THE STATE TOURNAMENT: The 47th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Basketball State Tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday, March 9-11, at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wis.
PURCHASING TICKETS: Ticket price for the tourney is $11 per session when purchased at the Resch Center. Tickets for the tournament will be available for purchase online at the Ticket Star website or by calling Ticket Star at 1-800-895-0071. Tickets can also be obtained through a link on the WIAA website at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets#4269713-girls-basketball. All-sessions, as well as individual session tickets, are available online for $11, plus $2 for processing fees per session.
STATE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: The single elimination tournament features a five-division format with four teams qualifying in each of the five divisions.
Thursday, March 9
Division 3
#1 Waupun (21-7) vs. #4 Milwaukee Acad. of Science (22-3) - 1:35 p.m.
#2 West Salem (26-2) vs. #3 Kewaskum (22-5)*
Division 4
#1 Aquinas (27-1) vs. #4 Mishicot (21-6) - 6:35 p.m.
#2 Laconia (25-3) vs. #3 Colfax (21-6)*
Friday, March 10
Division 5
#1 McDonell Catholic (24-5) vs. #4 Albany (28-0) - 9:05 a.m.
#2 Blair-Taylor (27-1) vs. #3 Wabeno/Laona (21-7)*
Division 2
#1 Pewaukee (27-1) vs. #4 Lakeland (22-6) - 1:35 p.m.
#2 Notre Dame (27-1) vs. #3 McFarland (26-2)*
Division 1
#1 Brookfield East (26-2) vs. #4 Germantown (23-5) - 6:35 p.m.
#2 Hortonville (25-3) vs. #3 Kettle Moraine (26-1)*
Saturday, March 11
3-Point Challenge - 9:30 a.m.
Division 5 Championship Game - 11:05 a.m.
Division 4 Championship Game*
Division 3 Championship Game*
Division 2 Championship Game - 6:35 p.m.
Division 1 Championship Game*
*Note: Subsequent games of each session will begin approximately 15 minutes following the previous game.
STATE TOURNAMENT ON THE AIR: The State Tournament will be televised live on WKOW-TV in Madison, WAOW-TV in Wausau, WXOW-TV in La Crosse, WQOW-TV in Eau Claire, WYOW-TV in Eagle River, WMOW-TV in Crandon, WMLW-TV in Milwaukee and WCWF W-14 in Green Bay and the Fox Valley. Allen Media, Inc., will produce the coverage. The championships will also be streamed on the statewide network station websites. Also, download the Magic of March app for live streaming video, scores, highlights and more about the WIAA State Basketball Tournaments. Live coverage of the tournaments on iOS or Android phones and tablets are also available on the app.
POST-GAME MEDIA CONFERENCES STREAMED: The post-game media conferences will be shown live without subscription on the WIAA.tv portal of the NFHS Network immediately following each game.
TEAM TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The first WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament was held in 1976. The tournament was held at the UW Field House from 1976-97 and also in 1999, 2000 and 2002. The championships were held at the Kohl Center in 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2010-12, and at the Alliant Energy Center in 2004 and 2006-09. The Resch Center in Green Bay has been the home of the tournament since 2013, except during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 when the State Tournament was held at two separate locations, the La Crosse Center and the Menominee Nation Arena in Oshkosh. The tournament featured a three-class format until 1991, when a four-division format was adopted. In 2011, a fifth division was added. Cuba City has won the most State titles over the years with 11, followed by Barneveld with six, and Milwaukee Washington and Notre Dame with five. Fall Creek, Flambeau, Kimberly and Marshall have won four. There have been 102 different schools that have won championships. Cuba City has the distinction of having appeared in the most State Tournaments with 16. Newman Catholic is next on the list with 13, and Fall Creek, Janesville Parker and Middleton have qualified 12 times. Barneveld, Durand, Kimberly and Monroe have qualified for 11 State Tournaments with Arrowhead, Milwaukee Washington, Mukwonago and Oostburg and now Notre Dame having qualified 10 times.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 1 FIELD: Brookfield East, the top seed, is making its second consecutive appearance in the State Tournament and its seventh overall. The Spartans’ most notable experience was finishing runner-up in 1984. They qualify this season with a 53-33 win over Arrowhead in the sectional final held at Waukesha South. The Spartans are the champions of the Greater Metro Conference this season. Second-seeded Hortonville has qualified for the State Tournament field for the sixth time and for the first time since a run of four straight appearances in Division 2 came to an end in 2020, when the tournament was canceled at the onset of the COVID pandemic. The Polar Bears have lost in the semifinals in each of their actual previous appearances. Their path to the State Tournament field this season was navigated through the Appleton East Sectional, which culminated with a 71-54 win over Neenah in the final. They finished second in the Fox Valley Association this season behind Neenah. Defending champion Kettle Moraine received the bracket’s third seed in its attempt to win back-to-back titles. It is the eighth time the Lasers have qualified overall, including seven during a nine-year span from 1996-2004. They won their first title in 1999. The Lasers return to the Resch Center this season following an 87-59 victory over Franklin in the sectional final played at Kenosha Tremper. They finished the regular season as the champions of the Classic Eight Conference. Fourth-seeded Germantown returns to the State Tournament for the second time and the first since the Warhawks won the championship in 2021. They advance to the semifinals this season with a 94-67 victory over Kimberly in the sectional final played at Manitowoc Lincoln. They finished second in the Greater Metro Conference during the regular season behind Brookfield East, which has qualified as the top seed in the bracket.