wiaa basketball

SPECIAL SECTION SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 • A1

INSIDE: A FAN’S GUIDE TO MADISON AND THE KOHL CENTER

1 0 0 Y EA R S O F W I A A BA S K ET BA L L

Tom Oates draws up his list of the best players in state tournament history

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Sunday, March 8, 2015

$2.00

THE TOP25

INSIDE:MADISON AND THE KOHL CENTER

14 • Sunday, March 8, 2015

WIScOnSIn STaTE JOurnaL

Sunday, March 8, 2015 • 15

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Shuttle stop will be along Fairgrounds Drive across from Pavilion 2.

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Parking near the Kohl Center will be limited on Thursday and

Friday before 5 p.m. After 5 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday,

parking will be sold in the lots surrounding the Kohl Center on

a first-come, first-served basis.

Alliant Energy Center

RIDE THE SHUTTLETo enjoy a worry-free trip downtown, fans can utilize the convenient option of the shuttle service between the Alliant Energy Center to the Kohl Center. HOURS: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, 6:30 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday. COST: $5 per person round trip or $3

per person one-way. FREQUENCY: A shuttle will run every 20 minutes until one hour after the

end of the day’s final game. PICKUP, DROPOFF POINTS: On Fairgrounds Drive directly across from Pavilion 2 at the Alliant Energy Center (follow the signage); and on Dayton Street in front of the Kohl Center. PARKING: Parking at Alliant Energy

Center is $6.50 per vehicle. SPECIAL NEEDS: The shuttles are wheelchair accessible. For any special needs, call Laura at Kobussen Buses at 608-825-8700, ext. 502.

CAMPUS PARKING OPTIONSSeveral University of Wisconsin lots have been designated for WIAA fans (see the accompanying map).Cost: The fee will be $8 per session. Cash only; pay on entry.Availability: Parking on campus is extremely limited before 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. During these times, it is highly recommended to arrive early or take the shuttle from the Alliant Energy Center.Special needs: Disabled parking spaces may be

purchased on a first-come, first-served basis in Lots 48 and 87.CITY PARKING OPTIONSTwo city parking ramps within walking distance

of the Kohl Center will be available during the tournament for $4. Cash only; pay on entry.These lots include the State Street Campus

Garage and the State Street Capitol Garage.For a map of City of Madison lots, visit visitdowntownmadison.com/uploads/media/Parking_Map.pdf

GETTING TO THE KOHL CENTER

To mark the milestone event that is the 100th WIAA state boys basketball tournament,

many new attractions will be presented at the Kohl Center. Among the many activities:

SPECIAL EVENTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 19(Game times approximate)SESSION ONEDivision 5 semifinals: 1:35 and 3:15 p.m.SESSION TWO

Division 4 semifinals: 6:35 and 8:15 p.m.FRIDAY, MARCH 20SESSION THREEDivision 3 semifinals: 9:05 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.SESSION FOUR

Division 2 semifinals: 1:35 and 3:15 p.m.SESSION FIVEDivision 1 semifinals: 6:35 and 8:15 p.m.SATURDAY, MARCH 21Three-point shooting competition: 9 a.m.SESSION SIX

Division 5, 4 and 3 championship games: 11:05 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m.

SESSION SEVENDivision 2 and 1 championship games: 6:35 p.m., 8:30 p.m.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

TICKETSAdvance tickets may be purchased online at www.wiaawi.org/tickets. The cost is $12 for one session or

$84 for all seven sessions, not including processing and

handling fees.Admission is free for children younger than 2 years of age.For those needing accessible seating, purchase a regular

ticket and exchange it at the Welcome Desk inside the Gate

B turnstiles at the Kohl Center.Remaining tickets may be purchased at the gate for

$10 per session.

CARRY-INSNote: All items and spectators are subject to search.

Storage facilities are not available for checking prohibited

items.Items permitted: Bags no larger than 8.5 x 11 inches,

binoculars, cameras with lenses no larger than 100mm,

banners, flags, signs, items related to a medical condition,

chairbacks not more than 18 inches wide, and diaper bags

(with child).Among the prohibited items: Bags larger than 8.5 x 11

inches (including backpacks), food, beverages, containers,

strollers, baby carrier seats, laser pointers, noisemakers,

weapons, inflatables, laptops, video recorders, cameras

with lenses greater than 100mm, or any items deemed

dangerous or inappropriate.

TICKETS, CARRY-IN POLICY

Reserved parking lot or ramp Other parking lot or ramp P Public parking

UW-Madison

Capitol

Monona Terrace

CampRandall

Broom St.

Lake Monona

Monona Bay

Beltline

UW-Arboretum

Olin-TurvillePark

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Dayton Street

Fran

ces

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et

First balcony Second balcony

Street level

Gate A

Gate B

Gate C

Park St.

Fish Hatchery Rd.

Olin Ave.

Rim

rock

Rd.

John Nolen Dr.

Regent St.W. W

ashington Ave.

University Ave.Johnson St.Dayton St.

Park St.

Proudfit St.

N. Sho

re Dr.

John Nolen Dr.

Kohl Center


Gate B

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University Ave.

Johnson St.

Dayton St.

Frances St.

Regent St.

Park St.

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an St.

State St.

Lake St.

91

29

4887

46

83

Lake StreetRamp


KohlCenter

94

DETAIL

Railroad

Pedestrianunderpass

Parking near the Kohl Center will be limited on Thursday and

Friday before 5 p.m. After 5 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday,

parking will be sold in the lots surrounding the Kohl Center on

a first-come, first-served basis.


WIAA basketball fan guide

3-POINT CHALLENGESee players from across the state participate in the inaugural 3-Point Challenge. For more information, visit: www.wissports.net/ wiaa-boys-3point-challenge.SPECIAL ICE CREAM FLAVOR

Babcock Dairy has mixed up a special batch of ice cream to commemorate the 100th WIAA state basketball tournament. The special flavor, “Alley Oop Scoop,” will be available at the Kohl Center.

KOHL CENTER SEATING

TIPOFF EVENTOn Thursday, a pregame tipoff event will open the tournament weekend, and a ticket to the first session will include entry to the festivities. Doors will open at 11 a.m. for a reception that will include a walking tour of the special commemorative displays in the Kohl Center concourse that highlight events of the tourney’s first 99 years. Other WIAA fans and former athletes will be on hand. At noon, a 30-minute video, “Cel-ebrating the Game,” will be shown on the Kohl Center’s big screen.

MORE DETAILS ONLINEFor more information on the tournament — including hotel specials, dining and shopping options

and maps with transit options and driving directions — visit http://WIAA100.com.

Clarence Sherrod

SamOkey

Fred Brown

DiamondStone

JoeWolf

HEARTBREAK AND HAPPINESS2 • SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL

Like so many of us, I fell in love during my senior year of high school.

Of course, after a few thrilling months it all ended in sudden, crushing, absolute heartbreak.

The heartbreak happened in a late-afternoon instant on March 18, 1976, before thousands of fans and a statewide television audi-

ence, right on the fl oor of the UW Field House.

The son of a gun who did it was Tim Bakken, a senior at Eau Claire Memo-rial. He banked in a tiebreak-ing, 18-foot jump shot with 5 seconds left. And

after a nerve-wracking time out and a tipped pass, coach Dick Ben-nett (where have I heard that name before?) and the Old Abes had knocked out my Sussex Hamilton Chargers 44-42 in a quarterfi nal of the WIAA Class A state boys basketball tournament.

The previous fall, the 15-year-old version of me had worked up the courage to ask coach Rich Ludka if he needed a statistician. My logic: I had gone to every game I could over my fi rst three years at Hamilton; my previous ride to the road games was o� to college; and I could contribute to the program while becoming a small part of it.

I truly had no clue how fun, exciting and incredible the experi-ence would be.

I had a seat on the team bus, a spot in the back of the locker room during halftime talks and a place in the stands — where Mike Campbell and I wore ties, clutched clipboards and charted shots, rebounds and assists. I had our team, because I had asked fi rst.

As it turned out, I literally had a courtside seat as Hamilton history unfolded. The 1975-76 Chargers went on to earn the fi rst state tournament trip in school his-tory, going 20-2 and beating Ray

Rozek’s Milwaukee Madison Green Knights in the sectional at White-fi sh Bay.

It fi nally struck me as the players went wild in the locker room after that victory: My team was going to play on TV in Madison and I would be there.

Madison is only 80 miles from Sussex, but this was to be just my second trip to Mad Town.

(The fi rst was a school fi eld trip in seventh grade, and my main memories from it were amaze-ment at the State Capitol and that Dick Greuel bought and ate nothing but French fries — seven orders — when our bus stopped at

a McDonald’s for lunch.)Of course, we were there quite

early, taking in the second morning game and the fi rst Class A semifi -nal before our 2:45 start. At some point, though, everything became a blur of tension and emotion.

All I remember are the giant TV cameras, the noise and spectacle, taking my shot chart into the locker room at halftime and hop-ing I didn’t pass out as Memo-rial stalled from the 1:35 mark to the 11-second mark in the fourth quarter.

And after Bakken made that crazy shot, my clipboard some-how, shall we say, slipped out of

my hand at a rate of speed high enough to break it in half.

So that’s love and heartbreak in a nutshell. It continued for the next few years, too. I might have been in college, but my closest friend growing up, Terry Youngbauer, was about to lead the Chargers to two more state trips — in 1977 and his fi rst-team, all-state season of 1979.

By then, I was well on my way toward becoming a sports journal-ist, working weekends and summers for the Menomonee Falls News. I took my fi rst full-time job in 1981, one sports editor removed from Tom Oates at the Daily Je� erson County Union in Fort Atkinson.

I made every state tournament between 1976 and 1997, when I was out of state and couldn’t get away. But I had retired from making predictions after writing a 1983 column that correctly picked the winners of 12 of the 13 state games, missing only on Green Bay West’s quarterfi nal victory over Milwau-kee Madison.

And I patched things up with that Tim Bakken character, too. I was sports editor of the La Crosse Tribune in 1996 when I heard Bak-ken had decided to run for Con-gress. I read his news release and learned he had earned bachelor’s and law degrees from UW and had been a homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn.

When our political reporter interviewed him, I jumped on the phone as the call was wrapping up. My fi rst words, from a guy he didn’t know from Adam:

“I have hated you for many years, Mr. Bakken.”

He didn’t laugh until I explained myself, and then we had a nice chat. Bakken lost that primary to Ron Kind, but he’s doing fi ne today as a law professor at the U.S. Mili-tary Academy in West Point, N.Y.

And here at the State Journal, we’re gearing up for the 100th WIAA state basketball tournament (it’ll be my 33rd). More memories, more happiness, more heartbreak, all just a bank shot away.

In its 100 years, the WIAA state boys basketball tournament has meant many things to many people — including an old sportswriter from Sussex

CONTENTS

THE KINGS OF MADISON

Tom Oates’ list of the best 25 individual performers over the first 99 years of the WIAA state boys basketball tournament. Page 4

SCORING MACHINE

Catching up with Wisconsin’s all-time scoring leader, Wausaukee’s Anthony Pieper. Page 12

WIAA TOURNEY FAN GUIDE

Parking, tickets, more. Pages 14-15

ON THE AIR

State tournament broadcasting icon Jay Wilson recaps the connection between TV and the WIAA. Page 16

TEACHING HISTORY

By Jerry Petitgoue,as told to Dennis Semrau

Cuba City’s coach discusses his favorite memories from a 48-year career of high school basketball. Page 18

OKEY-DOKEY

A visit with Sam Okey, the Cassville star who was the talk of the state for a few years in the 1990s. 2

THE MADLIST

The 13 times Madison high schools have earned WIAA titles. Page 24

GRIDIRON GLORY

Hoop stars who have gone from the state tourney to the NFL. Page 27

CREDITSThe Wisconsin State Journal’s retrospective on the 100-year legacy of the WIAA state boys basketball tournament is a product of the Wisconsin State Journal and Capital Newspapers Inc.

Editor: John Smalley.

Sports editor: Greg Sprout.

Assistant sports editors: Reed Southmayd, Art Kabelowsky.

Section editor: Art Kabelowsky.

Design: Mike Rott, Lee Enterprises Regional Design Center.

Copy editing: Wisconsin State Journal sports desk.

Reporters/columnists: Tom Oates, Dennis Semrau, Jason Galloway, Brock Fritz, Art Kabelowsky, Jay Wilson.

Photography: Wisconsin State Journal staff, past and present; many photos from the collection of former WSJ photographer Arthur Vinje; many photos contributed through athlete/family collections and school archives.

Thanks: Todd Clark and Deb Hauser, WIAA; Dennis McCormick; Simone O. Munson and John Nondorf, Wis-consin Historical Society; Sam Okey; Anthony Pieper; Jerry Petitgoue; Jay Wilson; Adam Thompson; Joe Ziemer; Dave Wedeward; Capital Newspapers advertising, circulation, marketing and pressroom teams.

ART KABELOWSKY

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Eau Claire Memorial’s Terry Hams makes an underhand layup while Sussex Hamilton’s Scott Erickson defends during a 1976 WIAA Class A state boys basketball semifinal at the UW Field House. Memorial won 44-42.

A Tradition of Success...A Tradition of Success...Congratulations on 100 Years!Congratulations on 100 Years!

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4 • SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL

T hey come in all shapes and sizes, from every corner of the state, from large schools and

small — and, for the past 15 years, from public schools and private.

They are the very best prep boys basketball players in Wisconsin, and they’ve been coming to the WIAA state tournament for 100 years.

Some dominate with their size, some with their speed, some with their skill and some with all three. Some put on scoring exhibitions. Some tower — literally — over the opposition. Some have a reputation that precedes them; others burst upon the scene. Some make it to state only once, others make it an annual trip. Some win titles, some come up short.

All have one thing in common, however: When they make the pil-grimage to Madison for three days in March, they put on a great show.

