Dozens of close plays, foul calls, missed and made buckets all factor into the outcome of any basketball game. There are almost as many such variables as there are ticks on the scoreboard clock.

There are also scores of reasons to believe Shawano Community High School will stay on its current hot streak and remain alive in the WIAA Division 2 state tournament. Some reasons are more persuasive than others, of course, and earned the right to appear in this column.

To that end, here is your starting lineup of reasons why Shawano will take the measure of Merrill on Thursday and advance to Saturday’s sectional final.

1. Shot selection: Granted, my perspective is limited in that I’ve only seen Shawano play since late January. Usually, though, if you watch a team long enough, there are the inevitable times a player will try a shot with two or three defenders on him, or throw up an off-balance heave that doesn’t have a snowball’s chance at the equator, or pop away shortly after crossing midcourt because he’d hit his last two and he’s feeling invincible. I cannot recall a single instance where someone in a Hawks uniform let fly one of those attempts so ill-advised that you’re shaking your head and wondering, “What the heck?” or sentiments in that general neighborhood. The way that the Hawks value possession of the ball is a testament to coach Chris Kellett’s instruction, and the players’ execution of it.

2. The crowd they run with:“Cheap baskets” can be something of a misnomer, because the team scoring one often forced a turnover to set it up. Nothing cheap about that. Shawano had a couple of handfuls of easy buckets in its regional-title smashing of Hortonville. The Hawks’ physical, defense-intensive brand of ball might suggest that they are averse to running, which is about a light year or so away from the truth. Jack Lacy and Sajen Knueppel are fast, high-flying forwards whose vertical propulsion often finds them above the rim at the end of a fast break. Both are outstanding finishers who can electrify a gym and turn the momentum of a game. As an added bonus, senior point guard Zach Sousek is as reliable a fast-break finisher as you could hope for in a point guard less than 6 feet tall.

3. The 3-ball: In the Dec. 5 meeting between Shawano and Merrill, won by Shawano 54-34, two Hawks in particular sounded the dirge for Merrill with their 3-point field goal shooting. Can you guess which two? If you said Eric Carl and Sousek, good guess, but wrong. Guard Braden Mueller made five of seven 3-pointers, and Lacy hit three out of four. Literally any of the Hawks who Kellett sends out can get hot from beyond the arc, which spells trouble for opposing pivot men dealing with 6-5 junior Zeke Gueths underneath. Carl, a freshman, leads the regulars this season in 3-point shooting, hitting 46 percent of his treys. Second-best among regulars is Gueths (43 percent), their leading rebounder.

4. Defense rarely slumps: Off shooting nights can happen anytime. Same with ball handling, or passing. But, as is the case in the baseball axiom which holds that basepath speed never goes into a slump, an off night of defense for Shawano is unlikely. Defense in basketball, as my high school coach averred, is 90 percent desire. At Shawano, which has allowed an average of 42 points a game and has given up 60 points just twice this season, there is no shortage of desire. Regardless of how the Hawks may shoot the ball, their D will show up.

5. Intangibles: The verbatim quote escapes me, but I’m pretty sure it was some French guy who said something to the effect of, “There is no greater force in this world than the human soul on fire.” There are about 15 or so such souls at Shawano right now. It is apparent in the body language, the ceaseless hustle and the sense of urgency that even at this point in their young lives, the Hawks are aware — certainly the seniors are — that they might never pass this way again, that this opportunity is of the one-shot variety, and to not grab it with both hands and squeeze would be a regret they are not ready to countenance. No 20-point win this time, maybe, but whether the margin of victory is one point or 40, the Hawks would take it. Take it, they will.

As endings go, this was the sumptuous gourmet dinner where the seventh course gave you food poisoning.

A brilliant season and a busload of dreams came to a stomach-turning halt Thursday night in Stevens Point when the Merrill High School boys basketball team battled back in the fourth quarter to knock off Shawano 43-41 in a semifinal of the WIAA Division 2 Marshfield Sectional.

Merrill took its first and only lead of the game with 3.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws by Chas Mootz, culminating a comeback whereby the Blue Jays erased an 11-point deficit over the final six and a half minutes.

“We had our chances,” Shawano coach Chris Kellett said. “They wanted it more and played harder in the second half. They got to most of the 50-50 balls, and our shots weren’t falling.”

It looked like a blueprint of the earlier meeting between the two teams, when Shawano broke open a close game with deft outside shooting and won going away, 54-34.

This time the Hawks were unable to shift into the put-away gear. At every turn where it looked like Shawano was going to run away with it, the Hawks failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities, and Merrill played tough enough to hang around and make it interesting.

“An absolute dogfight,” was how Merrill coach Kurt Soderberg characterized the showdown. “I’d rather not play Shawano anymore. They’re a good, senior-dominated team, and Chris does a wonderful job with them. We felt like (senior center) Keenan Stellingworth was our only guy who could match up with (Shawano center) Zeke Gueths, and that (Mootz) was our only player who could match up with (Shawano point guard Zach) Sousek. Those are two very solid players.”

Mootz turned in a big defensive play at the close of the second half, as Shawano was playing for a last shot while protecting a 24-15 lead. Mootz made a clean steal from Sousek and drove the length of the court for a layup with 1.2 seconds left that cut Merrill’s deficit to a manageable 24-17.

Still, it looked like all systems go for Shawano, which led 36-29 after three quarters and then 40-29 with 6:24 left in the game on a bucket and two free throws by Gueths (11 points).

Then the Hawks went cold. Sousek’s free throw with 1:16 left would be their final point of the season, and the Blue Jays (16-9) crept back on a basket by Mootz and a 3-pointer and pull-up jumper by Jake Anderson.

“We just couldn’t put the foot down,” said freshman Eric Carl, whose 12 points led Shawano.

A basket by 6-8 sophomore center Jon Gruetzmacher made it 41-39 with :55 left, and Mootz tied it at 41 on an offensive rebound with :07.7 remaining. After a scramble following a tipped pass on the ensuing inbound, Mootz came up with the loose ball, drove to the hoop and drew the foul that put him at the line for the game-winning foul shots.

Lost in the dejection of a second straight season-ending loss at the sectional semifinal was the strong performance by senior center Dylan Hintz, who turned in quality minutes spelling a foul-saddled Gueths.

“Anytime you win 19 games, it’s a great year,” said Kellett, whose team finished 19-6. “I’m proud of all our guys. Our seniors showed great leadership this year and worked hard at every practice. It was a disappointing loss, but it was a very good season for us.”

