keep pace with a team like Pewaukee, who plays a free-flowing style and isn't afraid to shoot early in possessions. However, I think the matchups here favor the Pirates and I would hate to be an opposing team when Dave Burkemper has a week to prepare. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>State Championship</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) Wisconsin Lutheran over (2) Pewaukee</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's hard to beat a team three times in one season, but every time I use that adage, I feel like I was talking about Pewaukee against Wisconsin Lutheran the last few years. It just feels like Wisconsin Lutheran's turn. The Vikings won both prior matchups by a combined 21 points. In those games, Knueppel has 47 points on 28 shots. The role players for Wisco have tallied six double-figure efforts as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->