Games I’m looking forward to: Opening Night edition

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The high school basketball season kicks off Tuesday with some awesome non-conference games. Here are the ones that I'm paying close attention to.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Appleton East at Oostburg</strong>---February 20th was the last time these two teams met and it could have been called "A Tale of Two Halves". Oostburg jumped out to a commanding 47-31 halftime lead but it wouldn't hold up. Freshman sensation, [player_tooltip player_id='880796' first='Kinsley' last='Ketterhagen'] wasn't able to play after halftime, due to injury, and the Patriots jumped on the opportunity outscoring the Flying Dutchmen 37-20 to take a 68-67 win at Appleton East. Torie Neubauer led the way with 24 with 18 of those points coming from 3. Lily Meulemans chipped in 15 and [player_tooltip player_id='749048' first='Ella' last='Sweeney'] put up 13. East would go on to shoot 48.8% from distance and limit Oostburg to under 40% from the floor. The Dutchmen were led by UWGB recruits [player_tooltip player_id='533060' first='Ady' last='Ketterhagen'] 22 points and her sister [player_tooltip player_id='533061' first='Riley' last='Ketterhagen'] with 17. It would be only one of two losses that Oostburg would suffer, all season, on their way to a 28-2 record and a D3 state title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East, who started last season 0-4, before a magical run to the state tournament, will definitely have their hands full dealing with all three Ketterhagen sisters. This game may boil down to a shoot out and I believe East has a good shot to go on the road and pull off an upset if they're knocking down their 3's and playing good defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>West De Pere at Appleton North</strong>---Appleton North is looking for a measure of revenge after last season's 63-46 loss at Bay Conference champion West De Pere on December 10th. The Phantoms had a balanced scoring attack led by senior Madisyn Berggren's 17 points. North was led by Two-time 2nd Team All-Conference selection [player_tooltip player_id='838113' first='Avery' last='Werfal']'s 20 points and Southwestern Illinois College commit [player_tooltip player_id='533062' first='Tay' last='Maass'] who chipped in 14. The rest of the team, however, only scored 12 on 4-17 shooting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think this game is going to be reversal of last year. I see Appleton North as team on the rise team while West De Pere slipping back a bit due to graduating 6 players and their top 5 scorers who accounted for 60 points per game. They also make the jump to the tough FRCC conference. I have the Lightning as a potential top 4-5 team, in Fox Valley Association and I think with more balanced scoring, plus the leadership of Werfal and Maass, they get a big win on opening night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wrightstown at Brillion</strong>---Brillion had a great 2024-25 season however one of their loses came at the hands of the Tigers 49-46 in Wrightstown on February 18th. The difference, in that game, was at the foul line where Wrightstown made 14 of 18 while Brillion made only 5 of 10. Wrightstown was led by Ella Fandrey's 16 points and [player_tooltip player_id='842229' first='Ella' last='Verbeten']'s 13 points. The Lions were led by [player_tooltip player_id='842230' first='Amaya' last='Brooks'] who scored 17 and [player_tooltip player_id='887332' first='Emma' last='Schuh'] who put up 9.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I think this game comes down to the wire, again, however I see Brillion, with both Brooks and Schuh returning as the difference, with the Lions pulling out a close home victory on opening night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Denmark at Kewaunee</strong>---For the second straight season these two teams will meet on Opening night. Kewaunee won a close one going on the road for a 57-53 win to start last season's 21 win campaign. The Storm were led by (then) juniors Jadelynn Kroll (22) and Gabrielle Stangel (15) and, as a team, they hit 10 of 14 free throws. Denmark was led by 1st Team All-Conference [player_tooltip player_id='878990' first='Allie' last='VanVonderen']'s season (and career) high 28 points while 2nd Team All-Conference [player_tooltip player_id='842232' first='Kiarrah' last='Micolichek'] was held to 9 on 2-10 shooting. Free throws were the difference with the Vikings only making 6 of 12.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While both teams "big 2's" match up really well I see Denmark having the advantage with senior [player_tooltip player_id='879637' first='Paige' last='Selner']. She averaged 9.1 points 4.8 rebounds, and plays good defense. I think this will be another nail biter with the Vikings making their shots and coming out with a tough road victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->