Merrill (43)

Reissmann 1 2-3 4, Anderson 4 0-1 10, Stevenson 2 0-0 4, Stellingworth 2 0-0 4, Mootz 6 5-9 17, Gruetzmacher 2 0-0 4.

Shawano (41)

Knueppel 1 2-5 4, Mueller 1 0-0 3, Sousek 1 7-10 9, Lacy 0 2-3 2, Carl 4 0-0 12, Gueths 4 3-4 11.

Merrill 4 13 12 14 — 43

Shawano 13 11 12 5 — 41

In a boys high school basketball season bookended with games against Merrill — a season-opening 54-34 win on the road and a season-ending 43-41 sectional defeat — the high points for Shawano in between those games far outweighed the lows.

After a loss to Seymour on Dec. 12, Shawano established itself as not only one of the area’s premier teams but also one of the toughest places to win. The Hawks won their remaining 12 games at home.

Suffocating defense was Shawano’s calling card, as three times the Hawks held an opponent to less than 30 points — a 62-24 win over Marinette, a 43-21 clipping of Clintonville and the postseason zenith, a 55-28 regional-title win over Hortonville.

The Hortonville win was notable in that it figured to be a close game — which it was until the opening tipoff. A more thorough drubbing could not have been imagined, or expected. Shawano’s 9-0 early lead only kept ballooning.

The whole of the team was greater than the sum of the parts, as you might expect, but there were some impressive parts.

Six-foot-six junior Zeke Gueths was the center of the Hawks’ solar system; his combination of strength and finesse made him the go-to guy in the halfcourt offense, the one who defenses had to make certain to mark. Even with the constant attention, he averaged 12 points and five rebounds a game and was a first-team All-Bay Conference selection.

Gueths, who next season will undoubtedly see even more defenses tailored to stop him, had a double-double in one of Shawano’s other quality wins. He knocked down 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 69-62 win over West De Pere, the conference’s second-place team and a sectional finalist.

Senior point guard Zach Sousek, a second-team all-conference pick, was the Hawks’ quarterback and arguably the heart of the team. Sousek, whose explosive first step and exceptional leaping ability made him a difficult defensive assignment, could have easily scored more than the nine points a game he averaged.

As Shawano coach Chris Kellett noted, though, Sousek is the quintessential competitor, repulsed by losing of any sort. Those kinds of players are the ones you want on your side, and Sousek’s successor at the point next year will have big shoes to fill.

Forward Jack Lacy, another leaper who jumped center for the Hawks, was an honorable mention all-conference choice, averaging about seven points and four boards a game. He is a considerable talent whose best playing days are ahead of him.

If not for an injured quadriceps muscle that kept him out of commission for eight games, senior forward Sajen Knueppel likely would have garnered some type of all-conference mention. His inspired play down the stretch gave Shawano’s opponents one more headache to worry about, and his enthusiasm on both offense and defense was contagious.

Freshman Eric Carl was Kellett’s ace-in-the-hole, and along with Gueths and Adam Bartz, he is a big reason to feel good about the Hawks’ prospects next season. Carl, a 3-point specialist with uncanny range, sank a number of his team-leading 61 3-pointers from far beyond the arc. He hit seven of 14 treys in Shawano’s 61-53 overtime win over Luxemburg-Casco.

Braden Mueller was a steady-rolling backcourt asset, as his 43 assists put him second on the team behind Sousek. His five 3-point field goals helped lift the Hawks to their season-opening win over Merrill.

Bartz, a junior forward, and Dylan Hintz, a senior center, were unsung role players who were effective contributors off the bench. Bartz was the team’s third-leading rebounder behind Gueths and Lacy. Hintz, a court-savvy center who was valuable giving Gueths the occasional breather, hit a remarkable 68 percent of his field goals.

The storybook end to the Hawks’ season, naturally, would have been a trip to Madison, plus two more wins after they got there. Nothing will erase that which they accomplished. It is worth remembering that some schools go four or five seasons without winning a total of 19 games.

Basketball nights at the Shawano gym — from the tight school band, to the clever cheering section, to the dominant home team — were a high-energy soiree, the stuff of great memories. The farther away it appears in the rear-view mirror, the better 2014-15 will look.

When a 15-year-old boy hears that, on the path he is taking, he’s going downhill — and fast, nearly 100 percent of the time the rest of the discussion does not go well.

To Brandon Zoll, it means job well done.

Zoll, a freshman at Shawano Community High School, is making a name for himself as an elite alpine skier. He recently finished in the top half of an Under-16 competition against the country’s best skiers at the Rocky Central Junior Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colorado; this after winning the silver medal in the Super G event at the Shelly Glover Memorial in Marquette, Michigan, Jan. 16.

Super-G, or super giant slalom, is a speed event, in contrast to the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, wherein skiers must negotiate a series of 50 to 60 gates, 10 to 12 meters apart for the slalom and 24 meters apart in giant slalom.

“The Shelly Glover Memorial was huge,” said Ron Lawrence, a Shawano resident and coach of the Wausau-based Granite Peak Ski Team, of which Zoll is a member. “What he did there was really big. It was the equivalent of a football team winning a state title.”

Zoll is a gifted athlete who played nose tackle for Shawano’s freshman football team last fall, and will high jump and run the 400 for the track team this spring. But ever since the first time he joined his father, Matt, and Lawrence to sample alpine skiing at Michigan’s Norway Mountain, he was irretrievably hooked.

“It’s quite different from everything else I do,” Zoll said. “What I like most about it is the sheer speed. It’s a different state of mind when I’m on the course — knowing that, if I were to fall, I could actually die.”

Sixty miles per hour, wearing no seat belt, with gravity doing its thing — this would indeed be an effective reminder of one’s mortality.

It would also be a fine source of that storied adrenaline rush.

“Brandon has a knack for going fast,” Lawrence said. “He thrives off speed and he’s unshakable when the pressure is on.”

Brandon’s father, Matt Zoll, has coached high school football, basketball and golf at Shawano, and been an assistant coach for the Team Norway ski team for the past five years. When his son joined the Granite Peak Ski Team, dad followed suit, as an assistant coach for the traveling program.

Having a family member on board helps Brandon maintain an arduous practice schedule that involves much time and travel. Brandon also acknowledged the good-hearted nature of his teachers at Shawano for their flexibility in allowing him the wiggle room to complete some of his assignments away from the classroom.

“Often times when you have a promising young skier, the coaches of the national or Olympic ski teams will prefer that the skier not go to college, in order to spend most of their time skiing,” Lawrence said. “It’s an uphill battle to get on a national ski team. It comes down to how much perseverance the skier has. Elementally, they’re still young at 18. There’s that gymnastics philosophy — push you early to get on a team, and if you decide to go to college, it makes it difficult for you.”