The 100th annual state boys bas-ketball tournament will take place this month, which means there has been a century of great play-ers strutting their stu� in the most prestigious prep sporting event in Wisconsin. Trying to pick fi ve or 25 or even 100 players for a mythical all-time all-tournament team is an impossible task, in part because no one has seen everyone play in a tournament that was started in 1916 by the old Wisconsin Normal Schools.

The winners from 1916 to 1919 now are recognized as champions

by the WIAA, which staged its fi rst state tourna-ment in 1920 at the old Red Gym next to the Memorial Union on the Uni-versity of Wiscon-sin campus. With the exception of 1936, when the tournament was held in Wisconsin

Rapids, UW has been the host every year since 1920 — fi rst at the Red Gym, then at the UW Field House and, since 1998, at the Kohl Center.

As I present my 25-man all-time all-tournament team, there is one thing to keep in mind:

This is not — repeat, not — a compilation of the greatest players in state history. It is a refl ection of the greatest players in “state tour-nament” history, judged solely on their body of work and the genuine statewide buzz they generated during the three-day tournament. Often those two groups intersect, but not necessarily.

They certainly intersect on the fi rst team, which consists of three small-school big men — Joe Wolf of Kohler, Sam Okey of Cassville and Diamond Stone of Whitefi sh Bay Dominican — plus the backcourt from the mighty Milwaukee Lincoln teams of the mid-1960s, Clarence Sherrod and Fred Brown.

Stone is a senior this season, but

like the others, he has captured the attention of fans across the state with his play on high school sports’ biggest stage.

Of course, the top fi ve also belong on any team of all-time greats pro-duced in Wisconsin.

The fi ve teams are fi lled with the best shooters, rebounders, passers, defenders and winners from the tournament’s fi rst 99 years. At least they are in my opinion — which is based on games I’ve seen, reports I’ve read and observers I’ve talked to over the years. Of course, it is just that — an opinion.

The most di� cult players to leave o� the fi ve teams were, in chrono-logical order: Bob Sullivan of Mani-towoc, John Rushing of Milwaukee Lincoln, LaMont Weaver of Beloit Memorial, Bill Hanzlik of Beloit Memorial, Brad Clark of Markesan, Jose Winston of Milwaukee Vincent, Greg Brown of Milwaukee Vincent and Bronson Koenig of La Crosse Aquinas.

It’s important to note players who later excelled in college or the NBA — such as Stevens Point’s Dick Cable, Green Bay East’s Terry Rand, Madison La Follette’s Gary Anderson, Milwaukee South’s Terry Porter, Racine Park’s Caron Butler and Wauwatosa East’s Devin Harris — but never got the chance to play in the WIAA state tournament. Nor did private-school stars from the era before 2000, such as Ron Debelius of Menasha St. Mary’s,

Don Kojis of Milwaukee Notre Dame, John Johnson of Milwaukee Messmer, Jim Chones of Racine St. Catherine’s, Mickey Crowe of JFK Prep, Joe Chrne lich of Milwaukee Pius and Nick Van Exel of Kenosha St. Joe’s.

Other greats made it to Madison but didn’t do quite enough while here to warrant consideration, either because they didn’t dominate or their team didn’t survive long enough. That list includes Wauwa-tosa East’s Tony Smith, Milwaukee Washington’s Latrell Sprewell, Green Bay Preble’s Tony Bennett, Waukesha South’s Julian Swartz, Madison West’s Reece Gaines, Fond du Lac’s Travis Diener, Milwaukee Hamilton’s Kevon Looney and Rice Lake’s Henry Ellenson, who is a senior this season.

No, this team consists of the best of the best in March, the players who have supplied the wow factor in the fi rst 99 years of the state tournament.

FIRST TEAMJoe Wolf, 6-10, Kohler (Class of 1983)

Displaying a string of puka shells around his neck and an athletic, free-fl owing game on the fl oor, Wolf simply was unlike any big man who had arrived in the state tourna-ment before him. He could score

KINGS OF MARCH MADNESSMy picks for the top 25 performers from the first 99 years of the WIAA state boys tournament

The Sheboygan Press

Joe Wolf, Kohler, Class of 1983

TOMOATES

Please see TOP 25, Page 5

TOURNEY TIMELINE

STATE TOURNAMENT HISTORY IN WORDS

AND PICTURES

• Madison Central (16-1) beat Watertown 27-17 in the state tournament final in Stevens Point.From left: Coach George A. Crispin, Ole Gunder-son, Ralph “Skinny” Gill, Paul “Monk” Tenney, Leon “Turk” Mathison, “Fish” Tauchen, Roman “Kibo” Brumm and manager Tom Reynolds.

• Lawrence University in Appleton organizes an invitational state tourna-ment, the first of its kind in the United States. The tourney runs through 1918.

• Fond du Lac beats Grand Rapids, 22-7, in the first state tournament organized by what would eventually become the WIAA.

• Athletic directors of the Wisconsin Normal Schools (now the University of Wis-consin System) decide to start their own state tour-nament program, in compe-tition with Lawrence’s.

• The WIAA takes over operation of the state tournament program. The event is relocated to UW’s Red Gym in 1920.

• Fond du Lac beats Eau Claire 27-19 to become the first team to win a state champi-onship with an unde-feated record (16-0).

1916 1917 1918 19191905

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 • 5

inside or outside, rebound, block shots, handle the ball and run the fl oor.

Wolf played on three Class C state championship teams with the Blue Bombers. As a 6-foot-6 freshman, he was Kohler’s sixth man, scoring 28 points and grab-bing 21 rebounds in two games. Things were di� erent in 1982 and 1983, when Wolf lifted Kohler to back-to-back titles virtually by himself, scoring 58 points in two games as a junior and 48 as a senior. His high game was 32 points in 61-56 victory over Thorp in the 1982 fi nal.

Wolf averaged 22.3 points and 14.0 rebounds in six state tourna-ment games, all victories. In his fi nal two seasons at state, those averages were 26.5 points and 15.8 rebounds. Kohler lost only 11 games during his four seasons, with most of them coming to much larger schools.

As Wisconsin’s fi rst McDonald’s All-American pick, Wolf was the subject of an intense recruiting battle that was the talk of the UW Field House during his fi nal two trips to state. He played four years at North Carolina and 11 years in the NBA, including a stint with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sam Okey, 6-7, Cassville (Class of 1995)

Okey was a few inches shorter than Wolf, but no less dominant. He, too, could score from anywhere on the fl oor, rebound, block shots and pass the ball. Unlike the slender Wolf, though, Okey weighed 230 pounds and was a powerful jumper with large hands

who could — and would — dunk on anyone.With Okey in the middle, Cassville

reached the Division 4 state tournament four times, fi nishing second in 1992 and 1993 and winning titles in 1994 and 1995. The Comets went 97-9 in Okey’s four years, including a 54-0 mark over his fi nal

two seasons.In a 1993 title-game showdown with

Wausaukee scoring machine Anthony Pieper, Okey — then a sophomore — racked up 33 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and six blocked shots.

Perhaps his greatest game came in a 1995 semifi nal against Prentice, when he had 30 points, 23 rebounds, 12 blocked shots, seven assists and three steals. The next game, Cassville buried Oakfi eld to win the title, with Okey showing o� his versatility by draining six of his 10 shots from 3-point range. Cassville went 6-2 at state dur-ing Okey’s four years and he averaged 27.3 points and 16.0 rebounds in those games.

A McDonald’s All-American, Okey played 2½ seasons at Wisconsin, where he was named Big Ten freshman of the year, before fi nishing his career at Iowa.

Fred Brown, 6-2, Milwaukee Lincoln (Class of 1967)

Lincoln’s back-to-back state cham-pions in 1966 and 1967 are considered the greatest teams in Wisconsin history. And the cornerstone of the group that generated fear and awe in opponents and spectators alike was the backcourt of Brown and Clar-ence Sherrod. As juniors, they teamed with 6-4 All-State pick John Rush-ing on what coach Jim Smallins called his best team. As seniors, they led a team that arrived in Madison averaging 101.7 points per game — two decades before the 3-point shot was

A CENTURY’S BESTThe all-time WIAA state boys basketball tournament teamThe all-time WIAA state tournament boys basketball team, as selected by Wisconsin State Journal sports columnist Tom Oates based solely on performance in state tournament games. With height, school and graduation year:

FIRST TEAMJoe Wolf 6-10 Kohler 1983

Sam Okey 6-7 Cassville 1995

Fred Brown 6-2 Milwaukee Lincoln 1967

Clarence Sherrod 6-0 Milwaukee Lincoln 1967

Diamond Stone 6-10 W’fish Bay Dominican 2015

SECOND TEAMJohn Kotz 6-1 Rhinelander 1939

Marshall Williams 6-5 Milwaukee Vincent 1999

Sam Dekker 6-8 Sheboygan Lutheran 2012

Jeronne Maymon 6-7 Madison Memorial 2009

Max Walker 6-2 Milwaukee Lincoln 1962

THIRD TEAMJohnny Watts 5-10 Beloit 1934

Roy Birk 6-1 Waukesha 1961

Brian Butch 6-11 Appleton West 2003

Kurt Nimphius 6-9 South Milwaukee 1976

Anthony Pieper 6-3 Wausaukee 1993

FOURTH TEAMMarty Gharrity 6-2 Shawano 1958

Rick Olson 6-1 Madison La Follette 1982

Bob Litzow 6-3 Stevens Point 1954

Bob Anderegg 6-3 Monroe 1955

Wayne Kreklow 6-4 Neenah 1975

FIFTH TEAMRyan Tillema 6-7 Randolph 2005

Sam Antcliffe 6-4 West Allis Hale 1956

Jay Schauer 6-6 South Milwaukee 1954

Wesley Matthews 6-5 Madison Memorial 2005

Luke Fischer 6-11 Germantown 2013

DAVE SCHLABOWSKE — Associated Press

Sam Okey, Cassville, Class of 1995 Fred Brown, Milwaukee Lincoln, Class of 1967

Continued from Page 4

Top 25


1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929• The lowest-scoring final in tourney history: Stevens Point 9, River Falls 7.• Superior Central makes its 10th straight state visit. The record still stands.

• The state tournament relocates from Stevens Point to Madison in 1920, and is held inside the Red Gym (UW Armory) through the 1930 season.

• Watertown beats Madison Central 27-14 in the state final.

• After winning the WIAA title, Wisconsin High of Madison receives an invitation from Amos Alonzo Stagg to take part in a 32-state na-tional tournament in Chicago. Coach Ira Davis turns down the offer.

UW’s Red Gym


introduced to the high school game.Brown was the quiet member of Lincoln’s

big three (Rushing was a mid-year graduate and didn’t play in the 1967 tournament), though most considered him the most tal-ented player. He had great range on his shot, displayed terrifi c jumping skills and was a strong defender. Once Rushing left, Brown often had to play inside, and more than held his own.

Brown scored 28 points when Lincoln shattered the tournament single-game scoring record in a 109-71 victory over La Crosse Central in a 1967 quarterfi nal. The subsequent title was Lincoln’s fi fth in nine years. Over six state tournament games, Brown averaged 21.2 points.

After a stop at a junior college, Brown played at Iowa for two seasons, averaging 22.7 points per game. He was known as “Downtown” Freddie Brown during a 13-year NBA career that included a champi-onship with Seattle in 1979.

Clarence Sherrod, 6-0, Milwaukee Lincoln (Class of 1967)

Sherrod, the Comets’ cat-quick point guard, was a more dynamic presence than Brown in high school. He could shoot, pen-etrate and, most of all, dribble like a magi-cian. He was dribbling behind his back and between his legs long before that became standard operating procedure. And even in the Comets’ record-setting 1967 blowout of La Crosse Central, Sherrod scored 29 to Brown’s 28.

Sherrod was at his best when Lincoln was threatened, as the Comets were in both championship games. Wisconsin Rapids kept within striking distance in the 1966 fi nal until Sherrod buried three long-range shots in the fourth quarter to put away the Red Raiders. He fi nished with a team-high 20 points in that game. In the 1967 fi nal,

a game in which Wausau threw a huge scare into the Comets before falling 61-56, Sherrod scored a team-high 17 points and conducted a one-man stall by dribbling out a sizable portion of the fi nal 5 minutes. In six games at state, Sherrod averaged 19.7 points per outing.

Sherrod went to UW, where he averaged 19.6 points per game during his three-year career and left as the school’s all-time leading scorer. He’s now 11th on the list, but Badgers fans remember him as a clever ballhandler and dynamic scorer.

Diamond Stone, 6-10, Whitefish Bay Dominican (Class of 2015)

Stone’s fi rst state tournament game, as a Green Knights freshman in 2012, was a sign of things to come. He recorded a triple double — 15 points, 15 rebounds, 14 blocked shots — in a 67-44 victory over Colfax, instantly becoming a household name .

Stone has since delivered on that prom-ise, leading Dominican to Division 4 state titles in his fi rst three seasons. He’s still

working on his legacy, too, and could join Randolph’s Ryan Tillema as the only player in state history to play a signifi cant role for four championship teams should Domini-can win again this season. To be included on this all-time all-tournament team after his junior year shows that Stone is just as dominant as Joe Wolf and Sam Okey were.

An anomaly among centers in today’s game, Stone is comfortable with his back to the basket. He has, however, expanded his game every season and can now shoot the 3-point shot in addition to his wide variety

of power moves inside. As teammates such as current Marquette guard Duane Wilson fi ltered out of the Dominican program, Stone became even more dominant. In six state tournament games, he has averaged 19 points, 11.8 rebounds and 7.5 blocked shots per game while shooting 60 percent.

Stone has been selected to play in this year’s McDonald’s All-American game and is regarded by recruiters as one of the top fi ve seniors in the country.

ROB HERNANDEZ — State Journal

Diamond Stone, Whitefish Bay Dominican, Class of 2015

State Journal archives

Clarence Sherrod, Milwaukee Lincoln, Class of 1967


Top 25


• The UW Field House, designed by Ar-thur Peabody, is dedicated on Dec. 18 and becomes the tourney’s home in 1931.

• The WIAA breaks the state tour-nament into two enrollment-based classes, in a two-year experiment.

