Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

The Midwest Player's Classic was held this year at the La Crosse Center this past Friday and Saturday, January 17th and 18th.

There were 15 games (14 boys, 1 girls) throughout the two-day event, and I was there for the games Saturday. This year's event featured 14 ranked teams across three different states and did not disappoint in terms of great games and performances.

A big thank you to Brad Reinhart, the director, for the hospitality shown and for putting on such an incredibly well-run event.

Below we will recap all the games, with just a commentary for the games not attended Friday.

On paper, this was the most lopsided of the matchups as North Crawford was undefeated and ranked fifth in Division 5 in the WSN Boys Basketball Coaches Poll and St. Ambrose was winless. Therefore, it came as a bit of a surprise when St. Ambrose entered halftime with a 31-25 lead. The Trojans rallied and outscored the winless Guardians by 20 in the second half. Junior Cullen Jacobus led all scorers with 24 points for Crawford who also got double-digit scoring outputs from Andrew Munson, Zack Bender, and Landen Blaha. Saint Ambrose was paced by senior Anthony Lyons.

G-E-T outscored Regis 28-21 in the second half to rally for a three-point win. Junior Mason Brone is a heady lead guard and led G-E-T with 14 points. Jackson Burns and Travis Theisen each scored ten points for the Red Hawks. For Regis, the duo of Owen Weisenberger and Blake Risler once again took on the biggest scoring production, tallying 17 and 15 points respectively.

Three nights prior to this game, Aquinas suffered its first loss of the season to MVC rival Onalaska. So it was a bit of a surprise when the Blugolds scored just 24 points at half and were down three to the .500 Crickets. 16-point differential in the second half resulted in this 13-point win for Aquinas, who was led in scoring by senior Brayden Young with 15. Treyton Bahr and Logan Becker both added double-figure scoring as well. Fall Creek got double-digit points from sophomores Jackson Tangley and Josh Wright.

Two Fridays ago Rice Lake was 8-0 coming into a matchup with Eau Claire Memorial. Since that point, they have gone 1-3 including this game with Stewartville, who was ranked ninth the Class 3A in Minnesota. Junior wing Will Svendsen led Rice Lake with 12, the only Warrior to score in double figures. Caleb Bancroft led all scorers with 23 for Stewartville.

East came into this one ranked third in Class 3A in Minnesota and took care of business against a good Stevens Point team. For SPASH, senior Grant Chandonais paced the scoring with 16 while Jaydon Awe and Baraka Makalin add 14 and 11 points respectively. For Mankato, Brogan Madson led all scorers with 20 points.

This game started as many 9:00 am high school basketball games do; sloppy. Turnovers and missed layups plagued a lot of first half possessions as both teams struggled to execute at a consistent level. Luther went into the half with a 21-20 lead.

The Knights offense took off a little more in the second half behind the play of senior trio Jackson Kendall, Synclair Byus, and Will Hueslkamp.

Kendall settled into the game in the second half, scoring all ten of his points after the intermission.

Byus is a smooth lefty that was the go-to scorer for the Knights, hitting shots from inside and out, while also getting to the rim.

Huelskamp had an unofficial double-double as we had him for 12 points and 11 rebounds in this one. He went 15 minutes without scoring in the game, but did a great job of facilitating out of the post and effecting the game with his rebounding acumen. 

Jayden Konter led Cotter with 13 points.

This one began very similar to the game before, riddled with mid-morning jitters. Eventually both teams did settle in.

Towards the end of the first half Lourdes' Sam Theobald went on a run to give the Eagles a one point lead going into the locker room. Theobald finished with a game high 21 points.

The Vikings came alive in the second half, making six threes and outscoring Lourdes 46-36.

Senior Keenan Eisermann played a great all-around game for Holmen, finished with a team high 19 points while adding a handful of rebounds and assists.

Kaiden Wilber is a springy senior shooter that finished with 15 points and had a few blocks though he stands at around 5-10.