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 2 FIELD: Last season’s runner-up Pewaukee is the top seed in the bracket. The Pirates advance to State for the third straight season, but it will be the second time the Pirates will actually experience the tournament after qualifying in 2020 prior to the cancellation of games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They defeated Pius XI Catholic 75-59 in the Milwaukee South Sectional final. The Pirates were the champions in the West Division of the Woodland Conference this season. Two-time defending champion Notre Dame returns to the tournament as the #2 seed. The Tritons are making their third consecutive appearance and their 10th overall. They have five State titles. In addition to the past two seasons, the Tritons won the gold trophy in the program’s first-ever appearance at State in 2001 and then earned back-to-back titles in 2013-14. They also added a runner-up finish in 2005. Prior to joining the WIAA, the Tritons were the Division 1 runners-up in 1994 as a former member of WISAA. This season, they are the champions of the Fox River Classic Conference and have advanced to the State semifinals following an 86-60 win over Cedarburg in the sectional final held at Oshkosh West. Third-seeded McFarland has advanced to the tournament field for the fourth time overall and for the first time since 1999 when the Spartans won the championship. They also won the Class B title in 1983. This season, the Spartans are the champions of the Rock Valley Conference. They earned their first trip back to State in 24 years following their 70-51 victory over Union Grove in the DeForest Sectional final. Lakeland has been issued the fourth seed. The Thunderbirds will be making their third appearance in the State Tournament and the first since back-to-back experiences in 1992-93. They won the championship in 1992 and were runners-up in 1993. The Thunderbirds are the champions in the Great Northern Conference this season. They advance to the State semifinals following their 60-59 win over Menomonie in the Medford Sectional final.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 3 FIELD: Defending champion and top-seeded Waupun makes its third appearance in the State Tournament. The Warriors only other experience in 1996 resulted in a loss in the Division 2 semifinals. Their return to the semifinals comes by virtue of a 50-40 victory over Prairie du Chien in the Edgewood Sectional final. The Warriors were the co-champions of the East Central Conference with Kewaskum, which has also qualified in the division. Second-seeded West Salem returns to State for the first time since 1997 and for the fourth time overall. The Panthers’ first two appearances came consecutively in Class C in 1977 and 1978. Each of the previous three experiences resulted in a loss in semifinals. They are the champions of the Coulee Conference this season, and they are the representatives advancing out of the Altoona Sectional following a 55-50 win over Somerset in the final. Kewaskum was issued the third seed in the bracket. The Indians advance to State for the first time since 1982 and for the third time overall. Their experience in 1982 was the most notable of the two previous appearance with a runner-up finish in Class B. They advance out of the Denmark Sectional this season with a 48-46 victory over Freedom in the final after finishing in a two-way tie for first place in the East Central Conference standings with Waupun, the top seed in the bracket. Milwaukee Academy of Science is the fourth seed making its third appearance at State. The Lady Novas finished runner-up in their first-ever appearance in 2017 and lost in the semifinals in 2019. They rolled to a 74-33 victory over Racine Lutheran in the Racine St. Catherine’s Sectional final. The Lady Novas play an independent schedule without a conference affiliation.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 4 FIELD: Top-seeded Aquinas returns to State for the sixth time overall, all coming in the last seven seasons. The Blugolds won back-to-back Division 4 titles in 2018 and 2019, and they finished runner-up in 2017. Aquinas is the champion of the Mississippi Valley Conference this season. The Blugolds defeated Cuba City 67-63 in the sectional final played at Wisconsin Dells. Prior to its membership in the WIAA, Aquinas won back-to-back WISAA Division 2 championships in 1996-97 and finished runner-up in Class A in 1985 and 1989. Last year’s runner-up Laconia is the second seed in the bracket. The Spartans also were runners-up in 2019, which accounts for their only other State Tournament appearance. They return to the semifinals this season by defeating The Prairie School 71-59 in the Slinger Sectional final. The Spartans are co-champions of the Flyway Conference with Winnebago Lutheran this season. Third-seeded Colfax advances to the State semifinals for the fourth time and for the first time since 2013 when the Vikings finished runner-up. Their first two appearances resulted in defeats in the semifinals. They tied for second place in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference this season. The Vikings return to State for the first time in a decade after getting past Neillsville 39-37 in the Osseo-Fairchild Sectional final. Mishicot was issued the fourth seed in the bracket. The Indians advance to the State Tournament for the third time in the last four seasons after qualifying for the first time in 2020. They struck gold with the championship in 2021 after falling in their semifinal game the first time they had advanced to State prior to the cancellation of the tournaments because of COVID-19 in 2020. Their return to the tourney comes after escaping with a 56-55 win over St. Mary Catholic in the Brillion Sectional final. During the regular season, the Indians finished second in the standings in the North Division of the Big East Conference behind St. Mary Catholic.