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934

• Beloit (1932 team pictured at right) becomes the first school to win three consecutive WIAA

championships, from 1932-1934. Playing with a broken wrist in

’33, Johnny Watts (bottom row, third from right), is the first

African-American to play a star-ring role in the state tourney.

• Madison’s Wisconsin High wins its second state title, 20-19 over Racine.


SECOND TEAMJohn Kotz, 6-1, Rhinelander (Class of 1939)

Kotz’s revolutionary one-handed push shot and ahead-of-his-time scoring totals were all the rage after Rhinelander’s state tournament appearances in 1937 and 1938. But it wasn’t until his senior year that the Hodags fi nally broke through to win the Class A title.

A burly center, Kotz scored 26 points to lead Rhinelander to a 46-29 victory over Wausau in the 1939 fi nal, completing a 20-0 season. Kotz had scored 28 in a 56-21 quarterfi nal victory over Wauwatosa, as the tournament’s single-game individual and team scoring records fell in the same game. He led the tournament with 64 points, a previously unthinkable record that lasted until 1950. After-ward, the Wisconsin State Journal proclaimed Kotz the tournament’s No. 1 individual star of all time and Rhinelander the greatest team ever produced in the state. In nine tour-nament games over three seasons, he averaged 15.7 points per game.

Kotz went to UW, where he was an All-American and the NCAA tournament’s most outstanding player when the Badgers won their only NCAA title in 1941.

Marshall Williams, 6-5, Milwaukee Vincent (Class of 1999)

Vincent’s Lincoln-like run of fi ve titles in six years under coach Tom Diener was fueled by multiple All-State players, but no one played a bigger role than Williams, the

Vikings’ Mr. Clutch. Vincent often played close, intense, low-scoring games — and more often than not, it was Williams who delivered at the end.

Williams topped the tournament in scoring as a freshman (48 points) and a junior (49) as Vincent became the fi rst large school to win three consecutive titles since

Beloit in the 1930s. It was his late-game exploits that stood out, though.

As a freshman in 1996, his 15-footer with 32 seconds left gave Vincent the lead in a 52-49 semifi nal victory over Watertown. In the next day’s fi nal, his three-point play with 29 seconds left gave Vincent a 48-45 overtime vic-tory over Mukwonago. In the 1998 fi nal, Williams sank a 12-foot, pull-up jumper with 7 seconds left to give Vincent a 36-34 victory over Middle-ton. Williams and Vincent ran out of late-game magic against Racine Case in a 1999 semifi nal, but in 11 tournament games, he averaged 14.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the fi eld.

Williams played one season at North Carolina State before a knee injury derailed his career.

Sam Dekker, 6-8, Sheboygan Lutheran (Class of 2012)

Dekker’s team only reached the state tournament once, but he made the most of his two games on the big stage. As a small-school scoring machine from in-state who had already signed with UW, Dekker arrived at the Kohl Center accompanied by unprecedented hype, yet somehow exceeded it with his dazzling performance.

An athletic, long perimeter player, Dekker scored 35 points in a 63-61 semifi nal victory over Chippewa Falls McDonell, but that only served as an appetizer for the curious Kohl Center crowd.

With Sheboygan Lutheran trailing by eight with less than a minute to play in the Division 5 fi nal against Racine Lutheran, Dekker went o� . He scored 12 points in the fi nal 48.5 seconds — including the game-winning 3-pointer on a contested shot from the corner with 4.6 seconds left — to

John Kotz, Rhinelander, Class of 1939

M.P. KING — State Journal

Sam Dekker, Sheboygan Lutheran, Class of 2012


Top 25


Marshall Williams, Milwaukee Vincent, Class of 1999 Please see TOP 25, Page 8

• The WIAA expands its tournament field again, going to three enrollment-based classes. The format holds for four seasons.

• The tourney moves to Wisconsin Rapids for a year, its only stop outside Madison since 1920.

• The rule calling for a jump ball after every field goal is elimi-nated.

1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944• The WIAA returns to a one-division format; the one-class tournament remains until 1972.

• Racine Park rolls past Sha-wano, 40-23, for the state title.

• Reuben Le Claire and Jim Wondrasch lead champ Two Rivers to a tourney-record 161 points in three games.

• With a new one-handed “push” shot, star John Kotz and Rhinelander smash WIAA scoring re-cords. ... Wausau’s Elroy Hirsch makes the all-tourney team.

• Work starts on a Field House balcony level, boost-ing capacity to 12,000 in 1939.


give the Crusaders an improbable 67-66 victory and a state title. In the two games, Dekker totaled 75 points, 29 rebounds and 10 blocked shots.

Now a junior at UW, Dekker recently went over the 1,000-point mark and was a vital member of the Badgers’ Final Four team in 2014.

Jeronne Maymon, 6-7, Madison Memorial (Class of 2009)

A physical inside presence, Maymon started in four consecutive state tourna-ments during Memorial’s run of nine straight trips to state (which included three titles). Spartans standouts Wesley Matthews, Keaton Nankivil and Vander Blue might have had more college success than Maymon, but none of them made more noise in the state tournament, either on the court or in the media.

Maymon dominated as a junior, posting tournament-best marks of 90 points and 44 rebounds, but Memorial su� ered a 58-56 overtime loss to Wauwatosa East in the fi nal, the Spartans’ second title-game loss in three years. Afterward, Maymon publicly vowed he wouldn’t leave high school without a championship. Taking a step back individually to get others — including Blue — more involved, Maymon delivered on his promise as a senior. He scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Memorial crushed Racine Horlick 56-41 in the fi nal. In 10 tournament games, he averaged 19.8 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 55.2 percent.

Maymon played briefl y at Marquette before fi nishing his career at Tennessee, where he averaged 9.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in three seasons.

Max Walker, 6-2, Milwaukee Lincoln (Class of 1962)

Lincoln’s fi rst dominant team — led by Walker, Allen Suttle and Al Jackson —

won back-to-back state championships in 1961 and 1962 while compiling a 51-1 record. The pressing, running Comets always shared the wealth on o� ense, but their biggest gun was Walker, a silky-smooth performer who could shoot and handle the ball equally well.

Walker scored 49 points at state as a junior, including 23 in a 77-75 overtime victory over Rice Lake in the fi nal. He ramped up his scoring as a senior, net-ting 86 points in three games to share the tournament scoring lead with Eau Claire’s Stan Johnson. Walker scored 27 in Lincoln’s 93-80 victory over Eau Claire in the fi nal. That gave him a 22.5 scoring average in his six tournament games.

Walker played three seasons at Indi-ana, leading the Hoosiers in scoring as a senior with 16.5 points per game. He also coached Milwaukee King to a runner-up fi nish in the 1971 state tournament.


Jeronne Maymon, Madison Memorial, Class of 2009


Max Walker, Milwaukee Lincoln, Class of 1962


Top 25


1945 1946 1947 1948 1949• Reedsville, with an enrollment of 87 students, beats Eau Claire 48-39 in the single-class state final, becoming the smallest community (pop. 476) to win a one-class title.

• Hurley’s Midgets, coaches by Carl Vergamini, capture the state’s hearts and win their first and only state title, beating La Crosse Logan 37-36 in the championship game.

• After setting the Big Eight single-season scoring record, Don Page leads Madison West past Lena 44-35 in the state final.

• Fans from Hurley, located on the Michigan border, whoop it up in the Field House in 1947, cel-ebrating the first of their team’s three straight state appearances.


THIRD TEAMJohnny Watts, 5-10, Beloit (Class of 1934)

At a time where there were few black players in the state tournament, Watts helped turn Beloit into the state’s premier power. With the quick-handed Watts at forward, the Purple Knights won state titles in 1932, 1933 and 1934, a feat no school matched until Marathon won three straight Class C championships during the 1970s.

Watts led Beloit in scoring all three years, but his most memorable tournament game came in the state fi nal his junior year. He entered the game in the fourth quarter with a makeshift splint on his left wrist due to a broken bone, but was still able to rally Beloit to a 15-14 victory over Wausau. The 3,500 fans stood and cheered as he entered the game with Beloit trailing 13-11, and Watts didn’t disappoint. He led an inspired defense that held Wausau to one point in the quarter and also scored the winning basket on a layup. One year later, Watts scored 14 points in the fi nal as Beloit made it three in a row with a 32-18 victory over Wisconsin Rapids.

Watts played two years at UW-La Crosse and later with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Roy Birk, 6-1, Waukesha (Class of 1961)

Many legendary scorers have played in the state tournament, but no one ever scored more points in one weekend than Birk. The Blackshirts’ o� ensive machine twice led the

tournament in scoring, but the record 102 points he tallied as a senior in 1961 has

stood for more than a half-century.Birk, a forward, could score from any-

where on the fl oor. He was a deadly shooter with great range and the ability to create his own shot. Birk scored 69 points as a junior, when Waukesha went 2-1 to fi nish in third place (there were third-place and conso-lation games back then). He dropped 40 points on Shawano in an 88-86 victory in the 1961 quarterfi nals, including the game-winning shot from the corner with 4 sec-onds left, and then followed up with games of 26 and 36 as the Blackshirts again took third. Against Madison East in the third-place game, Birk scored 28 of his 36 points in the second half to break the tournament record of 89 held by West Allis Hale’s Sam Antcli� e.

Birk played freshman basketball at Bradley, but never saw playing time on the varsity.

Brian Butch, 6-11, Appleton West (Class of 2003)

The tournament debut of the skilled center was impressive: 29 points and 15 rebounds in a loss to eventual champion Madison La Follette in 2002. But Butch stuck around a lot longer the following year, when he broke the single-game record by scoring 45 points in an 81-66 quarterfi nal victory over Milwaukee Custer.

Butch scored 27 points in the fi rst half

and, with 2:35 left, sank two free throws to tie the 45-year-old record of 44 points set by Shawano’s Marty Gharrity. The teams cleared their benches with 50 seconds left, but West coach Greg Hartjes, realizing Butch had tied Gharrity, put him right back in and Butch broke the record on a free throw with 1 second left. The decision angered Custer coach Marc Mitchell, though his game-long reliance on a man-to-man defense had more to do with Butch’s big day than anything else. With Butch notching a tournament-best 94 points, West reached the fi nal before falling to Milwaukee King. In four games over two years, Butch averaged 30.8 points and 12.3 rebounds while shooting 52.8 percent.

Butch was a three-year starter at UW and an all-Big Ten fi rst-team pick as a senior. He scored 1,115 points for the Badgers.

Kurt Nimphius, 6-9, South Milwaukee (Class of 1976)

Despite being one of the fi rst truly athletic big men in the state tournament, Nim-phius never strayed far from the basket on either end. As a result, he dominated the 1976 Class A tournament like few players ever have, leading South Milwaukee to three victories and a 25-0 season.

Nimphius scored 97 points, to this day the

second-highest total ever in the tourna-ment, in victories over heavyweights Mil-waukee Washington, Madison West and Eau Claire Memorial. He also led the tournament with 40 rebounds. The Rockets started four role players around Nimphius, making his 30-point, 11-rebound e� ort in their 45-43 victory over coach Dick Bennett’s Old Abes in the title game even more remarkable. Nimphius hit a short jumper — his specialty — with 46 seconds left to break a 43-43 tie.

Nimphius played four years at Arizona State and was named All-Pac-10 as a senior. He also played eight seasons in the NBA.

Anthony Pieper, 6-3, Wausaukee (Class of 1993)

The state’s all-time scoring leader struggled when Wausaukee came to the tournament in 1991, going 0-for-6 from 3-point range and scoring only 24 points in a 61-57 semifi nal loss to Shullsburg. But if Pieper had the jitters as a sophomore, he had conquered them by the time he hit the big stage as a senior.

An athletic guard who could shoot from 3, drive to the basket or convert a dunk o� a lob pass, Pieper scored 84 points — 42 in each game — to give Wausaukee the 1993 Division 4 title. He hit the game-winning shot with 1.5 seconds left in a 65-63 win over Albany in a semifi nal, then outdueled Cassville sophomore Sam Okey in the fi nal as the Rangers prevailed by a 69-57 score. Wausaukee pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Pieper, who sank 15 of his 29 shots in the game.

Pieper was a four-year starter at Mar-quette, scoring 1,234 points.

UW-La Crosse Archives

Joihnny Watts, Beloit, Class of 1934

Roy Birk, Waukesha, Class of 1961


Brian Butch, Appleton West, Class of 2003

Kurt Nimphius, South Milwaukee, Class of 1976

Associated Press archives

Anthony Pieper, Wausaukee, Class of 1993


Top 25


1950 1951 1952 1954• Tiny St. Croix Falls strikes another blow for the little guy, beat-ing Eau Claire 59-35 in the state final.

• Athletes from Madison West’s runner-up team confer with coach Bob Harris during their 64-55 loss to Wisconsin Rapids in the title game.

• After a 1951 decision by the conferences, the Milwaukee City and Fox River Valley conferences accept the WIAA’s invita-tion and participate in the postseason tournament series for the first time.

1953• Official scorer Jim Gunderson shows off the new striped jer-sey now required for courtside scorers.

• Menasha beats Sheboy-gan Central in the final; a new “one-and-one” bonus free throw rule leads to five scoring records.


FOURTH TEAMMarty Gharrity, 6-2, Shawano (Class of 1958)

Before Gharrity came along, most of the record-setting scor-ers in the tournament had been big men. A gifted shooter who could also score o� the dribble, the Indians guard scored 18 points in 1956 and 50 in 1957 as Shawano won back-to-back state titles.

At the start of the 1958 state tournament, all eyes were on Shawano and its three-peat bid. In the team’s fi rst game under the glare of that spotlight, Gharrity exploded for 44 points in a 90-81 quarterfi nal victory over Eau Claire, setting a record that stood for 45 years. He went 15-for-26 from the fi eld and 14-for-16 from the free throw line to break the record of 41 set two years earlier by Sam Antcli� e of West Allis Hale. Gharrity had only 12 points on 2-for-5 shooting as Shawano was upended by Milwaukee North the next night, but the team rebounded to take third place and Gharrity fi nished with a tournament-best 81 points.

