Wisconsin vs. Illinois Border Battle Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The seventh annual Wisconsin vs. Illinois Border Battle is set for Saturday at The Prairie School in Racine with seven teams from Wisconsin taking on seven teams from Illinois. <br><br>Tickets will be sold at the door ($10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors) and games will be streamed at justagame.com with a select few games on <a href="http://www.zaleskisports.com">Zaleski Sports</a>. <br><br>Following is a brief preview for each of the contests:<br><br><strong>11:00 a.m.<br>Mukwonago (WI) vs. Waubonsie Valley (IL)</strong><br>Waubonsie Valley comes in with a 22-1 record and a No. 13 ranking among all teams in Illinois by Prep Hoops Illinois. The Warriors boast three highly regarded prospects in seniors [player_tooltip player_id='2326960' first='Tyreek' last='Coleman'] (6-2) and [player_tooltip player_id='2326966' first='Moses' last='Wilson'] (6-5) along with sophomore Kris Mporokoso (6-3). Coleman is ranked as the No. 6 prospect in Illinois' 2025 class and has committed to Illinois State. Wilson is uncommitted, but is ranked No. 15 in the senior class. Mporokoso is ranked as the No. 8 sophomore by Prep Hoops Illinois. Waubonsie Valley competes in the DuPage Valley Conference. Mukwonago 9-5 under coach Steve Pollnow and competes in the Classic Eight Conference. The Indians have four players averaging in double figures -- senior [player_tooltip player_id='1539509' first='Caleb' last='Poling'] (6-5) at 12.7 ppg, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2508313' first='Evan' last='Ploeckelman'] (6-6) at 11.7 ppg, senior Josh Hayden (6-3) at 10.6 ppg and senior [player_tooltip player_id='2493687' first='Peyton' last='Pollnow'] (6-1) at 10.4 ppg. Ploeckelman is considered one of Wisconsin's top prospects in the 2027 class.<br><br><strong>12:30 p.m.<br>New Berlin West (WI) vs. Buffalo Grove (IL)</strong><br>New Berlin West might be a slight favorite in this game based on records alone as the Vikings own a 10-5 mark while Buffalo Grove sits at 8-16. However, Buffalo Grove plays a very difficult schedule so the Bison will be battle tested for the contest. New Berlin West could be a year away from battling the likes of Pewaukee, Wisconsin Lutheran and West Allis Central for the top spot in the loaded Woodland West Conference as coach Scott Cook relies heavily on underclassmen. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2371703' first='Jayce' last='Cook'] (6-1), the son of the Vikings' head coach, leads the team in scoring at 14.6 ppg followed by junior [player_tooltip player_id='1874970' first='Evan' last='Kern'] (6-2) at 14.0 ppg, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2382134' first='Zach' last='Hewitt'] (6-4) at 13.2 ppg, junior [player_tooltip player_id='2381809' first='Elijah' last='Gammage'] (6-3) at 8.1 ppg and senior [player_tooltip player_id='2271424' first='Josh' last='Krier'] (6-3) at 6.9 ppg. Buffalo Grove competes in the Mid-Suburban East Conference and is led by sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2323618' first='Alex' last='Sirbu'] (6-9) and seniors Tyler Baker (5-10) and [player_tooltip player_id='2403551' first='Peyton' last='Kosnoff'] (6-0).<br><br><strong>2:00 p.m.<br>Kenosha St. Joseph (WI) vs. Northridge Prep (IL)</strong><br>Northridge Prep leads the Independent League standings in the Chicago area with a 6-0 record. The Knights are 17-5 overall and are coached by Will Rey, the former head coach at Loyola University in Chicago. Northridge is a Class AA school in Illinois with an enrollment of 230 boys. Northridge returns two players who have three years of varsity experience in seniors [player_tooltip player_id='2823910' first='Evan' last='Kataoka'] (5-8) and Bo Arnold (6-2). In addition, five other seniors also played significant minutes as juniors, including forward Nelson Goodrich (6-4) and guard Linus Coleman (6-1). Kenosha St. Joseph finished second in the WIAA Division 4 State Tournament the past two seasons and is led by sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2508296' first='Christopher' last='Kenesie'] (5-11), junior [player_tooltip player_id='2440055' first='Tomas' last='Baez'] (5-11) and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2354009' first='Reymundo' last='Garibay'] (5-10). Kenesie leads the team in scoring at 18.7 ppg followed by Baez at 14.6 ppg and Garibay at 10.5 ppg. The Lancers compete in the Metro Classic Conference and own a 9-6 record. Eric Kenesie, the star of the past two seasons at St. Joseph, is redshirting as a freshman at NCAA Division I Buffalo.<br><br><strong>3:30 p.m.<br>Slinger (WI) vs. Prospect (IL)</strong><br>One of Wisconsin's top teams will take the court when Slinger takes on Prospect. Coach Alex Lavine of Slinger starts five underclassmen and that talented group has led the Owls to a 15-1 record and No. 5 state ranking by Prep Hoops Wisconsin. Leading the way for Slinger is sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2351190' first='Jack' last='Kohnen'] (6-6), the state's top-ranked class of 2027 prospect who owns scholarship offers from Iowa State and Marquette. Kohnen is averaging 22.