Junior Alex Berget, usually a sure-fire shooter, didn't find the rhythm from deep, but scored 11 points by utilizing the mid-range game.

Jayden Bartels is next up for Holmen as the sophomore wing plays with great poise and confidence on the court. Off the bench, the sophomore scored ten points, including two second half threes.

Caledonia proved its ranking in this one, handing Mount Horeb its first loss of the season. The Warriors are ranked second in Class 2A in Minnesota and played an efficient second half after going into the break down five to Mount Horeb.

Mount Horeb junior Division 1 prospect Josh Manchester is one of, if not the top shooter in the state, but could not get it going in this one. The Caledonia defense ran at Manchester when on the perimeter and had a few defenders rotate onto him throughout the game that were physical and athletic.

Though he knocked down just one three-point attempt, Manchester did end with 24 points as he was effective attacking the lane while also rebounding the ball efficiently and facilitating well to his teammates.

Down the stretch, the team around Manchester struggled to find the bottom of the net, and Caledonia pulled away behind Reid Klug and Mason King. Klug (2025) finished with a game high 27 points while King (2025) had 14, most of those coming in the second half.

I left this incredible event most impressed with the Lake Mills team. A team I've seen through a screen a few times this year, the L-Cats are a must see in person. Offensively, this group is extremely unselfish and efficient. Defensively, they are fundamentally sound. And that is not taking anything away from Onalaska, who is a very good team in itself, but more an indicator of the team the Hilltoppers faced on Saturday afternoon.

Onalaska played a 3-2 during the first half, and the hot-shooting L-Cats took advantage. Lake Mills knocked down 11 three-point shots during the first half, led by junior Brady Benish who made six of those and had 20 points at half. Benish went 9 of 11 overall from deep and finished with a game high 29 points.

Sophomore Tyler Wollin plays with such poise and high IQ that he can effect the game in many different ways. In this one, he finished with 15 points and an unofficial eight assists and five rebounds.

Senior and Minnesota-State Mankato commit AJ Bender didn't need to force the issue in this one and finished with eight points and a handful of rebounds.

As a whole, Lake Mills buried 19 shots from beyond the arc, as they did a great job of utilizing ball fakes and making the extra pass.

For Onalaska, senior Broden Steiner is still a bit raw when it comes to the game of basketball, but his improvement looks apparent. He finished with a team high 15 points and a handful of rebounds.

Ian Kowal didn't get going for the most part for the Hilltoppers, but did have eight points and was steady rebounder, passer, and defender for his father and head coach Craig Kowal.

Kaukauna was coming off a big win over Fond du Lac on Friday night but took home one more to close out the week. The Ghosts used a 35-20 second half explosion to lead to the 19-point win.

The first half was close as River Falls knocked down eight three-point shots. Kaukauna's Caden Graff played very well in the first half, scoring 10 of his 12 points and hauling in a handful of rebounds. 

In the second half, Preston Johnson did his best to keep River Falls in, scoring 10 of his 18 points while also finishing with seven assists. Iowa football commit Eli Johnson finished with eight points and nine rebounds, and when in did a great job on Kaukauna big man Andrew Jensen.

However, when Johnson was out, Jensen took over. The junior Division 1 prospect finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds and became a focal point of the offense when he had a favorable matchup down low. Jensen also does a great job of timing his block attempts, as he finished with 5 in this one, including a few where he pinned against the glass.

Senior point guard and UW-Green Bay commit Keegan Van Kauwenberg was extremely efficient offensively for Kaukauna and did a great job of scoring and facilitating in the first half before taking over in the second. He finished with 26 points and 7 assists, scoring 16 of those points in the second half. Van Kauwenberg is extremely comfortable in the mid-range and off the dribble where he finished at the rim in a variety of ways.

A note, River Falls was playing without its top scorer in Brody Graetz who was on crutches and in his street clothes during this game.

Marshfield just could not finish its looks in this one as the Tigers fell to the tenth ranked team in Division 1, Waunakee.