Brandon has high hopes for his skiing career — among his next major goals is to qualify for the U-18 national team at Copper Mountain, Colorado. But he’s also an excellent student who plans on going to college to study business.

“Soon I’ll be done with skiing until June, then I’ll go to a camp in Oregon,” he said. “Some mountains there are high enough to where there’s still real snow on them in June. I just want to keep striving to get better. I couldn’t believe I took second place (at the Shelly Glover Memorial). It was very exciting. I’ve loved skiing since I started. So far, this has been my best year.”

Bonduel High School junior center Peyton Czarapata was a first-team selection to the All-Central Wisconsin Conference-8 boys basketball team announced this week.

Czarapata averaged 14.6 points and 8.8 rebounds a game for the third-place Bears.

“Peyton played mostly junior varsity last year, so most of the teams didn’t know much about him this season,” Bonduel coach Duke Copp said. “The biggest turnaround for him this season was in his confidence. It’s nice that he’s coming back for another year.”

The Bears landed two on the second team — senior guards Connor Rosin and Colton Dobratz.

“Connor did everything for us,” Copp said of Rosin, a three-year starter. “He sacrificed scoring to pass the ball and play defense. We’ll miss him big time.

“And Colton carried us many times from about mid-season on. He had games of 24, 27 points. We’ll miss his experience.”

Wittenberg-Birnamwood freshman Trevor Groshek’s 10.4 points and 2.4 assists were enough to earn him honorable mention all-conference honors.

Pacelli’s James Gollon, who averaged 30.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in league play, was named the conference Player of the Year.

CENTRAL WISCONSIN-8

ALL-CONFERENCE

BOYS BASKETBALL

First team: Kristian Welch, Iola-Scandinavia, junior; James Gollon, Pacelli, senior; Nate Schmidt, Shiocton, sophomore; Tyler Biadasz, Amherst, junior; Garrett Groshek, Amherst, junior; Peyton Czarapata, Bonduel, junior.

Second team: Braiden Garbe, Iola-Scandinavia, senior; Gavin Braun, Shiocton, senior; Gage Kamp, Shiocton, junior; Dylan Pankow, Weyauwega-Fremont, junior; Connor Rosin, Bonduel, senior; Colton Dobratz, Bonduel, senior.

Honorable mention: Evan Fuhs, Iola-Scandinavia, senior; Matthew Radloff, Manawa, senior; Shane Manthy, Manawa, junior; Colin Jamison, Pacelli, senior; Trevor Groshek, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, freshman; Connor Zblewski, Amherst, senior; Amaziah McCall, Amherst.

Gresham Community High School senior Christian Haffner has been named the boys basketball Player of the Year and first-team All-Central Wisconsin Conference-10.

Haffner led the Wildcats to a 15-3 mark and second place in the CWC-10.

“Christian probably had a good enough year to win it last year, too, but he’s been a big reason we’ve had the kinds of seasons we’ve had since he’s been here,” Gresham coach Jeff Zobeck said. “He’s a shooter first of all, but over the years he’s developed to where he can get to the basket and score, too.”

Haffner, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged 24.9 points and 4.9 rebounds for Gresham, whose 15-3 conference mark was good enough for second place. Haffner, whose 449 points in league play were 167 more than the conference’s second-leading scorer, has been at the center of the Wildcats’ 57 wins over the past three seasons.

Gresham sophomore Neal Cerveny was named to the all-conference second team. Cerveny averaged 12.3 points and 3.3 assists as the Wildcats compiled a 21-4 overall mark.

“Neal took a big step for us this year,” Zobeck said. “He’s a good shooter with good quickness who can get to the rim. He’s also a heady player who I can trust guarding the opponent’s best player.”

Senior guards Michael Pecore, of Menominee Indian, and Chase Nueske, of Bowler, were also second-team All-CWC-10 selections. Pecore’s 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists led the Eagles, whose 10-8 record was good enough for a first-division finish, while Nueske was the league’s leading rebounder with 10.8 per game. His 13.4 scoring per game gave him a double-double average for the season.

Honorable mention awards went to Bowler senior Cody Montez (14.1 points per game), Tigerton senior Jacob Minniescheske (league second-best 9.5 rebounds per game) and Marion senior Jared Sawall (15.9 points per game).

CENTRAL WISCONSIN CONFERENCE-10

ALL-CONFERENCE

BOYS BASKETBALL

First team: Josh Schraeder, Port Edwards, senior; Chris Montag, Port Edwards, senior; Jared Joslin, Port Edwards, junior; Tanner Hudziak, Wild Rose, junior; Aaron VandeCastle, Wild Rose, senior; Christian Haffner, Gresham, senior.

Second team: Austin Bunders, Almond-Bancroft, junior; Dylan Bunders, Almond-Bancroft, sophomore; Chase Nueske, Bowler, senior; Michael Pecore, Menominee Indian, senior; Christian Baker, Rosholt, senior; Neal Cerveny, Gresham, sophomore.

Honorable mention: Cody Montez, Bowler, senior; Collin McCarville, Port Edwards, senior; Sawyer Fleming, Rosholt, freshman; Dayton Jones, Tri-County, senior; Kasey Zdroik, Tri-County, senior; Jacob Minniecheske, Tigerton, senior; Jared Sawall, Marion, senior.

Menominee Indian High School junior Ania Smith, who led the Eagles to a 16-2 mark and first place in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10, has been selected the conference’s Player of the Year in girls basketball.

The Menominee Indian girls team won its first 18 games of the season behind Smith, who averaged 16.8 points a game in conference play.

“We absolutely put the team on her back at crunch time,” coach Chris Rice said. “Ania works very hard. She’s very strong in the post, stronger than most girls her height, and she uses that strength to her advantage.”

Smith averaged a double-double for the overall season, with 17.5 points and 11 boards a game.

“She’s also a very good passer,” Rice said. “Having her back next year makes it a lot easier to be excited about the future.”

For her part, Smith sees the Player of the Year Award as a personal challenge.

“It’s an honor to win it, and I want to prove myself again and win it next year, too,” she said.

Bowler, which had one of the most breathtaking backcourts in the area, landed senior guard Ashlynn Brisk on the all-conference first team along with Smith, and freshman guard Reanne Kietlinski on the second team.

Brisk scored 16.4 points a game in conference and dished out 2.3 assists, while Kietlinski went for 14.5 points and 3.0 assists per game. Brisk and Kietlinski spearheaded a relentless Bowler fast break in a road win over Menominee Indian, which was the Eagles’ first conference loss.