Gharrity played one season at UW and one season at Northern Michigan.

Rick Olson, 6-1, Madison La Follette (Class of 1982)

By the midpoint of the fourth quarter in the 1982 Class A fi nal, the battle lines had been drawn: It was Olson, La Follette’s sharpshooting guard, against an undefeated Stevens Point team that was ranked No. 1 in the state. Olson came out on top as the Lancers outlasted the Panthers 62-61 in one of the great fourth-quarter shootouts in

tournament history.Though he had made only six of his fi rst

21 shots, Olson went 4-for-4 in the fi nal 3:15, scoring eight of the Lancers’ fi nal 12 points. There were six lead changes in the fi nal 2:27, but the Lancers took the lead for good when Olson, surrounded by most of the Point team, dished o� to Scott Hogan for a layup with 34 seconds left. After net-ting 24 in the fi nal, Olson led the tourna-ment with 86 points.

Olson played four years at UW and left as the school’s No. 2 career scorer (he’s now fi fth).

Bob Litzow, 6-3, Stevens Point (Class of 1954)

Stevens Point lost in the fi nal when Litzow was a sophomore, but the Panthers fi nally reached the top during the hot-shooting forward’s senior season. With Litzow putting up record-setting point

totals, Stevens Point beat Beloit, Oshkosh and Superior Central to claim the title and erase two years of postseason heartache.

Known as a pure shooter, Litzow scored 32 points in a 70-65, championship-game victory over Superior Central, tying the tournament single-game record set by Eau Claire’s Warren Ho� in 1946. The 83 points Litzow scored in three games surpassed the tournament record of 79 set by St. Croix Falls’ Paul Morrow in 1950.

Litzow started three seasons for UW, twice leading the Badgers in scoring.

Bob Anderegg, 6-3, Monroe (Class of 1955)

Rangy and rugged, Anderegg was nearly impossible to stop at state in 1954 and 1955. The Cheesemakers went 0-2 when Anderegg was a junior and took third place when he was a senior, but during a decade of scoring stars at the tournament, he took a

back seat to no one.Anderegg scored 47 points in 1954 to

rank sixth in the tournament. In 1955, he scored a tournament-record 86 points, eclipsing the 83 scored by Stevens Point’s Bob Litzow the year before. He nabbed 46 rebounds to lead the tournament in that category, too. Anderegg’s 34-point eruption in a 59-57 loss to Superior Central in a semifi nal broke the tourna-ment record of 33 that had been set hours earlier by Wausau’s Bob Schmidlkofer. In fi ve tournament games, he averaged 26.1 points.

Anderegg started three years at Michigan State and led the Spartans in scoring when they won the Big Ten title in 1959. He played one year in the NBA.

Wayne Kreklow, 6-4, Neenah (Class of 1975)

Neenah was synonymous with tourna-ment heartbreak in the 1960s and 1970s. But Kreklow, one of the fi nest all-around players in state history, put an end to that. Kreklow had an accurate jump shot and was extremely quick and athletic, so much so that he even jumped center. He did everything for the Rockets and could have scored more points had he not been so team-oriented.

After scoring 23 points in Neenah’s quarterfi nal loss in 1974, Kreklow led the 1975 tournament in scoring with 69 points, including 19 in a heartwarming 64-55 vic-tory over Milwaukee Marshall in the Class A fi nal. The Rockets had to sweat, though, enduring a power outage at the UW Field House and an ankle injury that Kreklow overcame before wrapping up the title.

Kreklow started four seasons at Drake and left as the Bulldogs’ third all-time leading scorer. He played one season in the NBA.


Marty Gharrity (No. 22), Shawano, Class of 1958

Bob Anderegg, Monroe, Class of 1955


Top 25


Rick Olson, Madison La Follette, Class of 1982


• Coach Richard Wadewitz leads Milwaukee Lincoln to the first of what would be five titles in nine years.

1955 1956 1957 1958 1959• Shawano captures the first of two consecutive state titles after beating Appleton 66-61.

• Two veteran tournament officials, Archie Morrow and Dynie Mansfield, an-nounce their retirement.

• Madison East defeats Milwaukee North 62-59 in the championship game. Juniors Dale Hackbart (left) and Pat Richter lead.

• Eau Claire tops Superior Central 81-71 for the school’s third state title.

• Shawano junior Marty Gharrity scores a tournament single-game record 44 points in a 90-81 quarterfinal victory over Eau Claire.


FIFTH TEAMRyan Tillema, 6-7, Randolph (Class of 2005)

For three seasons, Tillema was overshad-owed by Greg Stiemsma, his taller, more highly recruited teammate. Once Stiemsma left for UW, however, Tillema was the face of the fabled Randolph dynasty. He and three teammates became the only players to be on four WIAA state championship teams when he led Randolph to its unprecedented fourth consecutive Division 4 title in 2005.

Tillema made 15 of 18 shots (78.9 percent) at state as a sophomore and, even with Stiemsma playing alongside him during his junior year, had 20 points and 12 rebounds in the Blue Rockets’ 52-50 victory over Hil-bert in the fi nal. As a senior, Tillema led the tournament with 45 points and 29 rebounds while shooting 62.9 percent as Randolph went 2-0 again. In eight games at state, all victories, he averaged 15.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.

Tillema was a four-year starter at UW-Green Bay and led the Phoenix in scoring as a senior.

Sam Antcli� e, 6-4, West Allis Hale (Class of 1956)

After record-setting performances by Stevens Point’s Bob Litzow in 1954 and Monroe’s Bob Anderegg in 1955, it was Antcli� e’s turn in 1956. Hale dropped a 79-77 decision to eventual state champion Shawano in a quarterfi nal, but bounced back behind Antcli� e’s exploits to win the consolation trophy.

Antcli� e led the tournament with 91 points and 47 rebounds. His 91 points broke Anderegg’s record by fi ve. Antcli� e also smashed the single-game tourna-ment record when he netted 41 in Hale’s 83-64 victory over La Crosse Central in

the consolation fi nal, topping the mark of 39 set two days earlier by Central’s Gar Ammerman. Antcli� e’s 41 fi eld goals in the tournament and 18 in one game established records that still stand.

Antcli� e began his collegiate career at UW and played two seasons at UW-Stevens Point.

Jay Schauer, 6-6, South Milwaukee (Class of 1954)

Schauer was a sophomore when he led South Milwaukee to the 1952 state title. He never got the Rockets back to Madison during his stellar prep career, but he left a signifi cant mark while he was there.

A smooth operator for a big man, Schauer scored 55 points and grabbed 56 rebounds in three games, both tournament bests. His 56 rebounds set a record that still stands more than 60 years later. In South Milwaukee’s 61-54 victory over Stevens Point in the fi nal, Schauer scored 15 points and snared 26 rebounds, the latter another record that has never been matched.

Schauer played one season at Marquette before giving up the sport to concentrate on his studies.

Wesley Matthews, 6-5, Madison Memorial (Class of 2005)

In 2004, Matthews led Memorial to the state tournament for the fi rst time in school history, and then scored 46 points as the Spartans reached the title game before

running into Milwaukee King. A physi-cal perimeter player, Matthews helped the Spartans take the fi nal step in 2005 when they beat Milwaukee Vincent 63-55 for the Division 1 title.

Matthews led the 2005 tournament in scoring with 85 points, including 32 in a semifi nal victory over Wisconsin Rapids. In the fi nal against Vincent, Matthews led the way with 29 points and 10 rebounds. In six games at state, he averaged 21.8 points per game and shot 50.6 percent from the fi eld.

Matthews started four seasons at Mar-quette and is now in his sixth NBA season, the last fi ve with Portland.

Luke Fischer, 6-11, Germantown (Class of 2013)

Germantown has won the past three Division 1 titles, but its 2012 and 2013 teams dominated opponents like few oth-ers in tournament history. The Warhawks’ only close game at state in those two years was a 72-69 victory over Milwaukee King in the 2012 fi nal. Otherwise, they beat Madison Memorial by 38 in 2012, and Oshkosh North by 20 and Mukwonago by 29 in 2013.

The common denominator on those two teams was Fischer. Perfectly suited for Germantown’s up-tempo style because he could run the fl oor, Fischer had 19 points, fi ve rebounds, two blocked shots and four steals in the narrow victory over King. In the semifi nal victory over North in 2013, he had 32 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. In two tournament games as a senior, he sank 22 of 29 shots (75.9 percent). Over-all, he averaged 19.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting 70.8 percent in four games at state.

Fischer began his college career at Indi-ana, but transferred to Marquette, where he is now a sophomore starter.

CRAIG SCHREINER — State Journal archives

Wesley Matthews, Madison Memorial, Class of 2005

CRAIG SCHREINER — State Journal archives

Ryan Tillema, Randolph, Class of 2005

HONORABLE MENTIONOthers who received consideration (with the year they graduated):

Ernie Nevers, Superior (1920)

Don Page, Madison West (1945)

Dick Axness, Ashland (1946)

Bob Wolff, Wauwatosa (1948)

Paul Morrow, St. Croix Falls (1950)

Bob Sullivan, Manitowoc (1965)

John Schell, Cumberland (1965)

John Rushing, Milwaukee Lincoln (1966)

Lamont Weaver, Beloit Memorial (1970)

Rich Reitzner, Appleton West (1971)

Bill Hanzlik, Beloit Memorial (1976)

Mike Jirschele, Clintonville (1977)

Robert Berryhill, Racine Horlick (1986)

Troy Rudoll, Sheboygan North (1986)

Kurt Portmann, Sheboygan North (1986)

Brian Garner, Milwaukee Washington (1987)

Dean Vander Plas, Oostburg (1987)

Calvin Rayford, Milwaukee Washington (1991)

Brad Clark, Markesan (1996)

Jose Winston, Milwaukee Vincent (1998)

Greg Brown, Milwaukee Vincent (2002)

Jon Krull, Marshall (2003)

DuPree Fletcher, Milwaukee King (2004)

Vander Blue, Madison Memorial (2010)

Bronson Koenig, La Crosse Aquinas (2013)

Matt Thomas, Onalaska (2013)


Top 25

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964• The state tournament is televised for the first time, using a Milwaukee crew. WMTV (Ch. 15) was one of the statewide affiliates. Not every affili-ate carried every game.

• Waukesha’s Roy Birk sets a record for points scored in the state tournament, pouring in 102 over three games.

• Milwaukee Lincoln beats Eau Claire, 93-80, for a second straight title.

• Small-school darlings Dodgeville rolls past Milwaukee North Division 59-45 to win the state title after falling to Manitowoc in the 1963 championship game.


1965 1966 1967 1968 1969• Coach Jim Smallins leads Milwaukee Lincoln to back-to-back titles behind “Downtown” Fred Brown and Clar-ence Sherrod, ending a run of five titles in nine years. The 1966-1967 team entered state averaging 101.7 points per game and set five tournament scoring records en route to a second consecutive 25-1 season.

Lincoln’s ClarenceSherrod, left, and

coach Jim Smallins.

• Beloit Memorial’s LaMont Weaver (25) sinks “The Shot Heard ’Round the State” to force overtime in the final; Beloit beat Neenah in two overtimes, 80-79.

• Led by 6-7 Pete Hansen and 6-4 Tom Haag, Manitowoc completes a 26-0 season with a 63-51 victory over Beloit Memorial.

• Led by 29 points from Bob Buchholtz and 19 from Tom Mitchell (above), Monroe beats Eau Claire Memorial 74-71 to cap a 26-0 season.

DENNIS [email protected] , 608-252-6490

Anthony Pieper doesn’t have too many connections with basketball these days.

Still, the former Wausaukee High School and Marquette University star did return to his home state 18 months ago, when he was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Every year, around this time, fans take a look at the state record listings and won-der whether anyone will ever break Pieper’s state career scoring mark of 3,391 points, set during his four-year prep career (1989-1993) at Wausaukee.

“It’s going to be hard to do. But if some-one does, I’ll shake his hand,” Pieper said of the possibility of his record being surpassed.

When it comes to individual marks, Pieper’s career scoring mark remains one of the elite accomplishments in state high school sports history.

Pieper burst onto the scene as a freshman with 488 points, and then scored 808 as a sophomore before topping the 1,000-point mark each of his last two years as the leading scorer in the Rangers’ up-tempo, push-it-to-the-limit o� ense.

He played in 103 of his team’s 108 games over four seasons, averaging 32.9 points per game. Wausaukee advanced to at least the

sectional fi nal each season, giving Pieper several additional games to run up his score.

“To be honest, you will have to do some-thing special to knock that one o� ,” said Pieper, who also had a successful collegiate career at Marquette and was inducted into the WBCA Hall of Fame in his fi rst year of eligibility. He now lives in Houston.

“You’d have to play quite a few games, and I only missed fi ve. We went to state and lost once and we won it all once. I went to the sectional fi nals the other two times. Think of all the extra points I got in those games. It’s going to be tough. You’ve got to get over 30 per game for four years.”

Pieper obliterated the previous mark of 2,724 set by Mickey Crowe in 1975, soaring past the St. Nazianz JFK Prep legend in the middle of his senior year.

To break Pieper’s record, a player would have to average 848 points per year in a four-year high school career.

Pieper also owns the two highest scoring seasons in history: 1,063 points (38.4 points per game) in 1992-1993, when he led the Rangers to a 69-57 victory over Sam Okey and Cassville in the WIAA Division 4 title game; and 1,032 points in 1991-1992, when Wausaukee was stopped in the sectional

WAUSAUKEE’S SCORING MACHINEAnthony Pieper’s state-record total of 3,391 points still stands — and the lessons learned playing basketball for the Rangers still serve him today

Associated Press archives

Wausaukee’s Mike Cavanaugh (24), Anthony Pieper and Corey Biernasz (20) celebrate their 69-57 victory over Cassville to become the 1993 WIAA Division 4 state champions.Please see PIEPER, Page 13


1970 1971 1972 1973 1974• A year after losing to Beloit Memorial in double overtime, Neenah falls again on a final shot — this time a jumper by Appleton West’s Scott Hanson.