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists, and his versatility and completeness are vital to the Owls' success. Kohnen's younger brother, freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2398448' first='Joey' last='Kohnen'] (6-4), is another key performer for Slinger. [player_tooltip player_id='2398448' first='Joey' last='Kohnen'] is averaging 10.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg. Rounding out the rotation are juniors [player_tooltip player_id='1874955' first='Brett' last='Palm'] (5-11) at 8.1 ppg, [player_tooltip player_id='2765150' first='Colton' last='Mantz'] (6-4) at 8.4 ppg and [player_tooltip player_id='2874937' first='Bryson' last='Fogle'] (6-1) at 9.2 ppg. Prospect competes in the Mid-Suburban East Conference, owns a 10-13 record, and is led by senior sharpshooting senior wing Ryan Lifton (6-1) and senior forward Jack Skoog (6-4).<br><br><strong>5:00 p.m.<br>Milwaukee Academy of Science (WI) vs. Warren Township (IL)</strong><br>The featured game of the day pits two stellar teams with multiple collegiate prospects going head-to-head as Academy of Science takes on Warren Township. Coach Agape Keys Sr., has a loaded lineup at Academy of Science and the Novas bring a 14-1 record into the contest. Led by Iowa State recruit [player_tooltip player_id='1447228' first='Jamarion' last='Batemon'] (6-4), who is averaging 24.5 ppg, and Coastal Carolina recruit [player_tooltip player_id='1390441' first='Devin' last='Brown'] (6-7), who is averaging 17.8 ppg, Academy of Science checks in as a top five team in Wisconsin. Rounding out the starting rotation for Academy of Science are senior [player_tooltip player_id='1390442' first='Agape' last='Keys Jr.'] (6-4) at 17.4 ppg, senior [player_tooltip player_id='1481181' first='Amare' last='Jackson'] (6-4) at 11.9 ppg and junior [player_tooltip player_id='1501903' first='Deuce' last='Burkes'] (6-12) at 8.2 ppg. Warren Township brings a 16-7 record into the contest and competes in the North Suburban Conference. Sophomore guard [player_tooltip player_id='2323571' first='Jaxson' last='Davis'] (6-1) is ranked as the No. 3 player in Illinois by Prep Hoops and has received recruiting interest from a number of high-major NCAA Division I programs. Junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2437519' first='Braylon' last='Walker'] (6-3) and senior forward [player_tooltip player_id='2688322' first='Zach' last='Ausburn'] (6-8) also are key performers for Warren Township.<br><br><strong>6:30 p.m.<br>Waunakee (WI) vs. DeKalb (IL)</strong><br>Waunakee is on a roll of late as the Warriors have won eight games in a row and are 15-2 under second-year coach Tyler Selk. Waunakee is led by the talented senior tandem of wings [player_tooltip player_id='2042435' first='Kaden' last='MacKenzie'] (6-4), who is averaging a team-best 17.3 ppg, and [player_tooltip player_id='1749696' first='Eli' last='Selk'] (6-4), who is averaging 14.8 ppg and a team-high 7.2 rpg. MacKenzie and Selk are multi-year varsity performers for the Warriors and both figure to go on to play at the next level. Seniors [player_tooltip player_id='2765155' first='Jack' last='Ellickson'] (9.2 ppg) and Trey Murray (8.6 ppg) along with sophomore Wes DuCharme (7.1 ppg) also play key roles for the Warriors, who are undefeated in seven games in the Badger North Conference. DeKalb plays in the highly competitive DuPage Valley Conference and is led by senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1545123' first='Sean' last='Reynolds'] (6-1), a NCAA Division II recruit for D'Yourville in Buffalo. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='2105355' first='Davon' last='Grant'] (6-5) also is a key player for DeKalb, which owns a 5-1 league record and 16-6 overall mark. <br><br><strong>8:00 p.m.<br>The Prairie School (WI) vs. Chicago St. Francis de Sales (IL)</strong><br>Both teams have struggled a bit while playing most of their schedules against bigger schools. The Prairie School sits at 5-10 overall and 1-8 in the Metro Classic Conference and is led by senior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1289089' first='Carsen' last='Eeg'] (11.0 ppg) along with sophomore trio of [player_tooltip player_id='2140901' first='Chandler' last='Perry'] (12.9 ppg), [player_tooltip player_id='2508284' first='Dalton' last='Ahlensdorf'] (10.7 ppg) and [player_tooltip player_id='2508306' first='Ryan' last='Vanoss'] (9.9 ppg). Freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2503099' first='Emmett' last='Wassil'] (7.6 ppg) has also played a big role for the Hawks. St. Francis de Sales, located on the far southside of Chicago, competes in the White Division of the Catholic Conference and is 5-14 under first-year coach Marcus Halliburton. Seniors Derrick Tharpe (6-1), Maurice Jackson (6-4), Jokubus Cepronas (6-7) and Marcus Halliburton (6-1) along with juniors [player_tooltip player_id='2105369' first='Jacob' last='Thompson'] (6-6) and [player_tooltip player_id='1900158' first='Stephen' last='George'] (6-6) are key players for the Pioneers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->