Menominee Indian had a couple of second-team selections — senior forward Sasha Peters and senior guard Erin Wynos. Wynos, who scored just under 14 points per game, once hit seven 3-pointers in a game, while Peters’ 10-point average included a high game of 26.

Tigerton senior Katie Watters scored 9.8 points a game to garner second-team all-conference honors.

Honorable mentions in the CWC-10 included Marion junior Paige Polzin (8.8 points per game) and senior Cassidy Detert (7.4 points per game), and Gresham sophomore guard Sydney Jensen (12.0 points per game).

CENTRAL WISCONSIN CONFERENCE-10

ALL-CONFERENCE

GIRLS BASKETBALL

First team: Ashlynn Brisk, Bowler, senior; Ania Smith, Menominee Indian, junior; Bre Richter, Rosholt, junior; Amber Baehman, Tri-County, freshman; Jordyn Schrader, Port Edwards, senior; Johanna Shepard, Wild Rose, senior.

Second team: Reanne Kietlinski, Bowler, freshman; Sasha Peters, Menominee Indian, senior; Erin Wynos, Menominee Indian, senior; Isabella Weekly, Tri-County, senior; Katie Watters, Tigerton, senior; Alexa Gravunder, Wild Rose, sophomore.

Honorable mention: Paige Polzin, Marion, junior; Cassidy Detert, Marion, senior; Shantel Cordova, Rosholt, senior; Sarah Lauer, Tri-County, junior; Sydney Jensen, Gresham, sophomore; Marissa Ziegler, Port Edwards, senior; Catie Schmidt, Almond-Bancroft, sophomore; Ashley Mendoza, Wild Rose, sophomore.

Bonduel High School senior center Jen Dowden, who led the Bears to the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 championship and one of the best girls basketball seasons in school history, this week was named the conference’s Player of the Year.

Dowden averaged 13.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in conference, where Bonduel finished the season 13-1. She was also a Division 4 honorable mention all-state selection for the Bears, who went 22-2 overall.

“It’s a nice honor for her,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We had a couple of players who were effective scoring both inside and outside. Jen’s best asset as a player is her vision on the court. On defense, she’s able to understand the coverage and help out where it’s needed, and on offense she’s a good shooter who can go inside, and recognize when a double or triple team is coming and work the ball back outside.”

Bonduel senior guard Lexi Reinke was also a first-team All-CWC-8 pick, as the 5-10 senior guard scored 7.5 points per game in conference and kept defenses honest with her 3-point shooting.

“Lexi could take care of the ball and lead the girls up the court if anybody was pressing against us,” Missy Dowden said. “She was good going to the basket and her shooting gave us a lot of offense. She was a big part of our success.”

Senior point guard Deanna Zernicke was a second-team All-CWC-8 choice for the Bears and junior center Taylor Weier made honorable mention.

Jen Dowden and Reinke will play together one more time, as members of the North team all-stars in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-star game June 19 in Wisconsin Dells.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood junior Siri Zeinert was also a first-team all-conference pick, as her 11.3 points and 3.9 assists per game led Witt-Birn to a 12-2 mark in conference and 22-3 record overall.

Senior Micah Nier of Wittenberg-Birnamwood was a second-team all-conference pick, averaging 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in conference, and her senior teammate Erica White Eagle made honorable mention.

CENTRAL WISCONSIN-8

ALL-CONFERENCE

GIRLS BASKETBALL

First team: Kendra Dombrowski, Amherst, sophomore; Jen Dowden, Bonduel, senior; Lexi Reinke, Bonduel, senior; Karissa Akey, Weyauwega-Fremont, junior; Siri Zeinert, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, junior; Brooke Phillips, Iola-Scandinavia, senior.

Second team: Deanna Zernicke, Bonduel, senior; Tina Ubl, Shiocton, freshman; Carmen McCarthy, Shiocton, senior; Alyssa Goode, Weyauwega-Fremont, junior; Micah Nier, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, senior; Kylie Johnson, Iola-Scandinavia, senior.

Honorable mention: Taylor Weier, Bonduel, junior; Sami Kay Shafranski, Pacelli, senior; Chrstonna Shafranski, Pacelli, sophomore; Madi Morack, Shiocton, sophomore; Erica White Eagle, Wittenberg-Birnamwood, senior; Ashlee Strebe, Manawa, senior.

The boys high school basketball season is over at Gresham, but the awards continue to mount for senior guard Christian Haffner.

Haffner, who was recently named Central Wisconsin Conference-10 Player of the Year, was a unanimous choice for the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s Division 5 all-state team.

Haffner averaged 26.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game for the Wildcats, who finished the season 21-4, including a 15-3 mark in the CWC-10, good for second place.

Haffner was one of three unanimous all-state selections. The others were Sheboygan Lutheran senior Jacob Jurss and Bangor senior Canon O’Heron.

Haffner also will compete in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s 3-Point Challenge as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the boys state basketball tournament Saturday.

The 3-point contest will be held at 9 a.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Participants were selected on the basis of 3-point field goal shooting during the course of the season, with a minimum of 75 attempts. The top two shooters in each of the five divisions will compete.

Haffner led all Division 5 players with a .486 percentage (87 of 179).

Shawano’s Eric Carl was the fifth-most accurate 3-point shooter in Division 2 with a .466 percentage (54 of 116).

WBCA ALL-STATE

DIVISION 5

Christian Haffner, senior, Gresham Community; Ryan Dachel, senior, New Auburn; Noah Gosse, senior, Green Bay NEW Lutheran; Tiwon Jones, senior, Young Coggs Prep; Jacob Jurss, senior, Sheboygan Lutheran; Canon O’Heron, senior, Bangor; Zach Orlando, senior, Wausaukee; Aaron Schlies, senior, Wausaukee; Max Stockwell, junior, Hillsboro; Cody Tomlinson, senior, Washburn; Duke Vander Galien, senior, Randolph.

HONORABLE MENTION

Hunter Bolger, junior, University Lake School; Tyler DeYoung, senior, Central Wisconsin Christian; Caleb Kelley, senior, Sheboygan Christian; Austin Kurkowski, senior, Frederic; Chris Montag, senior, Port Edwards; Devin Oesau, senior, Gilmanton; Carver Phillips, senior, LaFarge.

Hockey teams able to cope with the occasional minutes when they’re playing shorthanded are known as good penalty killers.

When shorthanded gets measured in weeks and months, however, coping becomes a little more tricky.

Attrition has been a greater concern than high sticking or slashing at Shawano Community High School, where the hockey team endured the 2014-15 season with a threadbare roster.

“We have the talent on our team; we just don’t have the numbers,” said coach Bryon Lammers, who became the Hawks’ de facto head coach in December after the passing of coach Tommie Carlin-Schauer.