• Superior upsets Milwaukee Lincoln (74-67, OT) in Lincoln’s final state visit.

• WKOW-TV (Ch. 27) in Madison takes over produc-tion duties for the WIAA’s statewide television network.

• The WIAA expands the state tournament field to two divisions for the first time since 1940. Bloomington wins the Class B title.

• Bob Luchsinger scores 25 points to lead underdog Janesville Parker past Milwaukee King 79-68.

• McFarland coach Sam Mills orders a stall with a 13-point fourth-quarter lead and sweats out a 51-49 victory over Luck in the 1973 Class B final, its first of two straight titles.

•The WIAA adds a third enrollment-based division and eliminates consolation games from the state tournament.

Associated Press

Wausaukee High School product Anthony Pieper reacts after hitting a basket in the second half for Marquette University against St. Bonaventure in a 1995 National Invitation Tournament game in Milwaukee. Pieper led Marquette with 24 points in a 70-61 victory.

fi nals despite a 53-point e� ort by Pieper.He scored a career-high 59 points in the

regional championship game as a senior, when he averaged 6.9 assists and shot 52 percent from the fi eld and 78.7 percent from the free throw line.

Wausaukee back on top

These days, though, Pieper is more enthusiastic about the current success of his old high school team. Wausaukee went 20-2 over the regular season, won the Marinette & Oconto Conference with a 16-0 mark and was ranked No. 1 in the fi nal regular-season Associated Press state poll for Division 5 teams.

The Rangers are coached by John Ranallo, a teammate of Pieper’s on the Rangers’ 1993 state title team.

“He’s doing a fantastic job,” Pieper said. “The guys are playing well and I’m excited for them.”

Ranallo recalled in a phone conversation what it was like to play with Pieper, who was not only a teammate and classmate but also a close friend.

“I’m always telling my players I’ve been around basketball my whole life. I’ve never seen anyone with the drive or the discipline or just the self-motivation that Anthony Pieper had,” said Ranallo, who is in his third season as Wausaukee’s coach.

“Yeah, he scored around 40 points a game, and people today might think he just shot a lot. But he put the time and the e� ort in and he was an option. How can you not go to a guy who could score like that? And he could dribble faster than most people could run.

“He was a freak of nature, no doubt. But his self-motivation and determination were far beyond more than any physical attribute he ever had. He was a special player and I have not seen another one since.”

Pieper said he occasionally reminisces

about his prep playing days when he gets together with family in the Houston area.

“I have a 12-year-old cousin who had never seen me play,” he said. “I went on You-Tube and found the semifi nal game against Albany from my senior year and put it on and let him take a look at it. He got a kick out of it, and it brought back some fond memo-ries from that time.

“But I’d rather have seen the game when we beat Sam Okey for the championship.”

Pieper’s post-basketball career as a sales and marketing executive has taken him to Indianapolis and St. Petersburg, Florida. He recently moved to Houston to take a posi-tion as a corporate development manager for On-Site Towing.

However as another March Madness approaches, winning Wausaukee’s only state championship remains Pieper’s most memorable moment. The gold ball helped atone for a disappointing state tournament debut two years earlier, when Pieper scored 24 points but fouled out and drew a technical foul in the fi nal minute of a 61-57 semifi nal loss to Shullsburg.

Two years later, he was walking o� the court a winner with his father Gene, the Rangers’ coach.

“No doubt about it, as I’m walking o� the court I was able to give my dad a little hug. That was pretty awesome,” Pieper said. “It was his fi rst and only state championship.

“As a sophomore, I kind of laid an egg (at state). Thank goodness we were able to go back there.”

Petitgoue: ‘Best shooter ever’

Although he scored most of his points in transition, Pieper wasn’t afraid to take the ball the ball to the basket. He eventually also earned a reputation as a stellar 3-point shooter during his collegiate career.

“He was the best shooter I ever saw,” said Cuba City coach Jerry Petitgoue, the state’s winningest coach and executive direc-tor of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association.

Pieper scored 42 points in back-to-back 1993 state tournament games — the 84-point total remains a state tournament record for two games — to secure the title. Yet he lamented his performance in a 65-63 victory over Albany in the semifi nals.

“The fi rst game was actually my worst of the season. I scored 42, but I took (36) shots,” he recalled. “The only thing I did good in that game was that it was a tie game with about a minute left and we held the ball for the entire minute and I made the last-second shot.

“I was awful. I couldn’t have been any worse that game.”

But Pieper said he came out on fi re two days later, sinking four of his fi rst fi ve shots against Cassville in the fi nal.

“I remember thinking, ‘Finally, the lid is removed from the hoop.’ So I played much better,” he said, sinking 15 of 29 fi eld goal attempts and 10 of 11 from the line.

“If you look at that game, we had to play a hell of a game to beat them. We really did, because we were so much smaller than they were. We just didn’t have anyone who could guard Sam (Okey). I couldn’t guard him because I was going to get three o� ensive fouls every game.”

Memorable matchup

Ranallo said it was a great matchup that was fun to witness fi rsthand on the court.

“Okey was a handful. Thank God we ran into him as a sophomore,” Ranallo said. “He was defi nitely one of the better players Wisconsin has ever seen. But with the kind of talent we had at Wausaukee at the time, we weren’t intimidated. We played against Anthony all the time in open gyms and in practice.”

Pieper said when Scott Clarke, the team’s second-leading scorer, su� ered a season-ending injury the week before state, few peo-ple outside of the team’s inner circle believed they could still accomplish their goal.

“I’m sure a lot of people had doubts, but I know how confi dent I was and how confi -dent my teammates were,” Pieper said. “I’m sure a lot of people were sweating it.”

Ranallo said the players knew they were in trouble, but the team had its goals set before the season and were determined not to let an injury derail their state title hopes.

“We wanted the gold ball and weren’t going to let that stop us,” Ranallo said. “Obviously, with Anthony, anything was possible anyway. But as a group, we pulled together and it all worked out.”

Pieper maintains the life lessons he and his teammates learned have served them well in their adult lives.

“You take all the athletics I played in my life, they are so benefi cial to me now,” he said. “Playing basketball wasn’t a right. It was a privilege.”


Pieper

14 • SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2015 • 15


UW-Madison Capitol

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Parking near the Kohl Center will be limited on Thursday and Friday before 5 p.m. After 5 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday, parking will be sold in the lots surrounding the Kohl Center on a first-come, first-served basis.


CAMPUS PARKING OPTIONSSeveral University of Wisconsin lots have been designated for WIAA fans (see the accompanying map).

Cost: The fee will be $8 per session. Cash only; pay on entry.

Availability: Parking on campus is extremely limited before 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. During these times, it is highly recommended to arrive early or take the shuttle from the Alliant Energy Center.

Special needs: Disabled parking spaces may be

purchased on a first-come, first-served basis in Lots 48 and 87.

CITY PARKING OPTIONSTwo city parking ramps within walking distance of the Kohl Center will be available during the tournament for $4. Cash only; pay on entry.

These lots include the State Street Campus Garage and the State Street Capitol Garage.

For a map of City of Madison lots, visit visitdowntownmadison.com/uploads/media/Parking_Map.pdf


To mark the milestone event that is the 100th WIAA state boys basketball tournament, many new attractions will be presented at the Kohl Center. Among the many activities:

SPECIAL EVENTS

WIAA basketball fan guide

3-POINT CHALLENGESee players from across the state participate in the inaugural 3-Point Challenge. For more information, visit: www.wissports.net/wiaa-boys-3point-challenge.

SPECIAL ICE CREAM FLAVORBabcock Dairy has mixed up a special batch of ice cream to commemorate the 100th WIAA state basketball tournament. The special flavor, “Alley Oop Scoop,” will be available at the Kohl Center.

TIPOFF EVENTOn Thursday, a pregame tipoff event will open the tournament weekend, and a ticket to the first session will include entry to the festivities. Doors will open at 11 a.m. for a reception that will include a walking tour of the special commemorative displays in the Kohl Center concourse that highlight events of the tourney’s first 99 years. Other WIAA fans and former athletes will be on hand. At noon, a 30-minute video, “Cel-ebrating the Game,” will be shown on the Kohl Center’s big screen.

MORE DETAILS ONLINEFor more information on the tournament — including hotel specials, dining and shopping optionsand maps with transit options and driving directions — visit http://WIAA100.com.


Reserved parking lot or ramp Other parking lot or ramp P Public parkingPublic parkingP Public parkingPublic parkingOther parking lot or rampOther parking lot or rampOther parking lot or rampOther parking lot or rampReserved parking lot or ramp Public parkingOther parking lot or rampOther parking lot or rampOther parking lot or rampOther parking lot or ramp Public parkingOther parking lot or ramp

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RIDE THE SHUTTLETo enjoy a worry-free trip downtown, fans can utilize the convenient option of the shuttle service between the Alliant Energy Center to the Kohl Center.

HOURS: 10:30 a.m. Thursday, 6:30 a.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday.

COST: $5 per person round trip or $3 per person one-way.

FREQUENCY: A shuttle will run every 20 minutes until one hour after the

end of the day’s final game.

PICKUP, DROPOFF POINTS: On Fairgrounds Drive directly across from Pavilion 2 at the Alliant Energy Center (follow the signage); and on Dayton Street in front of the Kohl Center.

PARKING: Parking at Alliant Energy Center is $6.50 per vehicle.

SPECIAL NEEDS: The shuttles are wheelchair accessible. For any special needs, call Laura at Kobussen Buses at 608-825-8700, ext. 502.

purchased on a first-come, first-served basis in Lots 48 and 87.

CITY PARKING OPTIONSTwo city parking ramps within walking distance of the Kohl Center will be available during the tournament for $4. Cash only; pay on entry.

These lots include the State Street Campus Garage and the State Street Capitol Garage.

For a map of City of Madison lots, visit visitdowntownmadison.com/uploads/media/Parking_Map.pdf


THURSDAY, MARCH 19

(Game times approximate)

SESSION ONE

Division 5 semifinals: 1:35 and 3:15 p.m.

SESSION TWO


FRIDAY, MARCH 20

SESSION THREE

Division 3 semifinals: 9:05 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.

SESSION FOUR


SESSION FIVE


SATURDAY, MARCH 21

Three-point shooting competition: 9 a.m.

SESSION SIX

Division 5, 4 and 3 championship games: 11:05 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m.

SESSION SEVEN

Division 2 and 1 championship games: 6:35 p.m., 8:30 p.m.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

TICKETSAdvance tickets may be purchased online atwww.wiaawi.org/tickets. The cost is $12 for one session or $84 for all seven sessions, not including processing and handling fees.

Admission is free for children younger than 2 years of age.

For those needing accessible seating, purchase a regular ticket and exchange it at the Welcome Desk inside the Gate B turnstiles at the Kohl Center.

Remaining tickets may be purchased at the gate for$10 per session.

CARRY-INSNote: All items and spectators are subject to search. Storage facilities are not available for checking prohibited items.

Items permitted: Bags no larger than 8.5 x 11 inches, binoculars, cameras with lenses no larger than 100mm, banners, flags, signs, items related to a medical condition, chairbacks not more than 18 inches wide, and diaper bags (with child).

Among the prohibited items: Bags larger than 8.5 x 11 inches (including backpacks), food, beverages, containers, strollers, baby carrier seats, laser pointers, noisemakers, weapons, inflatables, laptops, video recorders, cameras with lenses greater than 100mm, or any items deemed dangerous or inappropriate.

TICKETS, CARRY-IN POLICY


UW-Madison Capitol

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Olin Ave.

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Regent St.

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Johnson St.

Dayton St.

Park St.

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Gate B

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WIAA basketball fan guideKOHL CENTER SEATING

16 • Sunday, March 8, 2015 WIScOnSIn STaTE JOurnaL

JAY WILSON WISC-TV Sports Director

W hen the first state high school bas-ketball tournament was played in Appleton in 1916, it didn’t get a lot

of attention in the media. Now, almost a century later, the tour-

nament has secured its place as “Must-see TV” every March around the state of Wisconsin.

The state basketball tournament first was televised in 1960. It found its current, long-term home on WKOW-TV in Madison (Ch. 27) in 1968.

So why have the tournaments become so popular on television? Well, there are a lot of reasons.

For more than 40 years, the tournaments have been carried by a statewide network including stations in Madison, Wausau, La Crosse, Eau Claire, Duluth/Superior, Milwaukee and Green Bay — bringing the ability to watch the telecasts to virtually every corner of the state.

The number of households in that net-work would be comparable to the popula-tion of Atlanta, Ga. — the ninth-largest television market in the country.

In the early 1980s, the WIAA and its then-broadcast partner, Shockley Communica-tions, agreed to televise every game of the boys and girls state basketball tournaments. That made Wisconsin the only state in the nation to boast free, over-the-air coverage of every game of its state tournaments.

That start-to-finish coverage brought exposure for more schools and more Wis-consin communities. And, because of that, more viewers — because once people watched, they became hooked.

The broadcasts provide a great opportu-nity for viewers, but a tremendous respon-sibility for the production crew in charge of televising 30 basketball games (boys and girls) over a stretch of 10 days.

When ESPN or the Big Ten Network come to Madison for a Badgers telecast, it’s one game and out. On the WIAA Television Network, when you finish the first game on Thursday, you have 14 more to go over the next three days.

Fortunately, the people in charge of the telecasts always have demanded quality in the quantity — and that’s why the games have looked like ESPN productions .

Former WIAA executive director Doug Chickering and the telecast’s executive pro-

ducer, Laurin Jorstad, worked hand in hand for years to form a partnership .

I was involved in the state basketball telecasts for 30 years as an announcer and a producer, and I still marvel at how many people watched.

I was based in Madison, so I was seen in places such as Wausau and La Crosse only once a year — when the tournaments were televised. Because of that, as I traveled through the state, someone in a town far from Madison would look, point and say “Hey, you’re the guy on the basketball

tournament” — even though they saw me on their local television station for no more than six days during the year.

