Game Report: Wisconsin Lutheran vs. New Berlin West

<p>I was able to attend a Woodland West finale in New Berlin on Wednesday night. The nationally ranked Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings were able to secure a perfect regular season overmatching New Berlin West. Both teams have a healthy amount of talented players on the floor, so despite the score being a bit crooked on the board, the game was entertaining to take in this week. Let's get to Wednesday's standouts and key takeaways from this matchup. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wednesday Night's Standouts</h2>    <p class="text-gray-700">Zens displayed why he is the #1 ranked player in the 2026 class on Wednesday night in New Berlin. The frontrunner for the prestigious Mr. Basketball award, Zavier was flawless in his performance for the loaded Viking lineup. Zens set the tone early for Wisco, hustling in transition on a turnover and pinning a shot attempt by New Berlin West off the backboard. Zens had several eye-popping blocks at the rim and is truly a defensive stopper with his ability to pressure his matchup, sky over other players to secure rebounds, and anticipate passing lanes in the half court. The most impressive trait that Zens possesses is his ability to find teammates on drives and in transition. The 6-foot-7 wing is extremely unselfish and dishes out 4.4 assists per contest for the Vikings, utilizing his height to see the floor and make perfect passes with a high level of precision. Additionally on Wednesday, Zavier was able to score in multiple ways despite playing limited minutes due to the game being out of reach in the second half. Zens knocked down two shots from behind the arc, finished through contact on drives, and was able to score from the midrange as well. Zavier finished the game with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. The University of Northern Iowa recruit is a special player for Wisconsin Lutheran, and is without a doubt is an efficient, explosive prospect that has a limitless ceiling at the next level.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Kager was outstanding for Wisco on Wednesday night in New Berlin. Knueppel recently picked an offer from Wisconsin last weekend after an unofficial visit and his recruitment has started to take off. Each Knueppel in WL's program right now has various strengths, but Kager possesses the most length and athleticism out of the ultra talented trio of brothers. Knueppel finished with two blocks elevating above the rim with his chest square, allowing to swat shots down from West without fouling. It is rare that Kager is out of position on drives or on ball making him a lethal defender for Wisconsin Lutheran. On the offensive side of the ball, Kager has a smooth jumpshot with nearly perfect rotation and is shooting over 40% from 3 and over 90% from the line this season. The 6-foot-10 prospect was three of three from the line and drained a very deep three in the minutes he was on the floor. Kager finished the game with 13 points and 6 rebounds. The most impressive play of the night came on a thunderous dunk put down by Knueppel on a well executed set. Knueppel competes on a loaded [program_tooltip program_id='2391400' first='Team' last='Herro'] team, and should earn several more division one scholarships this club season. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Kinston, the #2 ranked prospect in Wisconsin in the sophomore class showed his diverse skill set offensively in this Woodland Conference matchup. The 6-foot-6 prospect has advanced footwork well beyond his years allowing him to score the basketball from the block and the midpost areas. Kinston is well put together with his strength and uses his body effectively when he catches in the flow of the Wisconsin Lutheran offense. Kinston had an impressive and-1 finish in the first half, hit a deep triple, and was able to stop on a dime on a mid-range pullup. Kinston, like a lot of players on their team, is so unselfish is constantly looking to make the extra pass or find a cutting team in their offense. He finished the game with six assists making the correct reads in transition and in the half court. Knueppel chipped in 14 points as well for the Vikings. Knueppel also competes with [program_tooltip program_id='2391400' first='Team' last='Herro'], and it is only a matter of time that schools at the next level start noticing his advanced skill set this travel season. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Cook was one of the players that stood out for New Berlin West in Wednesday night's contest. Jayce has an extremely quick trigger three point shot and does not hesitate on getting attempts up from downtown. The 6-foot-2 prospect has made 78 total threes this year while shooting 37%. Overall, shots were hard to come by in the paint for West, but Cook was able to get a few rips to the basket on the baseline to showcase his ability to score in other ways other than shooting well from the perimeter. Cook led all scorers for West, finishing the game with 16 points. Cook plays on a very talented 24:UP club program and should continue to boost his stock this spring and summer as he proves his ability to defend and score the basketball. Jayce is one of the premier scorers and shooters in a loaded Division 2, Sectional 3 that features seven teams that were ranked in the top ten in Division 2 at one time this season. </p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Takeaways</h2>   <p>Wisconsin Lutheran capped off their perfect regular season on Wednesday by running away with this game, despite New Berlin West being a very good basketball team. The Vikings are so talented, well coached, and play for each other with a relaxed focus each game. Long time coach, and 1992 alumni Ryan Walz does an excellent job with this group running highly efficient offense that features hybrid Princeton concepts. WL does is so effective at using back cuts, dribble hand-offs, staggers, ball screens, and other concepts to get the best shot every single possession. Lutheran has wide spacing in transition allowing for their talented players to make outstanding passes up the floor to get easy buckets on opponents' transition defense. Their offense features the big names with the Knueppel brothers and Zens, but they have other talented players that can score the ball. [player_tooltip player_id='2826122' first='Tristan' last='Hahn'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2412809' first='Riley' last='Walz'] are pure three point snipers that can put points up on the board themselves. [player_tooltip player_id='2839409' first='Jamail' last='Sewell'] is a massive interior presence as well that can finish through defenders. WL employs pressure half court defense and an extended 2-3 zone while competing with a sense of urgency every trip down on defense. It is hard to fathom that Wisconsin Lutheran will not win the division one state title again this season, but the Vikings will be challenged by West Allis Central in a potential sectional final as the status of the ultra talented [player_tooltip player_id='2045256' first='Yusef' last='Gray Jr.'] remains in question.</p>   <p>New Berlin West (21-3) should not overreact to the loss on Wednesday night. The Vikings are an excellent basketball team and have earned their #1 seed in a brutal sectional three in Division two. Two of the West's three losses came at the hands of Wisconsin Lutheran, and their other loss against a highly talented Dominican team. Scott Cook's squad has beaten Pewaukee twice, Greendale twice, Lake Country Lutheran, and Plymouth just to name a few of their impressive wins. West has a three headed scoring punch that features the sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id='2371703' first='Jayce' last='Cook'], three level scoring ability of Stevens Point recruit [player_tooltip player_id='1874970' first='Evan' last='Kern'], and interior front court player [player_tooltip player_id='2381809' first='Elijah' last='Gammage']. West runs effective offensive actions out of ball screens and dribble drive concepts allowing them to get to the basket and gather clean looks from the perimeter. The Woodland West runner-up will have to beat Brookfield Central or Sauk Prairie and then Beaver Dam or Tosa West just to get to a sectional final in division two, making the playoff road ahead extremely challenging. Their balanced scoring attack and strength of schedule should have them ready for a deep playoff run starting next week.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Box Score</h2>   <p><strong>Wisconsin Lutheran 75: </strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2140949' first='Kager' last='Knueppel'] 13, Walz 6, McGowan 2, Hahn 6, Zens 21, Newman 2, [player_tooltip player_id='2402478' first='Kash' last='Knueppel'] 4, Sewell 5, [player_tooltip player_id='2613959' first='Kinston' last='Knueppel'] 14</p>   <p><strong>New Berlin West: 38: </strong>Cook 16, Hewitt 7, Susek 1, Krier 3, Kern 10, Casto 1 </p>

I was able to attend a Woodland West finale in New Berlin on Wednesday night. The nationally ranked Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings were able to secure a perfect regular season overmatching New Berlin West. Both teams have a healthy amount of talented players on the floor, so despite the score being a bit crooked on the board, the game was entertaining to take in this week. Let's get to Wednesday's standouts and key takeaways from this matchup.