Deer District Prep Showcase Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2nd annual Deer District Prep Showcase will take place on January 24th in Milwaukee at the Fiserv Forum. The one day event will showcase some top tier matchups and talent on Saturday. Written below is information about the event, ticket information and matchup storylines to follow during the event in Milwaukee. All team rankings are provided by the most recent Prep Hoops/ WBCA poll as of January 12th.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ticket and general information can be found here: /<a href="https://deerdistrict.com/event/prepshowcase26/">https://deerdistrict.com/event/prepshowcase26/</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Prairie School vs. Seymour (D3 #1) 10am</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seymour has been flawless this season scoring nearly 80 points a game and is leading the competitive Bay Conference with their 12-0 overall record. The Thunder who are currently ranked #1, employ a balanced scoring attack with their talented front court duo of [player_tooltip player_id='2391083' first='Kyler' last='Marks'] and Issac Feske. Seymour also gets major contributions from highly talented guards [player_tooltip player_id='2615539' first='Jordan' last='Krause'], [player_tooltip player_id='2500851' first='Xavier' last='Salzman'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2508496' first='Teage' last='Cornell']. Head Coach Bobby Kutcha has his Thunder squad battled tested and ready to come out swinging early in Milwaukee on Saturday. Jason Atanasoff coaches The Prairie School who competes in the loaded Metro Classic Conference that features high quality opponents every single night. TPS made it to the state tournament last season competing in Division 4 and currently come in with a 8-4 record this season. The Hawks are led by three double digit scorers [player_tooltip player_id='2841632' first='Nolan' last='Greb'], [player_tooltip player_id='2508284' first='Dalton' last='Ahlensdorf'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2140901' first='Chandler' last='Perry'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">[program_tooltip program_id='2829078' first='West' last='De Pere'] (D2 #2) vs. Racine Lutheran (D3 #4) Noon</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Phantoms of [program_tooltip program_id='2829078' first='West' last='De Pere'] compete in the Fox River Classic Conference and come into this matchup boasting a 10-1 record. WDP has impressive victories over De Pere, Kimberly, Notre Dame, and Germantown to name a few. WDP does take on their conference rival De Pere on Tuesday to earn bragging rights to stay in first place in the highly competitive FRCC. WDP are led by [player_tooltip player_id='2140897' first='Carson' last='Samson'], Erik Bouchard, [player_tooltip player_id='3022868' first='Patrick' last='Greisen'], [player_tooltip player_id='2381929' first='Jack' last='Wilichowski'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2399057' first='Cooper' last='Borowicz']. Any of these players listed have the capability to hit multiple threes on any given night including this game. Racine Lutheran has tons of firepower of their own while competing in the Metro Classic Conference. [player_tooltip player_id='2224532' first='Sam' last='Pitrof'] is one of the best seniors in the 2026 class and uses his athleticism and skill set to score at will. [player_tooltip player_id='2398434' first='Bryce' last='Austin'], [player_tooltip player_id='2833117' first='Deeon' last='Brumby'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2429738' first='Isaiah' last='Cosey'] are all major contributors for this talented Crusader team in addition to Pitrof. Racine Lutheran comes into this matchup with a 10-2 record with their only losses coming against Tosa West and crosstown rival Racine St. Catherine's. This game should be fast paced and have tons of scoring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Lodi vs. Mount Horeb (D2 #10) 2pm</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lodi comes into this game with a 7-4 record and compete in a very challenging Captial North conference. The Blue Devils employ a trio of talented scorers in [player_tooltip player_id='1874993' first='Theo' last='Traeder'], [player_tooltip player_id='2140883' first='Bennett' last='Nyquist'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2425632' first='Kale' last='Schneider'] who lead Lodi to scoring 64.6ppg as a team. Lodi is excellent on the defensive end with their no middle concepts utilizing their athlelticsm and quickness. This allows for the Blue Devils to prevent teams to getting to the rim easily and forces their opponents to take contested mid range shots. This may be something to watch with Mount Horeb being shorthanded with their personnel. [player_tooltip player_id='1561888' first='Josh' last='Manchester'] is currently battling an injury and may miss Saturday's matchup. Manchester is one of the more prolific scorers in state's history and is a top unsigned senior in the class of 2026. The Vikings will lean on [player_tooltip player_id='2433100' first='Alex' last='Chapman'], [player_tooltip player_id='2641669' first='Hayden' last='Anderson'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2381702' first='Cal' last='Odgers'] to step up if Manchester is unavailable for this matchup. Long time Coach Todd Nesheim will be prepared for this matchup regardless as the Vikings run efficient motion offense and compete aggressively on the defensive end. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Kaukauna (D1 #3) vs. Oregon 4pm</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kaukauna features an ultra talented squad that is led by bigman and potential Mr. Basketball candidate [player_tooltip player_id='1561925' first='Andrew' last='Jensen']. The Ghosts are a high powered offense that features not only Jensen's interior presence, but tremendous scoring from [player_tooltip player_id='2412456' first='Tyler' last='Schwalbach'], [player_tooltip player_id='2398517' first='Jonah' last='Roehrig'] and freshmen standout [player_tooltip player_id='2402510' first='Drew' last='Bowers']. Kaukauna suffered their first loss last weekend at the La Crosse Center falling to Marshfield. Despite the loss Kaukauna has earned victories against Appleton North, Oshkosh North, Kimberly, and MIddleton to start this season. First year coach and long time assistant coach Ryan Bowers runs a highly efficient offense that features a ton of modern concepts with ball screening, get actions, and proper spacing to score at the rim and knock down wide open threes. Oregon comes into this matchup at 4-7 and competes in the Badger Conference. Oregon's schedule has been extremely difficult competing in the 608 event, Mark Miller's WBY shootout, and competing against long time powerhouse Pewaukee. The Panthers have a strong senior class despite [player_tooltip player_id='3021625' first='Vaughn' last='Karvala']'s departure to prep school. Oregon features four senior players that average double digits, led by big man [player_tooltip player_id='2970569' first='Brayden' last='Hermsdorf'] at 14.2ppg. Coach Chris Sebert is one of the state's better coaches and will have his team up for a big challenge against the Ghosts of Kaukauna.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Freedom (D3 #2) vs. Slinger (D2 #4) 6pm</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An incredible matchup in primetime between two very talented programs. Slinger and Freedom did something out of the ordinary and played last twice last season in non conference play, splitting the series. Freedom features a top 40 prospect in 6-8 [player_tooltip player_id='1847792' first='Donovan' last='Davis'] who is hearing from several power five programs. The Irish have other talented players with [player_tooltip player_id='2724372' first='Kaden' last='Vandenberg'], [player_tooltip player_id='2140894' first='Cal' last='Calhoon'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2402529' first='Owen' last='Henkel']. Freedom is 13-0 and has played a gauntlet of a schedule earning wins against Stoughton, Prescott, Brookfield Central, and Lake Mills. Head Coach Andrew Gibbons already has racked up 64 wins halfway through his third season, and his team is ready for Saturday's big matchup. Slinger, who is coached by another young and talented coach Alex Lavine, has a brother duo drawing division 1 interest from several schools. [player_tooltip player_id='2351190' first='Jack' last='Kohnen'] is averaging 19.7ppg and his brother [player_tooltip player_id='2398448' first='Joey' last='Kohnen'] is averaging 17.3ppg. Slinger has scored very impressive victories over Mount Horeb, Arrowhead, Oshkosh North, Nicolet, and Benilde- St. Margaret's this weekend at the Midwest Players' Classic in La Crosse. Jack competes on the ultra talented [program_tooltip program_id='2391400' first='Team' last='Herro'] program with [player_tooltip player_id='1847792' first='Donovan' last='Davis'] and those two without a doubt will spend time battling against each other. All of these games are must watch, but this one will be a game you do not want to miss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Arrowhead (D1 #4) vs. West Allis Central (D1 #2) 8pm</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This may be the best game of the day featuring two elite programs. Arrowhead is 11-3 and is battle tested competing against Wisconsin Lutheran, Slinger, Homestead, Waunakee, Whitefish Bay to name just a few. Longtime Coach Craig Haase runs a great dribble drive system that this year features standouts [player_tooltip player_id='2138537' first='Trey' last='Resch'], [player_tooltip player_id='2412856' first='Theo' last='Toepel'], [player_tooltip player_id='2351196' first='Blake' last='Basich'], and improved frontcourt player [player_tooltip player_id='3016604' first='Domanic' last='Rasberry']. I had a chance to see Arrowhead play earlier this year, and I was super impressed with their ability to stay in games with their outstanding outside shooting. The Warhawks are going to need the shooting against a very tough opponent in West Allis Central. West Allis Central is 12-1 and have beaten Nicolet, Lakeside Lutheran, Wayzata, and East Ridge. The Bulldogs are led by Iowa State recruit and candidate for Mr. Basketball, [player_tooltip player_id='2045256' first='Yusef' last='Gray Jr.'] Gray Jr. is electric and explosive with the basketball and plays his best basketball in major matchups like these. WAC is loaded outside of Gray with talented guard [player_tooltip player_id='2194435' first='Max' last='Jones'], [player_tooltip player_id='2141478' first='Isaiah' last='Fox'], and the man in the middle, Kevin Pitmann. If you like scoring and high level talent, you might want to grab a popcorn and probably a coffee with this game being later, and get to the Fiserv for this matchup. This game will be one of the best we will see until the playoffs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->