Shawano, which co-ops with Bonduel, went 2-14-1 as a varsity-reserve club in the recently completed season. A varsity-reserve club is not eligible for the postseason state tournament.

“We’ve got 13 skaters,” Lammers said. “That’s about the bare minimum to get by.”

Anyone who has ever laced up a pair of hockey skates knows the exhaustive, frenetic nature of a single, one-minute shift on the ice. Those shifts add up over the course of a game, and a season. A player can have the heart of a lion, but when the energy store is depleted, performance suffers.

As Lammers noted, the issue with the players is strictly one of quantity, not quality.

Junior captain and center Blake Stoss played productive shifts with wings Brendan Cummings, a senior, and sophomore Aaron Lammers. Sophomore defenseman Chris Hass was an assistant captain, and sophomore goalie Brendan Chapman won the team’s most valuable player award. Freshman defenseman Bryce Gagnow was having a good year until a broken hand suffered in January brought a premature end to his season.

“A couple of our better games were actually losses,” Lammers said. “We played Rhinelander, which has a good team and a lot of players. It figured that we were going to get blown out, but we lost that game only 3-1.”

Another well-played game that ended in defeat was the 7-3 loss to Merrill’s varsity. Three of Merrill’s goals came on the same major-penalty power play.

Quality opponents and a thin bench are legitimate challenges for a high school hockey program. Another is the depth to which one must reach into his own pocket in order to play.

“Instead of the $30 athletic fee that you pay to play in other sports, it costs about $500 per skater for the season,” Lammers said. “We try to keep the cost down as much as possible for the kids. We have a fundraiser in the spring, and we have a couple of others we do in the fall.”

Fundraisers would not be as essential to the program’s survival if the overall numbers improved. The program was stronger when Pulaski was part of the co-op, but it has since joined a co-op involving Ashwaubenon, Seymour and Wrightstown.

“We have a lot of Pulaski kids in our (youth) league,” said Lammers, who has indicated his day job could preclude his continuing as head coach. “Projecting it two years from now, we’ll have about 16 players from the Shawano/Bonduel area, and there would be another 16 to 18 from Pulaski. If the Pulaski kids would come back to our co-op, we’d have enough for a varsity team and a varsity-reserve team.”

There are numbers, and talent, in the younger levels of the Shawano Hockey League, too. Two years ago, the bantam team (ages 13-14) took eighth place in their division of the state tournament. The year before that, a Shawano team of sophomores and juniors finished fifth at state in their division. The squirt team (ages 9-10) took second place recently in its division of the state tournament.

“We have about 65 players in the mites and mini-mites divisions,” Lammers said. “Those are kids ages 4 through 8. If we can keep that kind of number as they come through the ranks, then our future looks good. We’ll do really well.”

Fewer teams than anticipated turned out for its inaugural broomball tournament Saturday, but that won’t deter the Shawano Hockey League from making it an annual event.

The event, which attracted six teams and raised $600, was a fundraiser for the Shawano Hockey League youth teams and the hockey program at Shawano Community High School.

“We were hoping to get 10 (teams), at least,” said Noelle Lammers, co-organizer of the event. “But we decided to give it a shot with the six and get it started. Maybe more teams will find out about it next year.”

As in hockey, each broomball team consisted of six players, including a goalie. Hockey sticks were replaced by aluminum broomball sticks, about 46 inches long, and the puck by a orange rubber ball about 5.5 inches in diameter. Participants wore rubber-soled shoes instead of skates, and the ice was prepared to improve traction. As in hockey, the goal is to outscore your opponent.

The “broom” at the end of each stick is molded rubber, about 8 inches high and 5 inches wide, with enough of a curve to enable a skilled player to add some lift to shots and passes.

Participants seemed to enjoy their time on the Crawford Center ice in the roundrobin tourney Saturday.

“It was a pretty good time, and a good time with my buddies,” said Cody Brandt, who played for Knope Roofing and Furnace Co Inc. “It is for a good cause. … The money goes to the teams, and hopefully we get more teams next year.”

Risk Rosenow, whose 5-year-old daughter, Roselynn, participates in the youth hockey league, played on the winning TimberPro team.

“I grew up playing Shawano hockey,” Risk Rosenow said. “I started when we were outdoors on the Wolf River, and I played roughly 10 years. And just this year, my daughter became old enough to start playing hockey.”

Rosenow said about 30 children played in the mini-mite division, the youngest of the club’s five age groups. He and the other volunteers did whatever they could to help.

“We were here three days a week, every week, for almost five months and we loved it — and miss it, and it’s only been two weeks since the end of the season,” Rosenow said. “It basically was our life all winter long.”

The tournament was organized by Lammers, hockey league vice president Greg Rusch, and parents Sarah Gagnow and Sandy Chapman.

While Lammers would like to have more teams participate next year, she was pleased with the reception of the participants and the families in Shawano “who made it happen.”

Raffle baskets were donated by Ho-Chunk Casino, North Star Casino, Seagrave and Bay Tek Games, which made an additional financial contribution. Rosin Woodwork Co. of Bonduel also made a cash contribution.

TimberPro, Modtech, Knope Roofing and Furnace Co. and Gary’s Doors and Services sponsored teams. Teams named Dillinger’s Fusion and Old Men Running also participated.

First-place TimberPro and runnerup Dillinger’s Fusion each donated its cash prize of $200 and $100, respectively, back to the hockey program.

Awards, laurels and well-wishes were in surplus Monday night at Bonduel High School, in recognition of the achievements of the Bears’ winter sports programs.

And a cursory peek at the registry of feats authored by the girls and boys basketball teams, the wrestlers and the hockey team revealed what an exceptional season it was across the board at Bonduel.

Athletic Director Roger Toole presided over the ceremony, thanking the booster club, the coaches, parents and fans of the Bears for their unwavering support, and finally “to recognize the athletes. … You are the pride of Bonduel.”

Girls basketball

The sting of a premature exit from the postseason was mitigated by the overwhelming success of the senior-led group that went 22-2 and won an outright Central Wisconsin Conference-8 championship.

Also making the job of coaching special for Missy Dowden was overseeing the improvement of her daughter, Jen Dowden, who en route to being named conference Player of the Year also garnered honorable mention all-state honors.

Jen Dowden, a 6-foot center, demolished numerous school records in leading the Bears to a 75-22 mark over the past four seasons. She became the school’s all-time leading scorer when she surpassed Bill Uelmen’s old mark of 1,322 career points, finishing with 1,397.