Though Marshfield had a height advantage, Waunakee plays very physical and fundamentally sound team defense that made looks tough to come by, especially as the game wore on.

Kaden MacKenzie does a lot of good things for the Warriors and is very strong and athletic at 6-4. He was tasked with guarding a much larger Chris Pohl (6-8) for Marshfield and held his own. MacKenzie finished with 13 points and nearly ten boards in this one.

Fellow seniors Eli Selk and Vance Johnson did give up height during some stretches of the night as well, but are both very strong wings that have a good basketball IQ. Selk led Waunakee in scoring with 17 and iced the game with two made free throws with three seconds to go. Johnson assisted on five buckets in this game, and is a glue-guy for head coach Tyler Selk.

Midway through the first half, Marshfield senior Brooks Hinson did find a rhythm and began to take over the game with the ball in his hands. Scoring off the bounce and from beyond the arc, Hinson scored 17 of his game high 22 points in the first half. Senior lead guard Landon Lee was the catalyst in the second half, scoring 12 of his 17 points and keeping the Tigers in the game.

Junior 6-8 forward Chris Pohl finished with 14 points, but shot just 6 of 15 from the field.

The size of Linn-Mar was tough for the Old Abes to overcome in this one as South Dakota State recruit Davis Kern (6-9) finished with 27 points and numerous rebounds for the Lions.

Senior guard Mason Matson also played very well for Linn-Mar, finishing with 20 points.

Eau Claire was led early and often by its senior lead guard Cooper Jesperson. He attacked the rim well, put pressure on the Lions defense and helped the Old Abes go on a few different runs in the second half. Unfortunately, each run was answered by a subsequent run from Linn-Mar.

Jesperson finished tied for the game high with 27 points, scoring 20 of those in the second half. Senior wing Wesley Mboga was tasked with guarding the Kern and the taller Lions players most of the night and held his own where he could. Mboga also added 13 points while fellow senior forward Tay Ferguson had 12 for the Old Abes.

This was believed to be the best matchup of the weekend and boy did it not disappoint. Breck has six losses on the season but was still ranked the Class 2A poll in Minnesota. Wisconsin Lutheran came into this one as the top ranked team in Division 1 in the WSN Boys Basketball Coaches Poll and riding a 42-game win streak dating back to the first game of last season.

Breck did a good job in this matchup of challenging drives and used the group's athleticism to challenge and effect Wisconsin Lutheran shot attempts around the rim.

The Vikings do a great job of playing through the post, whoever that may be, and getting looks whether via the post up, cuts off the post, or inside out opportunities from the defense being sucked in. Wisco assisted on an other-worldly 74% of its made field goals coming into this game.

Sophomore Kager Knueppel had a double-double with 24 points an 14 rebounds and displayed an ability to consistently get to the rim and also knock shots down from the perimeter.

Alex Greene is a strong forward with Wisco that can make shots from deep or use his strong frame to dominant down low. He finished with 14 points.

Junior and Division 1 prospect Zavier Zens didn't have his most efficient game scoring the ball, but he effects the game tremendously with his scoring, rebounding, and facilitating abilities in his 6-7 frame. He finished with 15 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds and made the shot shown above to force the overtime period.

Wisco struggled to score out of the gate in the overtime period and were outscored 7-4 by Breck to close the game out.

For Breck, Miles Newton led the way, scoring at all three levels including a loud fast break dunk. He finished with 24 points, including four made three point shots.

Though I was unable to stay for this matchup, it went into halftime tied before Altoona ultimately pulled away.

Altoona was paced by its sophomore guard tandem of Graysen Becker and Owen Gunderson.

Becker is an athletic and aggressive 6-2 guard that plays downhill and finishes well around the rim. He finished with a team high 21 points without making a single three.

Gunderson on the other hand knocked down five shots from deep and finished with 19 points for the Railroaders.

Junior Sawyer Van Vleet added 14 points to round out the double-digit scorers for Altoona.

La Crescent-Hokah was paced by senior Berkley Mlsna with 15 points and junior Keaton Holter with 12.