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Milwaukee-area takeaways from the 2024 WIAA boys basketball tournament bracket reveal

zac bellman, milwaukee journal sentinel
·7 min read

The WIAA boys high school basketball postseason brackets were released Sunday. Teams across all five divisions will begin their postseason journeys on Feb. 27 with regional play, hoping to advance through sectionals to the WIAA state boys basketball tournament on March 14-16 at the Kohl Center in Madison. Here are takeaways from the bracket seedings for area teams.

10 area teams earn No. 1 seeds

Kettle Moraine's Will Stuckey (3) battles for a shot against Pewaukee's Luka Momcilovic (23) and Tyler Tiutczenko (33) during the game at Pewaukee on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023.
Kettle Moraine's Will Stuckey (3) battles for a shot against Pewaukee's Luka Momcilovic (23) and Tyler Tiutczenko (33) during the game at Pewaukee on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023.

Among the No. 1 seeds awarded to teams across the state, 10 were from the area: Kettle Moraine and Marquette in Division 1, Pewaukee, Wisconsin Lutheran, Nicolet and Racine Park in D2, Dominican and St. Thomas More in D3, Milwaukee Juneau in D4 and Salam in D5.

Kettle Moraine, a D1 state qualifier a year ago, starts the 2023-2024 postseason with a regional quarterfinal bye. It will face the winner of No. 16 Madison West and No. 17 Madison La Follette. The Lasers hold a 19-3 record entering the final week of the regular season, and sit second in the Classic 8 Conference with a game to play. Marquette (19-4) is the Greater Metro Conference champion, and will face the winner of No. 16 Milwaukee Riverside and No. 17 West Allis Hale on March 1 after receiving a first round bye.

Wisconsin Lutheran (23-0) is the Woodland West Conference champion and recipient of a first round bye. It will face the winner of No. 8 Waukesha North and No. 9 Waukesha South. Fellow Woodland West team Pewaukee (18-4) begins its quest for a four-peat in D2 with a bye to the March 1 regional semifinal. It will match up with the winner of No. 8 Reedsburg and No. 9 Milwaukee Marshall. Nicolet (18-4) sits within half a game of Homestead for the North Shore Conference title entering the final week of the regular season after coming with a 58-56 final of reaching the D2 state championship a year ago. The Knights will face the winner of No. 8 Milwaukee Madison and No. 9 Milwaukee School of the Arts. Racine Park (15-7) is second in the Southeast Conference, and will face the winner of No. 8 Greendale and No. 9 South Milwaukee.

St. Thomas More (21-1) is the Metro Classic Conference champion, and will face the winner of No. 8 St. Francis and No. 9 Saint Anthony. The Metro Classic number two team in the conference standings, Dominican (20-3), also took a top seed to face the winner of No. 8 Fuller Collegiate Academy and No. 9 University School of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Juneau (14-3) won the Milwaukee City Blue Conference, and will face the winner of No. 8 Living Word Lutheran and No. 9 Kenosha Christian Life. Salam (20-2) won the Lake City Conference, pitting them against No. 16 Columbus Catholic in a regional opener.

Seven reigning state qualifiers face varying paths to return

Arrowhead guard Bennett Basich (14) goes to the basket through the Kettle Moraine defense in a game Friday, December 8, 2023, at Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin. Arrowhead won, 80-59
Arrowhead guard Bennett Basich (14) goes to the basket through the Kettle Moraine defense in a game Friday, December 8, 2023, at Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin. Arrowhead won, 80-59

In addition to Pewaukee, Nicolet and Kettle Moraine, four other state qualifiers from a season ago return to the postseason with various high seeds as well.

Arrowhead (20-2), who fell 69-49 to De Pere in the D1 title game a season ago, comes in behind the Redbirds with a No. 2 seed. The Warhawks will host No. 15 Oshkosh West for the right to play the winner of No. 7 Sheboygan North and No. 10 Bay Port. Three wins each for Arrowhead and De Pere lines up a D1 state title game rematch in the sectional final.

Whitnall (18-5), which reached the D2 title game last year before falling to Pewaukee, 71-54, is a No. 4 seed. A precarious matchup with No. 5 Waterford (14-8) precedes a potential date with Wisconsin Lutheran in the regional final.

Milwaukee Academy of Science (15-5), which fell to West Salem, 93-65, in a D3 state semifinal last March, holds a No. 2 seed with a first round bye. It will face the winner of No. 7 Shoreland Lutheran and No. 10 Milwaukee Washington in a regional semifinal. A likely date with No. 3 seed Milwaukee Audubon Tech (17-4) awaits, followed by a potential matchup with St. Thomas More should higher seeds hold.