She also broke three other girls career records: rebounding — her 789 eclipsed the previous standard of 663, blocked shots (180) and two-point field goals (469, bettering the old record of 302).

Jen Dowden and guard Lexi Reinke were unanimous first-team all-CWC-8 selections and will represent the North team in a Division 4 all-star game June 19 in Wisconsin Dells. Missy Dowden will coach the North all-stars.

“I’ve spent so much time with this group since 2007 that when the season ended and the practices stopped, it felt like we got a divorce,” Missy Dowden joked. “This group got their first first-place finish when they were in fourth grade. You could see back then the impression that it made on them and how they wanted to do it again, to keep winning. This was a very special group who had an extremely successful season.”

The coach also noted the play of senior point guard Deanna Zernicke, a second-team all-conference pick, and junior forward Taylor Weier, who was honorable mention all-conference.

The senior group was special, and despite their having played their last game in a Bonduel uniform, the future looks promising. In addition to Weier returning next year, sophomores Emily Sorenson, Hayley Sorenson and Kailee Pedersen will be back. Emily Sorenson was named the team’s most improved player and shared the team’s strongest defensive player award with Pedersen.

Wrestling

Five wrestlers qualified for the state finals, with 160-pound Dan Tauchen and 170-pound Mitch Sokolski both bringing home fourth-place hardware. Travis Wollenberg (138 pounds) and Garrett Siolka (126) also qualified and broke the career 100-win mark along the way. Freshman 106-pounder Jason Boldt was the other state qualifier.

Sokolski ended his career at Bonduel with 99 victories, prompting coach Chris Rank to quip, “When he found out he finished with 99, he wanted to wrestle me to get his 100th.”

Rank’s Bears went 15-4 overall and 7-2 in conference, where Tauchen was named the CWC-8 Wrestler of the Year. Tauchen’s bid for a state title suffered a major setback when he broke his right index finger at the sectional meet. Bonduel, which ended the season ranked No. 5 in Division 3, finished second in conference, third at regionals, sixth at the 64-team Oshkosh on the Water tournament, 5-0 at the Seymour Multi-Dual Tournament and third at both the Shawano and Oconto Falls tournaments.

Tauchen, one of the team captains along with Sokolski, and Siolka were named the team’s most valuable wrestlers. Isaiah Griesbach and Brandon Novitsky were most improved wrestlers, and Wollenberg and Austin Siolka, whose 23-5 season was drawn to an early close due to an illness, won the coach’s award.

“Travis pulled some heroics to get to state,” Rank noted. “Winning by one point with a takedown almost at the buzzer … and Dan had just an amazing career — a 44-4 record, he wanted to be the best wrestler he could be. He’s just like his brothers, who had great wrestling careers here. It’s been an incredible journey and a lot of fun coaching all of these guys this year. There’s no place in the world I’d rather be than watching these guys participate.”

Boys basketball

The visceral satisfaction in proving your critics wrong came to Bonduel in the fourth game of the season and continued on throughout the 2014-15 campaign, where the Bears went 17-7 and finished third in the CWC-8.

Bonduel was picked to finish fifth in the league — a prognostication that went by the wayside on Dec. 12 when the Bears traveled to eventual conference champions Amherst and won, 56-52.

The Bears, led by junior all-CWC-8 center Peyton Czarapata and seniors Connor Rosin, Colton Dobratz and Hunter Vanderlinden, played their best game of the year Feb. 20 when they drummed a very good Pacelli team 55-44.

“It was a huge motivator for us, getting picked to finish fifth,” coach Duke Copp said. “I’m proud of the way this team played hard all year. It was an outstanding group. I’ll remember them as people, and not just basketball players. That’s as important as any wins and losses.”

Rosin was named the team’s most valuable player. Vanderlinden was Mr. Defense, Czarapata was Mr. Rebounder and senior guard Hunter Berry won the Sixth Man award. Rosin and Dobratz were second-team all-conference choices, and senior reserve guard Garret Riemer finished the season with the distinction of having made every field goal and free throw he attempted.

Hockey

Coach Bryon Lammers lauded the effort and the play of center Blake Stoss, who he called the most dedicated player on the Bonduel/Shawano co-op team. The hockey team’s main problem has not been a dearth of talent, but the scant number of players on its roster. Lammers noted that during a game against a deep, talented Rhinelander club, Rhinelander had more players ineligible than Bonduel/Shawano had on its entire team.

He drew one of the bigger laughs of the night when he observed, “Blake Stoss and Nick Bordman are the two best centers in Shawano County … they’re the only two centers in Shawano County.”

It will be one of the youngest softball teams that Shawano Community High School has ever fielded, and the Hawks will be looking to reverse the fortunes of a 2014 season that saw them start 5-4 and then go 3-10 the rest of the way.

It doesn’t take too long a look to find encouraging signs that this could be a breakthrough year.

For one thing, having an all-state catcher back in the fold is not a bad start.

Senior Courtney Ainsworth is back behind the plate for Shawano, and six other letter-winners return to coach Kevin Isaacson’s lineup. In addition to solid defense, Ainsworth provided clutch hitting last season. Her 25 RBIs gave her an average of better than one every game.

“It’s one of the youngest varsity teams in Shawano softball history,” Isaacson said, “but this group has significant varsity experience.”

Junior Alli Raddant, a second-team all-Bay Conference selection a year ago, is back at second base. Raddant hit .357 in league games last season, and will anchor the middle of an infield that also includes another second-team all-conference pick from a year ago, sophomore third baseman Saige Henning.

Senior first baseman Nicki Ainsworth and senior left fielder Briana Boda round out the returning starters for Shawano, which last year scored 10 or more runs in six games, including 22 against Marinette in the sixth game of the season.

A challenge for the Hawks will be holding down their opponents, who last year also scored 10 or more runs in six games, including the aforementioned tilt with Marinette, which the Marines won 24-22.

Junior Julia Beck and sophomore Sarah Petry are the other returning letter-winners for Shawano, which is counting on junior pitchers Sydney Schreiber and Hannah Hein for productive innings. Hein, who hit a haughty .500 in conference games last year, also plays outfield.

The Hawks swept the season series last year with Oconto Falls, taking both ends of a Saturday doubleheader, 7-0 and 12-1, and they also took the measure of Seymour, winning both regular-season matchups and then eliminating the Thunder 11-1 in the regional opener.

Shawano’s season ended with a 4-3 regional loss to Notre Dame.

“In addition to our seven letter-winners, we have several players who played varsity innings last year,” Isaacson said. “We anticipate a very fun, competitive season.”

If you subscribe to the time-worn postulate about pitching being 90 percent of baseball, then you can appreciate the level of optimism at Gresham Community School this spring.

