Small-school stars shining brightly in northern Wisconsin

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The similarities are startling. <br><br>Consider the following:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>** Both [player_tooltip player_id='2815674' first='Jake' last='Farley'] of St. Thomas Aquinas Academy in Marinette and [player_tooltip player_id='2388676' first='Aaron' last='Wickersheim'] of White Lake play basketball for tiny schools in northern Wisconsin.<br><br>** St. Thomas Aquinas, enrollment 42, competes in the Marinette &amp; Oconto Conference and has nine players in its entire program with no junior varsity squad. White Lake, enrollment 40, plays in the Central Wisconsin North Conference and has eight players in its program with no JV team. <br><br>** Both Farley and Wickersheim are averaging around 28 points per game for their respective schools. <br><br>** And both have siblings on their teams and play for coaches who also have very close ties to their families. <br><br>In the case of Farley, his older brother, Jack Farley, is his head coach. And his younger brother, [player_tooltip player_id='3038007' first='Lucas' last='Farley'], is a starting freshman guard for a St. Thomas Aquinas squad that is 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the Marinette &amp; Oconto Conference. <br><br>Wickersheim also is coached by a close relative as his uncle Eugene Peters took over the head-coaching duties this season from Wickersheim's father, also named Aaron Wickerhseim. [player_tooltip player_id='3022916' first='Madalynn' last='Wickersheim'], Aaron's younger sister, is a member of the White Lake boys' team since the school does not field a girls' basketball squad. <br><br>The two players will have the chance to square off against each other on February 9 when White Lake hosts St. Thomas Aquinas in a non-league game with the stands full of Farleys and Wickersheims. <br><br>Here's a closer look at each player:<br><br>** [player_tooltip player_id='2815674' first='Jake' last='Farley'], a 5-foot-11 junior, scored 48 points in his most recent contest, a 71-62 league win over Niagara. He made 15-of-27 shots from the field in that game, including 7-of-15 from three-point range. An extremely quick player, Farley also had 12 rebounds and four steals in the game against the Badgers. <br><br>On the season, Farley is averaging 28.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 6.7 steals despite being the main focus of opposing defenses. <br><br>Also a stellar quarterback in football and pitcher in baseball, Farley is closing in on a 1,000 career points. <br><br>[player_tooltip player_id='3038007' first='Lucas' last='Farley'], a 5-foot-9 freshman, also is contributing at a high level for the Cavaliers as he is averaging 12.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.0 steals. <br><br>Jack Farley, now in his fifth season as the head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas, is a former standout player himself for the Cavaliers. and scored 1,367 at the school, one of the oldest Catholic high schools in the state.<br><br>** Over at White Lake, Wickersheim is averaging 28.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals while helping his squad to a 6-6 record. A four-year varsity player for the Lakers, Wickersheim also surpassed 1,000 points last season and now has more than 1,500 in his prep career. <br><br>Wickersheim, who would like to play football at the next level at wide receiver and is looking at UW-Stout, among others, likes to take pull-up jump shots and also is a good long-distance shooter. If opponents close out too hard on him, he also possesses the quickness to get to the basket.<br><br>[player_tooltip player_id='3022916' first='Madalynn' last='Wickersheim'] plays off the bench for White Lake and has yet to score, but has grabbed three rebounds.<br><br><strong>Quick Hitters </strong>... [player_tooltip player_id='2750092' first='Quinn' last='Widiker'], a 6-foot-6 senior center at Webster, is having a strong campaign for the Tigers. He is averaging 22.4 points and 14.1 rebounds while helping the team to a 12-1 record. His father, Greg Widiker, is the head coach at Webster, which won its first 12 games before dropping at Lakeland Conference outing to Grantsburg earlier this week ... Hayward junior [player_tooltip player_id='2925833' first='Caleb' last='Springer'] (6-2) made seven three-point baskets and scored a career-best 34 points in a recent loss to Northwestern ... Cameron coach Troy LaVallie surpassed 300 career victories recently and now sits at 307 for his career ... Mellen coach Don Moreland is getting close to 400 career wins. He currently has 394 with the Granite Diggers, including 10 this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->