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WIAA Division 1 boys basketball storylines: a 'cheat code' returns, Classic 8 foes could meet in title

zac bellman, milwaukee journal sentinel
·4 min read
Bennett Basich (14) and Arrowhead got the better of Kettle Moraine in their December meeting, but the Lasers won the second, setting up the possibility their season series could be decided in the state championship game.
Bennett Basich (14) and Arrowhead got the better of Kettle Moraine in their December meeting, but the Lasers won the second, setting up the possibility their season series could be decided in the state championship game.

The WIAA boys state basketball tournament is scheduled to begin Thursday at the Kohl Center in Madison with Division 3 and Division 4 state semifinal games. Semifinals continue Friday with Divisions 5, 2 and 1, before championships begin Saturday morning with Division 5.

The Milwaukee area will have eight teams competing across four divisions at state, including three in Division 1. Here are three storylines to follow in the D1 tournament.

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All-Classic 8 title game possible for Arrowhead, Kettle Moraine

Classic 8 Conference champion Arrowhead and runner-up Kettle Moraine begin as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively, entering Friday’s semifinals.

Arrowhead (26-2) faces a No. 4 seed Neenah (21-7) team, while Kettle Moraine (25-3) matches up with No. 3 seed Marquette (24-4). Should the higher seeds hold, the championship becomes a third meeting of rivals who split their two previous meetings this season. Arrowhead took the opening meeting on the road, 80-59, on Dec. 8, led by 30 points from senior UW-Green Bay commit Bennett Basich. In the second meeting the Lasers beat the Warhawks, 53-48 and Arrowhead has not lost since

That Kettle Moraine win was the start of a 12-game winning streak that extended through Saturday’s sectional final. Both the Lasers and Warhawks qualified for the 2023 tournament before being knocked off by De Pere. Both area teams have reason to believe it is their time to take home a gold ball.

Drew Wagner was a key player in Kettle Moraine's run to the 2023 state tournament but made his first appearance of this season in the sectional final after recovering from surgery for a football injury.
Drew Wagner was a key player in Kettle Moraine's run to the 2023 state tournament but made his first appearance of this season in the sectional final after recovering from surgery for a football injury.

Drew Wagner, ‘The Cheat Code,’ returns just in time for Kettle Moraine

Kettle Moraine has received some late-season reinforcement in the form of a two-time all-Classic 8 Conference guard Drew Wagner. The senior had missed the duration of the season leading up to Saturday’s sectional final win over Janesville Craig. Kettle Moraine head coach Brian Richert said he had been following Wagner’s progress after a right shoulder surgery stemming from a football injury last fall and wanted Wagner to return before the state tournament.

“Madison, that’s such a big stage that I wanted his debut to be (Saturday),” Richert said of inserting Wagner into the sectional final. “He’s such a talented kid, he didn’t score a single point (Saturday), but just his presence is all I needed.”

Richert said he made the decision to play Wagner off the bench in the sectional final after watching him for 20 minutes of a 45-minute practice the day before. Wagner led the 2022-23 state-qualifying team with 18.4 points per game. He is committed to Northwestern University for football next fall.

“My biggest fear was ‘We’re 24-3, do we break the juju? Do we break the chemistry?’ But it’s Drew Wagner, so it’s like, you know what? If there’s anyone I would do this for, it’s him,” Richert said.

Nolan Minessale became Marquette's all-time leading scorer earlier this season and could break his own single-season record.
Nolan Minessale became Marquette's all-time leading scorer earlier this season and could break his own single-season record.

Marquette, led by program's all-time leading scorer, on quest for first WIAA title

Marquette (24-4) is hoping to make program history in its third appearance at the WIAA state tournament.

The Hilltoppers – who won 15 WISAA titles from 1928-99 in the days private schools had their own association – have one win at the WIAA state tournament, that coming in a quarterfinal matchup in 2010 before an eventual semifinal loss by a 60-58 margin to Arrowhead. A win over Kettle Moraine in Friday’s semifinal would put Marquette in a title game for the first time.

Leading the Hilltoppers toward uncharted territory is senior all-time leading scorer Nolan Minessale. The senior, who has committed to St. Thomas in Minnesota, has scored 1,644 points, surpassing 1990 graduate Damon Key’s previous program mark of 1,226. Minessale’s 634 points last season were a single-season record as well, one he could surpass with his total already at 611. A dislocated right ring finger on his shooting hand, sustained in the sectional semifinal, is an injury of note, but it did not appear to slow down Minessale's ability to attack the rim. He scored 19 points in the win over West Allis Central in the sectional final.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WIAA Division 1 boys basketball tournament stories to watch in Madison