The Wildcats, who return seven starters from last year’s squad, have a glut of talented arms at the ready, and a serious run at a Central Wisconsin Conference-10 title is anticipated.

“We’re looking forward to a great season,” Gresham coach Scott Cerveny said. “We’re set in the pitching position.”

Gone from the 9-12 club of a year ago is Scott Cerveny Jr., who as a pitcher, catcher and shortstop was a unanimous all-conference pick.

Back for another go are senior second baseman Kevin Ile, senior pitcher-catcher Christian Haffner, senior left fielder and third baseman Riley Neitzer, junior infielder-outfielder Beau Hoffman, sophomore pitcher and shortstop Neal Cerveny, sophomore pitcher and center fielder Derek Bowman, and sophomore pitcher and first baseman Ray Creapeau.

The road to the conference championship figures to run through Rosholt, which last year went 18-0 in league play, winning the title by a cozy six games over second-place Menominee Indian.

Nobody in the league knocked off Rosholt, but Gresham was the only team in conference to play the Hornets to a one-run game, an 8-7 setback last May 9.

The already formidable roster was strengthened with the addition of freshman pitcher-center fielder Drew Haffner, sophomore outfielder Legacy Skenadore and junior outfielder Dustin Thomas.

“I am excited to work with these athletes,” Scott Cerveny Sr. said. “I have worked with most of them in the youth baseball program and know the talent these players have.”

The Wildcats probably won’t have to wait long to see which way the winds are blowing in the CWC-10. They open with Tigerton, which swept them in last year’s season series and knocked them out of the playoffs, then take on Menominee Indian and Wild Rose before traveling to Rosholt for their fourth game.

Whether the young arms will all fulfill the potential that the Gresham coaching staff believes they have remains to be seen. Every baseball fan in the town will second the notion put forth by Scott Cerveny Sr. when he said, “I am excited to see what this year will bring.”

The race for the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 softball title won’t be settled in the first two weeks of the season, but for Bonduel High School, those games could go a long way toward finding its place in the league food chain.

The Bears will play four of their first six games against Shiocton, Oconto and Pacelli. Shiocton and Pacelli shared the conference title last year and handed the Bears back-to-back defeats that began a five-game losing skein for the Bears after a 4-2 start.

The April 11 doubleheader against nonconference foe Oconto gives Bonduel a chance to avenge last year’s regional-final defeat. Oconto eliminated Bonduel from the postseason with a 4-2 win.

Strong pitching is the panacea to all ailments on a softball diamond, and with senior Jen Dowden back on the mound, the Bears are already ahead of the game. Dowden, who also plays infield, was a first-team all-conference pick from a year ago.

Senior first baseman Lexi Reinke, a second-team all-CWC-8 choice in 2014, is an excellent defensive player and a reliable stick in coach Chris Reinke’s arsenal. Junior catcher Kaylee Rynish was an honorable mention all-conference player whose return gives the Bears a veteran battery, and sophomore shortstop Kaylee Pedersen is back to shore up the middle infield defense.

Dowden, Lexi Reinke, Rynish and Pedersen are hard-swinging veterans who represent the nucleus of what could prove to be a potent offense for Chris Reinke, whose previous teams include the 2012 group that went 13-11 and advanced to the sectional final.

A wild card in coach Reinke’s armory is the return of senior Dea Zernicke, who missed all of last season due to a shoulder injury sustained during basketball season. One of the best base-runners on the team, Zernicke is a letter-winner who can play a number of positions.

Other returning letter-winners include junior left fielder Taylor Weier, who will step in for the graduated Morgan Sorenson, and sophomore pitcher Cameri Gehm, who can play second base in place of the Bears’ other graduated starter, Courtney Schmidt.

A pair of sophomores, Brittany Wudtke and Kelsey Krueger, round out the returning letter-winners for Bonduel, which will seek to improve on a 9-9 record that included 6-7 in the CWC-8.

“It’s going to be interesting,” Chris Reinke said. “(Dowden) has looked good in practice so far. It’s huge that we have a good pitcher coming back. But ours is such a tough conference. Shiocton and Pacelli are going to be tough again. Both of them have good pitching. And Iola-Scandinavia has a lot of really good hitters. I don’t know if I’d feel very safe in the third base coach’s box with that lineup hitting.

“We’ve got a lot of talented underclassmen who will compete for a couple of spots. We could be right in the thick of the race, but we have to perform early in order to challenge for any conference honors.”

A good indicator of the resiliency of the Shawano Community High School girls soccer team last season was in evidence during a two-week stretch that began with the Hawks on the business end of a 10-0 pasting, compliments of Neenah in their April 17 season opener.

How does a team bounce back from a loss like that? How about with a 10-0 victory of its own, as was the case when Shawano regrouped and pounded Iron Mountain on May 2.

That the Hawks pulled it together in time to make a run at a Bay Conference championship is a matter of record. Shawano’s 13-7-1 mark of a year ago included 7-2-1 in the conference, where they finished third in the regular season, three points behind first-place West De Pere, and then second in the conference tournament.

With the prolific scoring duo of junior forwards Morgan Klitzke and Megan Klitzke back on the pitch, there are high hopes that this year could yield even more excitement than last.

Morgan Klitzke had 14 goals and 10 assists, and Megan Klitzke had 13 goals. Their combined 27 goals scored accounted for almost half of the 64 tallies that Shawano put on the board last year.

Beginning with a 5-0 win over Green Bay West at the Wausau West Tournament early last May, the Hawks began a hot streak where they lost only two of their next 15 games. Included in that run was a 2-1 win over powerful New London and a scoreless tie with West De Pere.

“We’ve got quite a few back from last year when we finished second, so we should compete for a conference title again this year,” Shawano coach Bob Croschere said.

The Hawks’ losses to graduation were considerable. Midfielders Lindsey McFarlane and Shania O’Kimosh and defenders Haley Going, Peyton Going, Kaitlin Phillips-Grassi, Mercedes Bayless and Libby Buettner all played their last game in the 2-1 regional loss to Marshfieldin June.

With the Klitzke sisters back, though, the Hawks have their guns poised for action. Sophomore goalkeeper Carlie Hinnefeld is back in net for Shawano, and senior midfielder Louisa Keenan, junior midfielder Sarah Dickmann and sophomore defenseman Colleen McFarlane also return.

SOFTBALL

Gresham 12

Marion 4

Gresham Community School notched its first victory in two years after defeating host Marion (0-1, 0-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) Monday.

Taylor Hoffman earned the victory for Gresham (1-0, 1-0 CWC-10).