ABOUT THE DIVISION 5 FIELD: McDonell Catholic, the #1 seed in the bracket, makes its third consecutive State Tournament appearance after their first two experiences resulted in losses in the semifinals. The Macks advance to the State semifinals this season with a convincing 70-48 victory over Siren in the sectional final held at Barron. They finished the regular season this year as champions in the Western Division of the Cloverbelt Conference. Prior to joining the WIAA, the Macks most notable finish as a member of WISAA was a runner-up finish in Division 2 in 2000. Second-seeded Blair-Taylor began celebrating the program’s first-ever trip to the State Tournament following the Wildcats’ 62-57 victory over Belmont in the Tomah Sectional final. They earned the championship of the Dairyland Conference during the regular season. Third-seeded Wabeno/Laona advances to the State Tournament for the first time as a co-op program. Wabeno as a stand-alone program advanced to the State semifinals in 1982, which resulted in a loss in the semifinals. The Rebels tied with Crandon for first place in the Northern Lakes Conference standings this season. They paved their way to the Resch Center by defeating Edgar 53-43 in the final of the Rhinelander Sectional. Albany, the only undefeated team remaining in the state, is the #4 seed in the bracket. The Comets have no prior experience in the State Tournament. They make their inaugural appearance this week after cruising past Oakfield 65-40 in the sectional final played at Kettle Moraine. The Comets were the champions in the East Division of the Six Rivers Conference during this year.
THREE-POINT CHALLENGE: The 3-Point Challenge will be held prior to Saturday’s championship games beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Resch Center. A ticket for the Division 3, 4 and 5 championship games session is required for admittance into the event. The top two players per division were selected for the contest based on the best 3-point field goal percentage with a minimum of 75 attempts during the regular season. The contestants representing Division 1 are Sophia Langille of Fond du Lac and Allie Ziebell of Neenah. Representing Division 2 are Mimi Hart of Cedarburg and Emily Jaenke of Fox Valley Lutheran. The Division 3 participants are Ameerah Grant of Brown Deer and Riley Ketterhagen of Oostburg. Division 4 will be represented by Paris Opelt of Neillsville and Lindsey Schadewalt of New Glarus, and the Division 5 contestants Libby Ash of Sevastopol and Jaden Zuber of Monticello. Visit the information on the WIAA website for more details about the 3-Point Challenge.
NEED CREDENTIALS?: Media Credential requests for the 2023 WIAA Girls Basketball Tournament must be done in advance by completing and submitting the online credential request form in the restricted media area of the WIAA website by noon Tuesday, March 7. Verification of approved credentials is available in the media restricted area of the WIAA website just to the right of the credential request form. Please verify credential requests have been approved.
NEED RESULTS?: The quickest way to get results will be to access the WIAA website wiaawi.org and choose the Tournament Information link on the home page or the girls basketball home page.
ORDER STATE TOURNAMENT APPAREL: WIAA licensed apparel is available online for the 2023 State Girls Basketball Tournament. To browse and purchase branded merchandise, visit the WIAA Girls Basketball Store at: https://foxcitiesembroidery.chipply.com/GirlsBB2023WIAAState/. The store closes Friday, March 17 before midnight. Online purchases will be shipped after the online store closes. State Tournament apparel will also be available at the Resch Center.
FOLLOW STATE TOURNEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Girls Basketball Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaagb, and also like us on Facebook.
RUSH TO THE RESCH: One school qualifying for the State Girls Basketball Tournament in each of the five divisions will receive $2000 from the Greater Green Bay Community by selling the most pre-sale tickets in their respective division.
BELLIN ATHLETIC TRAINING: Bellin Health Sports Medicine is the exclusive provider of licensed athletic training services for the State Girls Basketball Tournament.