Kenosha St. Joseph (15-8), which fell to Luther in the D4 state title game, 60-46, last year, earned a No. 3 seed and a first round bye. It will match up with the winner of No. 6 The Prairie School and No. 11 Williams Bay. A win there could lead to a potential date with No. 2 seed Heritage Christian (18-4), followed by another possible matchup with No. 1 Milwaukee Juneau to reach the sectional title game.

Potential for Pewaukee-Wisconsin Lutheran at state highlights Mr. Basketball candidate meeting possibilities

Pewaukee's Nick Janowski (25) breaks past Wisconsin Lutheran's Kon Knueppel (33) during the game at Pewaukee, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.
Pewaukee's Nick Janowski (25) breaks past Wisconsin Lutheran's Kon Knueppel (33) during the game at Pewaukee, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.

A third meeting of Woodland West foes Pewaukee and Wisconsin Lutheran has seemingly become an annual tradition over the past three seasons, with the only potential drawback being their appearance in the same sectional. That is no longer the case in this postseason, as Pewaukee and Wisconsin Lutheran hold No. 1 seeds in D2 sectionals 3 and 4, respectively. If both teams defend those seeds, a third meeting could only take place at the state tournament. Depending on how brackets and state seedings plays out, that could mean Wisconsin Lutheran's Kon Knueppel and Pewaukee's Nick Janowski do battle for a 12th and final time right around the announcement of Mr. Basketball. Knueppel would have to get past Pius XI Catholic and Jaquan Johnson in the sectional 4 semifinal, should both teams advance to that round.

In D3 sectional 2, Dupree Fletcher Jr. and No. 4 seed Carmen Northwest would need to clear No. 1 Dominican in its regional and possibly either No. 2 Lake Country Lutheran or No. 3 Brookfield Academy in the sectional semifinal to reach a potential sectional final date with Amari McCottry and No. 1 St. Thomas More.

Tim Franks and D1 No. 4 seed Homestead do not have another Mr. Basketball candidate in the division, but an upset over the reigning D1 champion De Pere in the sectional semifinal could provide as much of a late case as he could hope to muster in his candidacy.

Other notes from across divisions

Division 1: Milwaukee Hamilton (16-4) earned a No. 2 seed in sectional 2, which, while it may have ruffled some feathers with those not high on the City Conference, could prove to be justified. Despite the losses of graduated seniors Simeon Murchison and Demarion Burch, Hamilton has thrived with Ky'moni Hunt in a more prominent role. This team made a run to the sectional final before falling to Arrowhead just a season ago, and its scoring ability could make it a threat for a similar run this year.

Division 2: Cedarburg (15-7) played much more consistently over the latter half of the season, which the seeding appeared to award with a No. 2 seed in sectional 2. The Bulldogs beat a Davion Hannah-less Nicolet team 79-74 on Feb. 2, and regardless of that caveat, Cedarburg should feel confident if it should reach a rematch in the sectional semifinal. The Bulldogs' path includes a regional semifinal matchup with the winner of No. 7 Obama SCTE and No. 10 Port Washington, which precedes a potential date with No. 3 Milwaukee Vincent in the regional final.

Division 3: Racine St. Catherine's (12-11) is a team to potentially keep an eye on if it can carry some late-season continuity into the postseason. The No. 4 seed in sectional 4 is just a regional final win over the winner of No. 5 Milwaukee North and No. 12 Messmer away from a likely rematch with STM. RSC lost both previous meetings to its Metro Classic rival STM this season, but were competitive for long stretches of first a 66-65 loss and a 71-57 final in the rematch on Feb. 3.

Division 4: Heritage Christian (18-4) has put together another solid season in the Midwest Classic to earn a No. 2 seed in sectional 4. Its versatile depth of scoring and returning experience from a squad that reached the sectional final last year are huge assets as it seeks to take the next step this postseason. A fellow battle-tested KSJ team potentially awaits in the regional final, but a win there could spark a deep run once again.

Division 5: Salam senior Ahmad Badwan's 32 points per game entering the final week of the regular season have him once again among the top scorers in the state. The offense went as he went for much of last season, and sputtered in the regional final. This year, the Stars have three double-digit contributors that also include Ismail Bektesi (14.5 PPG) and Mohammad Badwan (12.4 PPG). How Salam navigates the defensive attention its top scorer will face will be an interesting story to follow this postseason run.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Takeaways from the 2024 WIAA boys basketball tournament bracket reveal