The Wildcats were led by Kamille Davids and Mackenzie Hoffman, who both batted 3 for 5.

The Shawano Community High School boys track team finished sixth and the girls seventh Saturday at the Watertown Indoor Relays.

Watertown won the boys meet, and Slinger captured the girls title.

Daniel Boivin had the best individual performance for the Hawks boys, finishing first in the pole vault at 13 feet, 6 inches. He was also sixth in the high jump.

Two Hawks shared first place in the girls pole vault, with Onalee Siegfried and and Kristina Kurtz both clearing 9 feet.

Also finishing in the top 10 individually for the Shawano boys were Tyrell Hesse, second in the high jump at 5-8, eighth in the 200-meter hurdles and 10th in the pole vault; Kain Hill, sixth in the triple jump; Michael Mault, sixth in the long jump; Zeke Gueths, sixth in the shot put.

Two Hawks relay teams — the 4x800 and the distance medley relay (1,200-400-800-1,600) — each placed fifth. Chase Lhotka, Andrew Cardish, Brandon Pagel, Austin Lhotka comprised the DMR team. Austin Lhotka, Garrison Frechette, Brandon Pagel and Cardish ran the 4x800.

Erika Dunnam finished second in the girls shot put, with a toss of 33 feet, 2 inches.

Other Hawks in the top 10 individually were Averi Vomastic, eighth in the long jump; Christa Cummings, eighth in the triple jump; and Hannah Wendorff, 10th in the shot put.

The SCHS girls 4x160 relay team of Sara Hokenstad, Siegfried, Vomastic and Kurtz finished third, in 1:36:08. Hokenstad, Kennedy Erdman, Cummings and Kurtz were fifth in the 4x400 relay.

Watertown Indoor Relays

Team results

Boys: 1. Watertown 111, 2. Middleton 92, 3. Slinger 87.5, 4. Arrowhead 73, 5. Burlington 49, 6. Shawano 43, 7. Mayville 41, 8. Lake Mills 27.5

Girls: 1. Slinger 132, 2. Mayville 80, 3. Watertown 77, 4. Middleton 50, 5. Kettle Moraine 49, 6. Burlington 36, 7. Shawano 35, 8. Lake Mills 26

BASEBALL

Shawano 6

Oconto 0

Grant Waino pitched Shawano to a season-opening win Thursday on the Hawks’ home field.

Waino gave up only two hits in five innings of work, striking out 10 and issuing two walks.

Chase Henning provided the offensive spark, with two hits — both doubles — and three RBIs in three trips to the plate. Nate Laude went 2 for 3.

Seth Reed took the loss for Oconto.

Gresham 14

Tigerton 4

Tigerton had seven hits in its season-opening loss in Central Wisconsin Conference-10 play Thursday.

Patrick Bailey and Alan Parrott both went 2 for 3 for the Tigers. Hayden Harris, Jasper Block and Robert Graham also hit safely.

No Gresham statistics were available.

SOFTBALL

Port Edwards 7

Menominee Indian 6

Port Edwards rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning of both teams’ Central Wisconsin Conference-10 season opener Thursday.

Menominee Indian opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning and added two more in the fourth, but Port Edwards tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Eagles regained the lead with a run in the fifth, but Port Edwards again responded with to runs to take a 6-5 lead. Menominee Indian tied it in the top of the sixth, only to see the lead slip away again in the bottom half of the inning.

Kelsey Corn had four hits for the Eagles. Taylor Mahkimetas had four quality-at-bats, including two walks. She and Aaliyah Pecore each had two RBIs. Corn pitched for five innings and record five strikeouts before giving way to Mahkimetas, who fanned three.

Megan Burgeson went the distance to get the win for Port Edwards, which collected 15 hits; Menominee Indian had 13 hits.

In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

So we are told, anyway. Obviously, the great Alfred, Lord Tennyson never filled out an NCAA bracket sheet.

Most often in this locale, the arrival of spring means that ice fishers have to wait til next year before cooling their bones again and waiting for that momentous nibble, and that the Green Bay Packers report to camp in a couple of months.

The summer and spring typically do not engender a lot of excitement in the pro sports realm, largely because the last time Milwaukee won an NBA title, Richard Nixon was president, and the last time Milwaukee won a World Series, Nixon was making coffee runs for President Eisenhower.

With the University of Wisconsin piledriving through the West Regional en route to a second straight Final Four appearance, it is virtually impossible for a basketball fan — for a Wisconsin fan of any sport — not to be jacked up for Saturday’s semifinal showdown with undefeated Kentucky.

Can Wisconsin upend mighty Kentucky?

If you watched Kentucky’s regional final game, you know that the question being asked today could very easily have been one of whether Wisconsin could knock off Notre Dame. The Irish outplayed the Wildcats for about 39 minutes before falling by two points.

The cause for high optimism around Wisconsin is fueled by the idea that Notre Dame got rattled down the stretch with the upset in its grasp, and that in a like scenario the Badgers might better keep their act together. So far, Wisconsin has been unshakable. In their two most recent wins, the Badgers were able to turn up the wick when their backs were to the wall, storming back to knock off North Carolina and then sinking Arizona in a hail of second-half 3-pointers.

Wisconsin is a very well-coached team with one great player, 7-foot center Frank Kaminsky, another teetering on the brink of greatness, Sam Dekker, and a cast of role players who execute with precision and play with no fear. The Badgers’ seamless meld of team play makes them a joy to watch.

Kentucky’s glut of talent is legendary, although throughout the seasonlong hype of Kentucky’s greatness, there has been no breathless, premature coronation that has accompanied a few other undefeated regular seasons. No one, as far as I have read, has declared the undefeated Wildcats the Best College Basketball Team of All Time.

No fewer than three football teams had been annointed the Best-Ever before the season was finished: Florida State in 1993, Southern California in 2005 and the New England Patriots in 2007. All three of those teams were crowned by one media outlet or another as the best college/pro team ever to put on their pants one leg at a time — and all three of those teams were beaten in their last or next-to-last games.

Precedent in the massive-upset category isn’t limited to football. Houston was a lock to rout North Carolina State in the 1983 NCAA basketball final, and Georgetown was a sure thing to shut down Villanova’s improbable playoff run in ‘85. Both of those big favorites fell hard.

Speaking of upsets, one of Wisconsin’s three losses this season was to Rutgers. Yes, that Rutgers — 2-and-16, last place in the Big Ten Rutgers. In the case of basketball oddities, this is Exhibit A.

Another oddity is this: The last time a team went undefeated in Division I basketball was 1976, which was also the last time two Big Ten teams played in the title game. The Badgers will have a lot to say about a ‘76 redux, one way or another.