I had the honor to work with some of the greatest names in state history in our broad-casts. Our analysts included Hall of Fame coaches such as Eli Crogan, Carl Bruggink and Jerry Petitgoue. Our longtime stat-istician, the late Don Kerr, was my right-hand man (he literally sat to my right for three decades). He was a genius in finding meaningful statistics and helping to create informative graphics.

Our crew of engineers, camera operators and other staff worked many professional sports telecasts in Milwaukee and Chi-cago, even NFL games and the Olympics, providing the highest level of television production.

But the most important factors in the popularity of the WIAA state basketball tournament are “the moments.”

Perhaps the state tournament’s first tele-vised magical moment came in 1969, when Beloit Memorial’s LaMont Weaver hit a halfcourt shot (before the 3-point rule) to force overtime and his Purple Knights even-tually won a state championship against powerhouse Neenah at the UW Field House before a statewide television audience.

And, of course, new memories are wait-ing to be created with the next year’s telecasts.

Some people watch the tournaments reli-giously every year. Some will have a renewed interest if their high school is playing. Some will be drawn in by a team that hasn’t played at state for a long time. Whatever the rea-son, they realize the state basketball tour-nament is, at its core, a celebration of young people working together to achieve a com-mon goal.

And that often makes for high drama on a big stage.

Every team has its own unique journey to state, its own story — a story that will be told again and again in their hometowns for decades to come.

And that’s why every March, it’s “Must-see TV.”

ON THE AIR Television played a large role in the state tournament’s growth and popularity


Jay Wilson of the state boys basketball television network interviews WIAA executive director Doug Chickering.

Jay Wilson bioMadison television sports icon Jay Wilson is sports director at WISC-TV, Channel 3 and a correspondent for the Big Ten Network.

Wilson is a native of Vesper who attended Wisconsin Rapids Assumption High School and the University of Wisconsin.

Previously, Jay covered 25 years of WIAA state basketball tournaments for WKOW-TV (Channel 27) and the statewide WIAA Television Network — between the years of 1982-2007 — as the lead play-by-play announcer, host and telecast producer.

Jay started at WKOW in 1980, worked at WISN-TV (Channel 12) in Milwaukee from 1984-1987, returned to WKOW from 1987-2008 and joined WISC and BTN in 2008.

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on 100 years ofSportingExcellenceAnd good luckto all ourWisconsinYouthduringthis yearstournaments


JERRY PETITGOUE as told to Dennis Semrau

I taught “American History and Social Problems” and “Wisconsin History” for decades, and I loved it more than I loved coaching. I got a chance to per-

form every day and I loved that.Who would have guessed when I started

that I’d be part of a basketball program that has made Wisconsin history of its own?

I can tell you the game has changed a great deal over the decades — and the boys basketball tournament has changed a great deal, too.

But the biggest state tournament memory for me happened when we won the fi rst state tournament game played at the Kohl Center in 1998, just after it opened.

It was on a Thursday morning, and we beat Amherst 73-61. That was a big deal for Cuba City and our fans. Then, of course, we came back on Saturday and won the state championship 75-67 over Phillips.

Now, I know it’s always about what hap-pens between the lines. But when you’ve got a chance to play in one of the fi nest basket-ball arenas in America in the Kohl Center, throw the nostalgia out the window. I love the Field House, too, but I love the Kohl Center more.

But I grew up an Illinois boy, so my fi rst Wisconsin state tournament would have been 1964, with coach Weenie Wilson and Dodgeville beating Milwaukee North with the 1-3-1 defense at the Field House.

Teaching history, making historyIn 48 years of coaching, Cuba City’s Jerry Petitgoue has built community,

character and champions ... and a record of success that will be di� cult to catch


Cuba City boys basketball coach Jerry Petitgoue gives instructions to his team during the first half of a home game against Mineral Point on Feb. 6.

Wisconsin’s winningest coachesThe 10 winningest coaches in the history of Wisconsin high school boys basketball, according to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. Won-lost totals are through the end of the 2014-15 regular season (* = active coaches).

Coach Years School(s) W-L

1. Jerry Petitgoue* 48 Cuba City/Gratiot 880-215

2. Bob Letsch* 36 Racine St. Catherine’s 651-234

3. Tim Anderson 40 Auburndale 607-280

4. Tom Desotell* 38 Sheboygan North 621-237

5. Harold Mulhern 39 Osseo-Fairchild/ 559-314 Chip. Falls McDonell/Durand

6. Ron Einerson 37 Cashton/Plymouth/Neenah 556-235

7. Frank Schade* 39 Oshkosh North/Plymouth 565-308

8. Carl Bruggink 41 Clintonville 549-368

9. Fred Kestly 38 Pulaski 543-269

10. Jon Murphy 28 Seymour 543-145

Please see PETITGOUE, Page 19

1975 1976 1977 1978 1979• After heartbreaking losses in five of the past six years, coach Ron Einerson and Neenah finally win Class A behind star Wayne Kreklow.

• Playing the underdog role, Marathon captures a record-tying third straight Class C title with a 53-52 overtime win over Oostburg.

• Fred Suchy and Elkhorn have a 6-12 regular season, but win seven WIAA games to repeat in Class B — at 13-12.

• Future NBA center Kurt Nimphius leads South Milwaukee past Eau Claire Memorial (and future UW coach Dick Bennett), 45-43.

• Mark Lofthus and Colfax beat future Chicago Bears Super Bowl champ Mark Bortz and

Pardeeville 75-61 in the Class C championship game.



Jerry Petitgoue has an alumnus coach award named after him at the University of Dubuque, where he went to school. It was established in 2012.

And the next year, 1965, I thought the southern part of the state owned the state tournament because Monroe beat Eau Claire Memorial.

From my point of view, because I’m a coach, I remember the coaches more than the players. I remember in 1965, because we were less than 25 miles from Mon-roe, I watched Monroe play at least seven games. I got to know (coach) Lee Mitchell a little bit.

When LaMont Weaver hit his shot in 1969, I felt so sorry for Neenah coach Ron Einerson because he was my hero. LaMont made that shot and Beloit won in overtime.

Once we got to the 1990s, there was Sam Okey and Cassville. Dennis Uppena was the head coach, and that was a tremendous stretch for them.

I remember a lot of the old-time coaches who coached there such as Bernie Bar-kin from Beloit, who was there a lot, and like I said, Ron Einerson, and Bob Ha� ele of Randolph. God, 10 state titles is just amazing!

But my favorite memories have been tak-ing my teams to state and the three titles that we won in 1981, 1991 and 1998. We went to state in 1981, 1983, 1989, 1991, 1998, 2005, 2012 and 2013.

What a thrill it was in 1981 when we won the state championship against Ladysmith (52-47). At that time there were three divi-sions, A, B and C, and we won Class B.

We had to play Shorewood the fi rst night and we beat them (61-44). The next day, we played Ladysmith in the championship and I remember we were up by one with less than a minute to go when my point guard, Je� Sha� er, went to the line.

My assistant, Stu Fraundorf, said, “Coach, do you realize Je� has made 11 free throws in a row?” What a kiss of death! But Je� rattled the fi rst one in and swished the second, and

we won the state championship.That one was really, really sweet. Because

if you never won another one, you at least won one championship.

Everyone was on Cloud Nine. I remem-ber the fi re truck parade through town. We ended the parade at the gym for a pep rally and we had over 1,000 people in the gym

waiting for us. It was special because it brought the whole town together. It makes me very proud because, as I look back on it, 30-plus years later all those kids that were on that team have had successful careers. That’s what makes me the most proud.

Everybody knows everybody, so you know that kid on the basketball team and if they

are fortunate to get to state, it’s something really special for a small town. It is a source of pride for your community and it’s still special for our players, to have been part of a state championship.

My 1983 team, I remember we beat


Petitgoue

Please see PETITGOUE, Page 20

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984• Madison La Follette edges Stevens Point 62-61 in the final. The Lancers’ Rick Olson and Panthers’ Jay Laszewski went on to play at UW.

• Coach Ray Rozek and Milwaukee Madison beat Wausau West 77-60 but later vacate the title for using an ineligible player. There is no official ’81 Class A champ.

• Joe Wolf, voted the best prep player in state his-tory, leadsKohler past

Fall Creek 70-57 for its third Class C title in four years.

• Milwaukee North beats Janesville Craig, 65-63, in the Class A final as part of a run of six finals victories in seven years for Milwaukee schools (1979 to 1985).

• For the only time in the three-class era (17 years), each state champ goes unbeaten: Milwaukee King (24-0), Wilmot (25-0) and Fall Creek (26-0).


Viroqua in the sectional fi nal and that was a great win. Then we go to the state and all four teams were undefeated. How about that?

It was at a time when Tim Blair was play-ing for Mayville and his dad was the coach. We got beat by Valders in the Class B semi-fi nals. Valders had that run of three in a row where they didn’t win it, but they fi nished second.

In 1989, I had Brad Timmerman go to state and we lost to Clintonville in the semifi nals. In 1991, we were able to beat Phillips for the Division 3 title; in 1998, we beat Phillips again for the Division 3 championship.

The 2005 tournament started the run of Dominican and we lost to Dominican. In 2012, we played the state championship game and lost to Dominican. In 2012 and ’13, those teams were special for me because they were undefeated seasons, back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. That’s hard to do. I was really pleased.

I’ve also been fortunate to be a part of the television broadcasts when I wasn’t coach-ing at state. There really are no losers here. It doesn’t matter if you got beat, you made the state. That’s special.

Change brings opportunity

I think the class system (enrollment-based divisions) has been outstanding. Once in a while, someone says to me “Well, there’s no Reedsville and there’s no Dodgeville.”

Well, yeah, Reedsville and Dodgeville come along once in a lifetime. When you win a state championship, you never say it was in Class C or Class D or was Division 4 or Divi-sion 5. You’re a state champ.

I wasn’t in the Field House for the Weaver shot, but I did see it on TV. I’ve seen it on video so many times. I felt sorry for (Neenah coach) Ron Einerson because he was my hero. To this day, I think he was the best high

school basketball coach to ever come out of Wisconsin.

What I remember about the state tourna-ment is that buzz — that buzz that happens at the state tournament. Peoples’ steps are a little bit livelier.

We always have a Cinderella team in there and you’re always thinking, “Gee, what a matchup tonight. We’ve got this team play-ing that team, and they’ve got this player who is going to Wisconsin and they’ve got this player going to Marquette.” Those are the things I remember more about the state tournament than anything else.

Also, I enjoy the camaraderie: “Gee, I haven’t seen this coach in a year. Last year at the state tournament I saw him.” You get a chance to see the newspaper people — State Journal columnist Tom Oates always gives me his opinion.

People like (the late) Don Kerr, Jay Wil-son, Doug Chickering of the WIAA and

Deb Hauser of the WIAA right now, these are people who really put the heart and soul into the state tournament, making it special.

And it is special. You can take a great deal of pride that Wisconsin is the only state to have TV broadcasts of every game at state, boys and girls. From sunrise to sunset, it’s there and they do it right. It’s a great event. It’s part of Wisconsin culture.

It’s nice to see scorekeepers at the Kohl Center. Otto Puls has been there forever and Jon Reneau, who used to referee for me, and (the late) Gordie Bass and Fred Kinney. You always see Dave Kelliher around. I remember Don Lindstrom and Milt Diehl.

As far as players, I remember John Schell of Cumberland. He captured a lot of hearts at the state tournament.

Obviously, the best player I ever saw at the state tournament was Sam Okey. He was No. 1 and Joe Wolf from Kohler, what a good big man he was.

I’ve always liked those scorers. When Anthony Pieper came in, they were saying he scored over 2,000 points. I remember saying, “I want to see him play.”

Ricky Olson of Madison La Follette and Bob Falk from Madison West were out-standing players. There were so many good ones. Every year brings someone else to the forefront.

There have been a lot of great teams, but the Milwaukee Lincoln teams were tremen-dous. When you have Clarence Sherrod and Fred Brown on the same team, wow! It was something special.

It’s all been good; it’s all been positive with the state tournament.

Jerry Petitgoue’s state success at Cuba CityCuba City has a 7-4 record in seven WIAA state tournament appearances under coach Jerry Petitgoue:

1981 (Class B champion)

Semifinal: Cuba City 61, Shorewood 44

Championship: Cuba City 52, Ladysmith 47

1989 (Class B)

Semifinal: Clintonville 63, Cuba City 57

1991 (Division 3 champion)

Semifinal: Cuba City 36, Auburndale 35

Championship: Cuba City 50, Phillips 48

1998 (Division 3 champion)

Semifinal: Cuba City 73, Amherst 61

Championship: Cuba City 75, Phillips 67

2005 (Division 3)

Semifinal: Whitefish Bay Dominican 59, Cuba City 56

2012 (Division 4 runner-up)

Semifinal: Cuba City 72, Oshkosh Lourdes 27

Championship: Whitefish Bay Dominican 61, Cuba City 43

2013 (Division 4)

Semifinal: Whitefish Bay Dominican 55, Cuba City 47


Cuba City coach Jerry Petitgoue runs a few different offenses, including the stack and the swing. Another is the “Dribble Drive Motion,” because it often gets his players to the free throw line.


Petitgoue

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989• The WIAA allows teams to play 20 regular-season games, up from 18.

• The three-point line is introduced.

• Trevor Powell and

Marc Mitch-ell celebrate

Milwaukee Washington’s

44-41, dou-ble-overtime victory over

Fond du Lac.

• Sheboygan North (with fu-ture UW star Kurt Portmann) beats Appleton East, 47-38.

• Green Bay Preble’s Tony Bennett, the son of then-UW-Green Bay coach Dick Ben-nett, works against Ste-vens Point’s

Ben Johnson during a 45-39 quarterfinal loss. Bennett now is head coach at Virginia.

• Executive Director John Roberts says the WIAA will consider relocating

the state tournament to the planned new arena in Milwaukee.

