February 16, 2021 – Washington Co., WI – WIAA boys basketball regional competition kicks off tonight with several matchups including teams from Kewaskum, Living Word Lutheran and Germantown. Previews of each matchup this week are posted below.
WIAA Division 1:
No. 3 West Bend West (8-15, 7-11 conference) @ No. 2 West Bend East (8-15, 7-11 conference), Friday, February 19 at 7 p.m. Â Â
West Bend West enters the tournament on a three-game losing streak, West Bend East enters the tournament on a four-game losing streak; the teams split the season series.
- West Bend West senior Aaron Tennies is 7th in scoring for the North Shore Conference with 18.8 points per game; Tennies also scored his 1,000-career point and broke the school’s (boys) scoring record for career points this season.
- West Bend East head coach Charles Ruffing will make his WIAA tournament coaching debut in the regional competition. Ruffing was previously the assistant coach at Wisconsin Lutheran College. This was his first season at the helm for the Suns.
No. 5 Hartford (5-17, 5-13 conference) @ No. 4 Slinger (6-16, 5-13 conference), Tuesday February 16 at 7 p.m. Â (Winner plays at No. 1 Beaver Dam on Feb. 19)
- Slinger is 2-0 versus Hartford in the regular season this year, but Slinger enters the WIAA tournament on a five-game losing streak, whereas Hartford has won four of its last five games.
- Hartford senior Jadon Melvin enters the tournament fourth overall in the North Shore Conference in points per game averaging 19.2.
- Slinger top scorer, senor Derek Erdmann averages 12.1 points per game.
- Hartford is more impressive statistically when compared to Slinger, most notably in the rebound department, with Slinger averaging just 1.4 rebounds per game across 22 games versus Hartford which averages 27 rebounds per game through 23 games.
Hartford head coach Kevin McKenna said his team is completely healthy coming into this game. He also pointed to senior Jadon Melvin as a strong all-conference candidate given his great season this year.
Slinger head coach Alexander Lavine said two starters are missing from the team due illness/injuries that are non-Covid related heading this game. Levine noted a new procedure for tournament ticketing with 4 tickets per player and coach. Levine was also quick to praise senior Derek Erdmann as someone he felt deserving of all-conference recognition.
No. 5 Germantown (8-15, 5-11 conference) @ No. 4 Nicolet (14-9, 14-4 conference), Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. (Winner plays at No. 1 Cedarburg on Feb. 19)
- Nicolet finished the season winning six out of its last seven games; meanwhile Germantown enters the tournament having lost its last four games and eight of its last 10 games this season.
- Nicolet has the top scorer in the North Shore Conference, senior Kobe Johnson, who finished with 24.6 points per game and scored his 1,000th career point this season.
- Germantown senior Owen Meyer leads the team with 15.1 points per game this season.
Both teams do most of the scoring damage in the second half, with Germantown scoring 760 points in the second half and Nicolet scoring 785 points in the second half.
Division 2:
No. 5 Port Washington (1-21, 0-18 conference) @ No. 4 Kewaskum (6-15, 6-8 conference), Tuesday February 16 at 7 p.m. (Winner plays at No. 1 Grafton on Feb. 19)
- Port Washington was the only winless team in North Shore Conference, until its last game of the regular season against Cudahy, 59-45.
- Kewaskum enters the tournament on a three-game losing streak.
- Kewaskum is a significantly better second-half team when it comes to scoring, with 703 points in the second half this season versus just 284 points in the first half (21 games played)
- Port Washington has scored more points per game than Kewaskum (46.3 versus 42.4 respectively), however defensively Port Washington has 380 more points than have scored (1402 against versus 1022 scored), while Kewaskum has managed to be a bit sturdier defensively, allowing 1195 points while scoring 1003 points.
No. 3 Kettle Moraine Lutheran (12-9, 9-5 conference) @ No. 2 Brown Deer (10-8, 7-4 conference), Friday, February 19 at 7 p.m.
Kettle Moraine Lutheran enters the tournament following a loss against The Prairie School, 71-48; Brown Deer is also entering the tournament following a loss but the team did win seven out of its last 10 games to close the season.
- Kettle Moraine Lutheran has two scorers averaging more than 10 points per game this season, junior Austin Wagner (15.3) and freshman Garrett Murphy (11.0)
- Brown Deer has four scorers averaging over 10 points per game this season (with minimum of 12 games played this season each), seniors Mark Wade (14.6), Jarton Davis (13.5), Jerimiah Dotson (10.8), and junior Armani Jones (13.5)
- Kettle Moraine Lutheran ranks 18th in the state for total rebounds per game with 35.5
KML head coach Joshua Linder said senior Levi Vagnini is injured; he is a rotational player who has been nursing a shoulder for several weeks. Coach Linder said the team is playing its best basketball of the season right now, on both sides of the court.
Linder said the Chargers will have to play mistake-free basketball, because of Brown Deer’s size advantage.  Brown Deer enters the game with experience; their roster has a heavy senior rotation.
Division 4:
No. 5 Palmyra-Eagle (5-14, 3-2 conference) @ No. 4 Living Word Lutheran (8-10, 6-5 conference), Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. (Winner plays No. 1 The Prairie School on Feb. 19)
- Living Word Lutheran enters the tournament following a loss in its final regular season game against St. John’s Northwestern Academies 79-63
- Palmyra-Eagle won its last regular season game against Johnson Creek 53-45
- Living Word Lutheran has three players averaging over 10 points per game this season, all juniors, Tyler McKnight (14.0), Mason Martinez (13.4), and Elijah Flowers (10.7). All three players were praised by head coach Chuck Oliver, who said that they should be selected for all-conference honors this year.
- Palmyra-Eagle has the 47th ranked scorer in the state for points per game this season in senior Aiden Calderon who has 22.1 points per game this season.
- All but one of Living Word Lutheran’s wins this season came at home.
- Palmyra-Eagle has only one win on the road this season