State Tournament Under Way!!!

Reporting here from Madison, where we've seen some good basketball on day one of the WIAA Tournament. Here are some thoughts....

The Division Three games were excellent this morning as Westby held on to beat Glenwood City 62-60 and Racine St. Cats edged Manty Roncolli 60-55. Westby held a big lead in the tournament opener after their 1-3-1 defense forced 16 first half turnovers by GC. Westby is long and big on top of that zone and GC had their troubles. Westby's point guard is Tyler Aspenson, a 6'4, 220 pound senior who is big and strong and tough to defend. He had 32 in the game as Westby looked to run-away with it, but in the final three minutes, GC put on a late charge as Rick Ohman hit 5 three-pointers in the final 2:52, but he missed an open look wiht about :15 left that would have given GC the lead. They also had another good look at the horn to tie. A great game. It takes a lot to get the general population watching the game at the Kohl Center to react...and they earned a standing ovation with this one.

As for the 2nd D-3 Semi, Roncolli gave it everything they had and ran out of gas against St. Cats, who could probably compete at the D1 level. You could tell that the crowd was behind the Roncolli Jets in this one. It was a battle of two private school teams, but had a public-private feel, where the crowd gets behind the underdog, for various reasons that basketball fans out there know about. Roncolli coach Joe Rux, a 2000 UW-Oshkosh grad, is one of the best young coaches in the state and it's fun to watch his team play. They are so fundamentally sound.

As for the D1, quarters.....King blew away Ashwaubenon this afteroon. King is darn good and I think Oshkosh West can give them a run if they meet in the title game, but beat them...I don't know about that....let's hope our boys from the Fox Valley can do us proud. It was my first chance to see King's Cory Lucious in person, and you can see why he's one of the best Sophs in the country. Very quick on the offensive and defensive end of the floor. Mitchel Carter, the South Carolina recruit also is long and solid. I was excited to see Norther Iowa recruit Adam Koch of Ashwaubenon play. He struggled today. The comments on press row, were it was a day much like Steve Novak had for Brown Deer a few years back at state. He couldn't get it going and King, beat him up and were very physcial.

It looks like Madison Memorial is going to take care of a gritty Brookfield Central team as well. My main focus in this one was Keaton Nankivil, the 6'7, junior from Madison Memorial, a real big body, and lets hope that either Wisconsin or Marquette keeps this kid in state. He's very wide and strong.

Tonight.....we see Oshkosh West against Verona at 8:15pm. Both teams should bring huge crowds and it should be a great atmosphere. Also Arrowhead takes on Menomonie.

Later from the Kohl Center.....