• Coach Bob Wolfe’s Florence team becomes the first squad to finish 27-0 after winning the Class C title, 60-54 over Glenwood City.

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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994tourney teams of 1957 and 1958, coaches the Regents to a 77-63 victory over Milwaukee King in the Division 1 final.

• Veteran coach Jerry Petitgoue leads Cuba City to the second of his three titles, 50-48 over Phillips.• The tournament grows to four enrollment divisions.

was revoked because it played too many regular-season games. A judge al-lowed Hamilton to play, but its two state games later were ruled as forfeits.

• Milwaukee Hamilton sues the WIAA after its tourna-ment berth

• Wausaukee’s Anthony Pieper, the state’s all-time scoring leader, outduels Cassville’s Sam Okey in the Division 4 final, leading the Rangers to a 69-57 victory.

• Roger Wiebe, who played on Madison West’s state

• Cassville junior Sam Okey leads the Comets to a 67-56 win over

Goodman and the first of two straight Division 4 titles.

DENNIS [email protected], 608-252-6490

O nce Sam Okey fell in love with the game of basketball as a second-grader in the blue-collar, south-western Wisconsin town of Cass-

ville, he couldn’t get enough of it — winter, spring, summer and fall.

In time, Okey blossomed into a statewide legend, arguably one of the greatest high school basketball players Wisconsin has ever produced. He still ranks fi fth on the state’s all-time career scoring list with 2,539 points.

In September, he will be inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a player — in his fi rst year of eligibility — in a ceremony in Wisconsin Dells.

When WBCA executive director Jerry Petitgoue delivered the good news during a recent telephone conversation, Okey said it brought back a fl ood of wonderful memories.

“It got me thinking about all of the people I got to meet during my career, all of the peo-ple who helped me out and all of the places I got to go and the experiences I got to have through basketball,” said Okey, who now lives in Schofi eld, near Wausau. “Being from a small town like Cassville, I probably never would have gotten to do those things, espe-cially at such a young age.”

While dreams of an NBA career never materialized, Okey said he has no regrets.

“I defi nitely have great memories, like win-ning every game we played the last two years in high school. You got everybody’s best shot. Everybody wanted to knock you o� . I’m pretty proud of that accomplishment.”

As the WIAA celebrates the 100th annual state boys basketball tournament in March, Okey’s dominance in the 1990s will surely be celebrated.

He led Cassville to a 54-game winning streak and back-to-back WIAA Division 4 state titles in 1994 and 1995.

He fi nished his prep career with a pair of state tournament performances that, nearly

DAN CURRIER

Cassville’s Sam Okey drives past Oakfield’s Jason Collien in the first half of the 1995 WIAA Division 4 final. Cassville won 55-43. Okey had 33 points and 19 rebounds in the game.

two decades later, remain legendary:• In a 78-64 semifi nal victory over

Prentice in 1995, Okey achieved a triple-double in points, rebounds and blocked shots — with a minute left before halftime. He amassed 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots while leading Cassville to a 40-22 lead at the break. Okey fi nished with 30 points, 23 rebounds, 12 blocks and seven assists.

“That was crazy, but looking back, it was pretty cool,” Okey said.

• Two days later, Okey helped the Com-ets repeat as champions when he capped his career with a game-high 33 points and 19 rebounds in a 56-43 victory over Oakfi eld.

Okey said the man who had the most infl uence on his career was his father, Louis, who is now retired and living near Rice Lake with Sam’s mother, Amy.

“He’ll still tell you he has a better shot than me,” Okey chuckled. “I had a lot of great coaches along the way. I played AAU for coach (Jerry) Petitgoue when I was 11 to 13 years old and he was coaching for Cuba City. In the summertime, I had (Wisconsin coach) Bo Ryan as a mentor from when I was in fi fth grade on, when he was coach-ing in Platteville.

“At Cassville, I had coach (Dennis) Uppena, who was a great infl uence on my life, not just as a basketball player. And then all of my coaches in college, like Dick Ben-nett at Wisconsin and Tom Davis when I was at Iowa. I had a lot of southwestern Wisconsin ties, but it all started with my dad.”

Okey said he also treasurers the memories of playing with his Cassville teammates.

“The best part was just playing with the guys. We really had a group of about seven who were about a year apart in age. I never played on any team with a group of guys where we knew where each other (would

Fond flashbackCassville’s Sam Okey looks back upon a dominant prep career that

included a 54-game winning streak and consecutive state titles

Please see OKEY, Page 23


be) at all points in time.“We didn’t have to talk about it. If I

wanted to go backdoor for a lob, I didn’t have to say anything. All I had to do was look at them and they knew what to do. They were always in the right spot if I was double-teamed. It was quite a feeling. We were like a well-oiled machine playing ball.”

However, Okey attributed the enthusiasm and showmanship in his game to his expo-sure to basketball on the Amateur Athletic Union and Milwaukee summer circuits.

“In high school, I played with Diante Fle-norl and Corey Reed, all of the Milwaukee guys,” said Okey, who recalled his fi rst AAU experience was playing for a traveling sum-mer team from Cuba City.

“Coach Jerry Petitgoue got me on his team and we ended up going farther than we thought we could. We were 12 and 13 years old and played against Diante and Corey and D.J. Walker and all of those guys back then. We got spanked. All of the guys I was playing with on the team were a little shell-shocked.”

Okey said his father quickly turned the crushing setback into a positive.

“My dad said, ‘Listen, if you want to make basketball your career someday, or if you want it to take you places and see how far you can get, you’re going to have to play like that,’ ” Okey said.

His father contacted Marty McGlothan, an AAU coach in Milwaukee. Every summer from then on, as soon as the school year was over, Sam traveled to Milwaukee and spent the summer playing basketball with McGl-othan’s inner city-based program.

Okey also played with an AAU program based out of Randolph, and says he owed a lot of his growth as a player to Hugh Rob-erts, the man who helmed that club.

As a senior in 1995, Okey was named the state’s Mr. Basketball, earned All-American

honors and played in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Game.

A University of Wisconsin recruit, he played 2½ years for the Badgers — earning Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year accolades and back-to-back all-league second-team honors — before transfer-ring to the University of Iowa to com-plete his collegiate career. His professional career included stints in Turkey, Italy and Finland.

“When I think back, everybody has regrets about certain decisions and what they might have done di� erently,” he said. “But all in all, I got to travel the world and play overseas, got to play in the CBA and had a great time in college. I got to play in the McDonald’s game, which was something special, so I don’t have any regrets.”

Okey, who is married and works as a cor-porate liaison for Dudley Corporation in Wausau, said a back injury eventually led to the end of his playing career. But he has transferred his passion for the game into coaching.

“I have some kids on an AAU team I’m working with in Wausau,” he said. “I’ll tell you, it’s a lot easier to tell people what to do than it is to go out there and show them how to do it.”

Okey played in the state championship game all four years in high school, averag-ing 27.3 points and 16 rebounds per game. He said one of his favorite games remains the Comets’ 69-57 loss to Wausaukee — and state all-time scoring leader Anthony Pieper — in the Division 4 state fi nal during his sophomore year.

“It wasn’t like we weren’t guarding him, or we didn’t know he was going to shoot it. He could still hit them. That’s what made him so impressive,” Okey said after Pieper outscored him, 42-33.

“It was a great game. But I would have liked to have played him when I was a senior and he was a senior. That would have been a lot of fun.”

• The state tournament re-locates 0.8 miles east down Dayton Street to the brand-new Kohl Center, its home to this day.

• With perhaps the most stifling defense the tour-ney has seen, Milwaukee Vincent begins a run of five titles in six years.

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999• In the Division 3 cham-pionship game, Jerry Pritzl scores 25 points to lead Park Falls past Omro, 57-53, to complete a 27-0 season.

• In his third consecutive finals appearance, Sam Okey leads Cassville past Oakfield 56-43 for the Division 4 championship.

• Coach Tom Diener leads Vincent past Washington in an all-Milwaukee final, for the second of three straight “V-House” titles.

MORRY GASH

Cassville’s Sam Okey gets a hug from teammate John Koopman (35) after their WIAA Div. 4 semifinal win over Randolph on March 18, 1994. Cassville won 54-52 in overtime.


Okey


• Appleton West’s

Brian Butch

breaks a 45-year-

old record with 45

points in a quarter-

final vs. Milwaukee

Custer.

• The WIAA adds pri-vate schools for the first time, starting with the 2001 tour-ney. Debate rages (and continues to this day) over the methods used to classify private schools by division.• Seymour begins a run of eight straight Division 2 state trips.

• Starting a run of seven finals appearances in eight years, Madison Memorial falls to Milwaukee King 75-58 in the Division 1 final.

• Greg Stiemsma leads Randolph to the first of its record four consecutive Division 4 championships.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

• Veteran official Dave Kelliher of Madison calls his last game before retiring: the Division 1 final between Milwaukee Vincent and OshkoshWest. Vincent won 66-60.

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014 • 43

• Appleton West’s

Brian Butch

breaks a 45-year-

old record with 45

points in a quarter-

final vs. Milwaukee

Custer.

• The WIAA adds pri-vate schools for the first time, starting with the 2001 tour-ney. Debate rages (and continues to this day) over the methods used to classify private schools by division.• Seymour begins a run of eight straight Division 2 state trips.

• Starting a run of seven finals appearances in eight years, Madison Memorial falls to Milwaukee King 75-58 in the Division 1 final.

• Greg Stiemsma leads Randolph to the first of its record four consecutive Division 4 championships.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

• Veteran official Dave Kelliher of Madison calls his last game before retiring: the Division 1 final between Milwaukee Vincent and OshkoshWest. Vincent won 66-60.

WIAA BOYS BASKETBALL HISTORY

BROCK FRITZ AND JASON GALLOWAY | 608-252-6170

Thirteen lucky times. Thirteen talented times. Thirteen terrifi c times.Over the fi rst 98 years of the state high school boys basketball tournament,

Madison-based high schools have collected a baker's dozen of championships. A city school has kept the “Gold Ball” championship trophy in Madison at least once

per decade — except for the turbulent 1960s — since Madison Central won the third tournament sponsored by what is now called the WIAA, back in 1918.

Madison La Follette has won three times, West and Wisconsin High twice and East, Edgewood and Central once. The dominant program lately has been Memorial, which enjoyed a run of seven fi nals appearances in eight years (2005-2011), with three titles.

Aside from the Madison-based schools, only three other times have Dane County teams won WIAA boys championships: McFarland, under brash young coach Sam Mills, in 1973 and 1974; and Marshall in 2002, under Jason Treutelaar.

In fact, 2002 was a unique year in that three Dane County schools (not to mention nearby neighbor Randolph in Division 4) won championships, with La Follette taking Division 1 and Edgewood winning Division 2.

A closer look at the city’s championship successes:

1918Madison Central 37, Watertown 17

Madison Central (16-1) defeated Watertown (12-3) to win the third state tournament o¢ cially sponsored by what would become the WIAA. It was Central’s fi rst appearance. Central knocked out Eau Claire (18-10), Ripon (24-13) and Mauston (45-16) before beating Watertown in the fi nal.

The 1918 tournament was organized by athletic directors of the Wisconsin Normal Schools, now known as the University of Wisconsin System. From 1916 to 1918, the

tournament was held along with a separate tournament hosted by Lawrence College (now University) in Appleton that ran from 1905-1918. The 1905 tournament was the fi rst state basketball tournament in the nation.

While Madison Central won the Wis-consin Normal Schools tourney in 1918, Wisconsin Rapids won the tournament held at Lawrence College.

The WIAA took control of the tourna-ment during the 1919-1920 season. The Wisconsin Normal Schools tournament is the one recognized today as the original Wisconsin state tournament.

1923Wisconsin High 26, Oshkosh 13

Wisconsin High (15-3) — also known as “Whiskey High” in a time which fell in the Prohibition era — earned the fi rst state title in school history with a dominating performance against Oshkosh (16-4). Key players Stehr, Nelson and Holzworth led the way for the Badger Preps.

The Badger Preps fell behind early but recovered to win decisively. On its way to the fi nal, Wisconsin High defeated Apple-ton 26-21; Two Rivers 37-20; and Stevens Point 23-12. Coach Ira Davis and his team had fi nished fourth in the tournament a year earlier.

1931Wisconsin High 20, Racine Park 19

The Badger Preps became one of what is now 43 teams in WIAA history to fi nish their championship season undefeated, going 21-0 with their narrow victory over Park. Coach Russell Rippe’s team survived as Shad Loughborough led the way with seven points and Petie Nelson added fi ve.

Racine Park led at halftime and at the end of the third quarter before Art Tol-chin scored the go-ahead basket in the fourth. To get to the fi nal, the Badger Preps defeated Watertown 12-8, in a semifi nal;

THE MADLISTThirteen times, Madison’s high schools have

completed the climb to the top of the WIAA heap

Continued on Page 45

CRAIG SCHREINER

Madison Memorial’s 2011 state tournament hero, sophomore Brendan Ortiz.



2005 2006 2007 2008 2009• Randolph beats Oshkosh Lourdes to win a record fourth straight state title, going 101-6 during its run.

• Racine St. Catherine’s becomes the fifth school and the first private school to win three straight titles.

• The WIAA goes to a three-man officiating crew for tournament games, up from two.

• The WIAA allows boys and girls basketball teams to play 22 regular-season games, up from 20.

• With Lance Randall step-ping in to coach after his father Steve’s 2004 death, Oshkosh West goes 26-0.

• Benton alum Jim Blaine coaches the Zephyrs to the Division 4 title.

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014 • 45

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009• Randolph beats Oshkosh Lourdes to win a record fourth straight state title, going 101-6 during its run.

• Racine St. Catherine’s becomes the fifth school and the first private school to win three straight titles.

• The WIAA goes to a three-man officiating crew for tournament games, up from two.

• The WIAA allows boys and girls basketball teams to play 22 regular-season games, up from 20.

• With Lance Randall step-ping in to coach after his father Steve’s 2004 death, Oshkosh West goes 26-0.

• Benton alum Jim Blaine coaches the Zephyrs to the Division 4 title.


Wisconsin Rapids 14-13, in a quarterfi nal; and Beloit 17-14, in the fi rst round.

Joe Kelly was named unanimously to the All-State team. Wisconsin High fi nished the 1930-1931 season winning the Southern Wisconsin Six conference, the Madison city title, the Monroe district championship and the state title.

Wisconsin High closed in 1964 and its building (at 425 Henry Mall) was razed in 1990.

1945Madison West 44, Lena 35

Madison West owns the oldest gold ball of all the city schools that remain open. The Regents (22-1) beat Lena (25-2) in the fi nal after beating Eau Claire 52-34 and Ashland 34-26 in earlier rounds.

Madison West jumped to a 15-0 fi rst-quarter lead against Lena. The combined scoring total of 79 points set a tournament record for a championship game.

Don Page, West’s leading scorer and an All-State forward, led the team with 16 points. West shot 32.3 percent throughout the tournament, a remarkable number for that era.

The Regents fi nished the season with a 20-game winning streak. Their only loss came to Rockford (Ill.) West.

Jack Wise, West’s second-leading scorer, earned second-team All-State honors. Coach Willis Jones’ team consisted of 10 seniors.

Also in 1945, Madison Edgewood won the state Catholic school championship, marking the fi rst time that one city held both the public and Catholic titles.

1958Madison East 62, Milwaukee North 59

The Purple and Gold (22-3) and their

fi rst-year coach, Verlyn Belisle, knocked o� Milwaukee North for the only title in school history.

Milwaukee North trimmed the East lead to 60-59 before Pat Richter — yes, that Pat Richter — made a layup with 7 seconds on the clock. During the regular season, Richter had one game in which he scored 50 points and another in which he grabbed 40 rebounds.

The Purple and Gold got past Big Eight co-champion Madison West 57-55 in the semifi nal. Ron Staley led East with 18 points as East won the season series against the Regents, two games to one. Staley earned fi rst-team all-tournament honors and Richter made the second team.

Richter went on to become a three-sport star at UW (earning nine letters) and played eight seasons for the NFL’s Washington Redskins before becoming Wisconsin’s ath-letic director. Staley played end at UW and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.

1977Madison La Follette 65, Eau Claire Memorial 48

The Lancers (17-8), who fi nished in a fourth-place tie with Janesville Craig in the Big Eight Conference race, made an unexpected run to the Class A fi nal, capped by a runaway victory over second-ranked Eau Claire Memorial (23-2).

Pete Sheild shot 8-for-11 from the fi eld for 19 points, Mark Levenick went 8-for-9 for 18 points and added nine rebounds and the Lancers shot 63.6 percent (28-for-44), a state record at the time. Ross Anderson, who went on to play football at UW, added 12 points.

The Old Abes had been to state 15 times since Madison last produced a fi nalist in 1958. It was the fi rst time the Lanc-ers had advanced past the regional level in the school’s 13-year history. Levenick, Sheild and Anderson each made the all-tournament team and the Lancers became

one of 36 teams to win a gold ball in its fi rst trip to state.

1982Madison La Follette 63, Stevens Point 61

Coach Pete Olson and the Lancers (20-5) advanced to state for the third time in six years and beat Stevens Point (24-1) to pick up the second title in school history.

The Lancers’ leader with 24 points was Rick Olson (no relation to the coach), the winner of the state coaches associa-tion’s inaugural Mr. Basketball award after becoming Madison’s all-time, single-season scoring leader. Olson scored 82 points in three tournament games.

La Follette trailed by one point after the Panthers’ Bill Gi� ord hit a jumper with 45 seconds remaining. Scott Hogan took a pass from Olson and scored to put La Follette back on top at 60-59. The Lancers forced a turnover on the ensuing possession and 6-foot-6 Steve Amundson made two free throws with 4 seconds left to lock up the victory.

La Follette tied the state record for single-game accuracy from the free throw line, making all 12 of its tries.

Olson went on to play at Wisconsin, teaming up with Stevens Point star Jay Laszewski. Amundson went on to play at Western Michigan.

1992Madison West 77, Milwaukee King 63

Coach Roger Wiebe’s Regents (25-2) pulled o� an impressive upset, handling defending champion and top-ranked King (26-1) to win the school’s second state title.

The heavily favored Generals, ranked 11th in the nation by USA Today prior to the loss, had knocked out the Regents in a 1991 quarterfi nal.




The starting five for Madison East High School basketball team compete in the 1958 WIAA state tournament. From left are Bob Powers, Ron Staley, coach Verlyn Belisle, Pat Richter, Dave Heisig and Dale Holzhuter.



26 • Sunday, March 8, 2015 WIScOnSIn STaTE JOurnaLWISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014 • 47

2010 2011 2013 2014• The 100th WIAA state basketball tournament brings students, families, coaches and fans together in Madison once again.

• Randolph wins the Divi-sion 4 title and sets a state record for victories in one season with 29.

• The WIAA adds a fifth tournament enrollment division and restructures the state field so that four teams qualify for state in each division.

• Madison Memorial beats De Pere

80-78 in the only triple-overtime

final in state tourney history.

2012 Sheboygan Lutheran past Racine Luth-eran 67-66 in the Division 5 final.

• Sam Dekker of Sheboygan Lutheran scores 40 points, 12 in the final 48.5 seconds, to lead

• Randolph coach Bob Haffele retires after leading the Rockets to their state-record 10th championship.


Seniors Mike Dammen and Alex Comp-ton led the Regents o� ensively with 27 and 26 points, respectively. Dammen made fi ve consecutive 3-point baskets in the third quarter as the Regents opened a 49-29 lead. Senior Myron Adams (15 rebounds) and junior Alec Moeser (11) controlled the boards and shut down the Generals’ big Division 1 recruits, Otto McDu� e (Wis-consin) and Brian Currie (Marquette).

Wiebe, who played on the Regents’ fi rst state championship team in 1957, retired as West’s coach in 1997 after 27 years.

2002Madison Edgewood 62, Seymour 38

In the Division 2 fi nal, the Crusaders (24-3) blew out defending champion Seymour (22-4), making Edgewood’s only WIAA tournament appearance — in only its second year as a full WIAA member — a crowning success.

Crusaders forward Nick Gardon scored 11 points, guard Alvah Hansbro had 10 points and four assists and the Crusaders held Seymour to 11-for-32 shooting, tiring out the Thunder with an attacking, full-court press that led to 23 turnovers and a 17-4 third-quarter run. The fi nal margin came within four points of the record for the largest margin of victory in a D2 fi nal.

It was just the second year the Crusad-ers were eligible to win the title because private schools had a separate state organization (the Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association) through 1999-2000 until being admitted into the WIAA in 2000-2001.

In a semifi nal, Edgewood defeated Brown Deer and Wisconsin Player of the Year Steve Novak — who went on to star at Marquette and is now in his ninth NBA season, playing for the Toronto Raptors.

2002Madison La Follette 43, Fond du Lac 40

Senior center Quincy Henderson, a future Creighton player, totaled 13 points and eight rebounds to lead the Lancers (25-11) past surprising Fond du Lac (16-11).

The Lancers’ defense and quickness proved to be keys, as they forced 15 Cardi-nals turnovers and outscored Fond du Lac 24-0 in fast-break points. Still, the game went down to the wire.

The Lancers held a two-point lead with 25 seconds left when Henderson grabbed an o� ensive rebound after junior forward Jonte Flowers (seven points, seven rebounds, six steals) missed the front end of a one-and-one. Jonte’s sophomore brother, Michael (11 points), missed the front end of the ensuing bonus — but the Lancers again got it back before the eldest Flowers brother, senior point guard Jason, hit a free throw for a three-point lead. Fond du Lac’s Matt Sprader had a three-quarter court heave fall short at the buzzer.

In a quarterfi nal, the Lancers needed a basket from Michael Flowers at the buzzer to pull out a 51-49 victory over Appleton West and McDonald’s All-American and future Wisconsin center Brian Butch (29 points, 15 rebounds). Jonte Flowers col-lected a Division 1-record 17 steals in three tournament games.

Each of the Flowers brothers went on to play collegiately: Jason at Madison Area Technical College; Jonte at Winona State University in Minnesota (where he won two NCAA Division II championships and received All-American honors); and Michael at Wisconsin.

2005Madison Memorial 63, Milwaukee Vincent 55

Senior guard Wesley Matthews scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Spartans (24-2) beat future Badger

Marcus Landry and Milwaukee Vincent (20-6).

“That was the beginning of it, and that was special because we were the fi rst (Memorial) team to have done it,” Spartans coach Steve Collins said. “The Milwaukee city schools had really dominated a lot of the Division 1 state titles, and we were one of the fi rst ones to kind of crack that.”

Center Kori Vernon had 13 points and nine rebounds in support of Matthews, who went on to play at Marquette and in the NBA. Landry, a forward, fi nished with 21 points and eight rebounds for Vincent.

Matthews, who now is with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, totaled 85 points in three tournament games. Vernon added 41 points and 33 rebounds.

2009Madison Memorial 56, Racine Horlick 41

Senior forward and state Mr. Basketball award winner Jeronne Maymon, and junior guard Vander Blue, drove the Spartans to a title. The Spartans (26-1) opened a 27-11 halftime lead over the Rebels (24-2) and never wavered.

Maymon, now playing at the University of Tennessee, scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds — one year after he had 33 points and 17 rebounds in Memorial’s overtime loss in the 2008 state title game.

“We had lost a tough one the year before,” Collins said. “(Maymon) basically said in the press conference in ’08 that we were going to come back and we were going to win it in ’09.”

Blue had 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Spartans held Rebels senior Jamil Wilson, who (after a side trip to the University of Oregon) eventually became Blue’s team-mate at Marquette, to just nine points. The toughest game for the Spartans was a 64-60 overtime thriller against a game Bay Port squad in the semifi nals.

2011Madison Memorial 80, De Pere 78 (3 OT)

The Spartans (22-6) won their third gold ball in eight years, beating the Cardinals (25-3) in a triple-overtime classic crafted by the sheer will of sophomore guard Brendan Ortiz.

“The ’11 team was really kind of the Cin-derella team,” Collins said. “We didn’t have a Division I player on that team. We were good, but every game in the tournament was really close.”

Ortiz hit the game-winning runner with 2 seconds left in the third overtime, giving him 15 points and fi ve assists in 41 minutes on the fl oor. That wasn’t Ortiz’s only big shot — actually, the game’s entire clutch run seemed to belong to the diminutive youngster who found himself solidly “in the zone” on the state’s biggest stage.

With 1 second left in regulation, Ortiz hit a 3-pointer to force overtime. In both the fi rst and second overtimes, the sopho-more went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to force an extra period. In the third overtime, Memorial fell behind, 78-75, after a 3-pointer by Cardinals senior guard Reece Zoelle, but Ortiz answered to set up the game-winning shot.

“I think that’s possibly the best high school basketball game ever played, at least at the state tournament, as far as excite-ment,” Collins said.

Senior guard Tre’ Burnette led the Spar-tans with 17 points and seven rebounds and Junior Lomomba had 16 points, six rebounds and four steals. Zoelle and junior forward Brett VandenBergh led the Cardi-nals with 19 points apiece.

It was just the 12th overtime champi-onship game in the 97-year history of the WIAA, and the lone triple-overtime game. The victory concluded a run of seven state championship game appearances in eight seasons for the Spartans.

Continued from Page 45Continued from Page 25

WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL SUNdAy, MARCh 8, 2015 • 27

GRIDIRON GLORY Some of the Wisconsin-grown athletes who graduated from the WIAA state basketball tournament to the NFL

PAT RICHTERMadison East: Class of 1959WIAA state: 1958 championsCollege FB: Wisconsin (E, WR, P)NFL: Washington, 1963-1970

JOHN ANDERSONWaukesha (South): Class of 1973WIAA state: 1972, 1973College FB: Michigan (LB)NFL: Green Bay, 1978-1889

MARK BORTZPardeeville: Class of 1979WIAA state: 1978 runner-upCollege FB: Iowa (DT)NFL: Chicago, 1983-1994

TIM STRACKAMadison West: Class of 1978WIAA state: 1976, 1978College FB: Wisconsin (TE)NFL: Cleveland, 1983-1984

DAVID GREENWOODPark Falls: Class of 1979WIAA state: 1978 runner-up; 1979College FB: Wisconsin (S)NFL: TB, 1985; GB, 1986; LAR, 1988

MARK TAUSCHERAuburndale: Class of 1995WIAA state: 1993 champions; 1994; 1995 runner-upCollege FB: Wisconsin (OT)NFL: Green Bay, 2000-2010

JIM BAKKENMadison West: Class of 1958WIAA state: 1957 runner-up; 1958College FB: Wisconsin (QB, K, P, DB)NFL: St. Louis, 1962-1978

JOE THOMASBrookfield Central: Class of 2003WIAA state: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003College FB: Wisconsin (OT)NFL: Cleveland, 2007-present

JERRY TAGGEGreen Bay West: Class of 1968WIAA state: 1966, 1967College FB: Nebraska (QB)NFL: Green Bay, 1972-1974

JIM CALDWELLBeloit Memorial: Class of 1973WIAA state: 1973 championsCollege FB: Iowa (DB)NFL: Coach, Indianapolis, Detroit

FORT ATKINSON 1981Coach Don Gruber’s 1981 Blackhawks were the most prolific prep basketball team in state history — in terms of generating NFL players. Three players spent time in the NFL; a fourth, Mike Smrekar (No. 44 at left), played tight end for the Badgers; a fifth, Brian Borland (20), is in his first year as defensive coordinator at the University at Buffalo after 20 years at UW-Whitewater.The 1981 Blackhawks’ NFL alumni:John Offerdahl (40): Miami Dolphins, LB, 1986-1993. College: Western Michigan.Keith Neubert (42): New York Jets, TE, 1988-1989. College: Nebraska.Jerry Quaerna (52): Detroit Lions, OT, 1987. College: Michigan.

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