SHOTS from the Hip

By Cripe Olson

Three Prescott Cardinal football opponents this season will be playing this weekend with a chance to advance to the WIAA finals in Madison._This Saturday Coach Rob Heller and the Ellsworth Panthers will square off against the Irish of Freedom High School in Marshfield. Non-conference foe La Crosse Aquinas will play Wittenberg-Birnamwood in Wisconsin Rapids. And the Durand Panthers will battle the Colby Hornets on Saturday in Chippewa Falls._ Incidentally, Eau Claire Regis, a Prescott non-conference opponent next fall, will play Coleman on Saturday in Wausau with a trip to the finals on the line._ The Wisconsin Sports Network released the first pre-season rankings for the fast-approaching high school boys basketball season._In Division III Prescott is listed as Honorable Mention along with fellow Middle Border Conference team St. Croix Central._ Area teams in Prescott’s sectional ranked in the top 10 include Northwestern and West Salem._ Head Coach Joan Korfhage begins her first season as head coach of the Cardinals this week. Korfhage has served as an assistant coach for the past several seasons and has coached multiple sports in the district. The Cardinals will travel to River Falls this Friday to participate in a scrimmage with Somerset, Hudson and host River Falls._ The new seeding formula for the WIAA tournament places an enormous emphasis on winning percentage._The association is doing away with the previous procedure of using high school coaches to seed each regional and/or sectional. _ The new computer seeding will spit out teams in seed order for regionals with the girls' brackets released Feb. 14, 2022 and the boys' released on Feb. 21, 2022.

Parker Nielsen and the #4 ranked West Texas A& M Buffaloes are off to a 3-0 start this season._ The Buffaloes are coming off a 19-3 season that saw them advance to the NCAA Division II championship game._ Nielsen enters his sophomore season for the Lone Star Conference Buffaloes.

Michigan Tech guard Bella Lenz received plaudits from Coach Sam Clayton as the Huskies opened their season with an exhibition game against perennial WIAC power UW-Oshkosh._ Prescott’s alltime leading scorer hit two three pointers in her competitive debut for the Huskies._Lenz and the Huskies will play two games this weekend against Lewis University and William Jewel.__ From the WIAA: Here we go again._The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Control has identified 20 individuals to serve on the Competitive Balance Ad Hoc Committee. The first committee met five times from July-November in 2014. The primary purpose of the committee is to study balance/equity and to evaluate the existing procedure of the postseason tournaments and recommend a solution. The previous committee researched numerous possible solutions, including the impact of a multiplier of 1.65 to private school enrollments, a reducer plan based on percentage of students on free-and-reduced lunch, and a success factor based on advancement in previous tournaments. After considerable review, the committee advanced the success factor plan for a membership vote. The membership voted to strike the language of the recommendation advanced by the committee at the 2015 Annual Meeting. It was replaced on the floor by an amendment to impose the 1.65 multiplier, which failed by a 141-293 margin._ The Middle Border Conference welcomes Altoona to the Middle Border Conference this season, replacing the New Richmond Tigers who will now play in the Big Rivers Conference._The Altoona girls basketball team finished last year with an overall record of 10-12 and finished in fifth place in the Western Cloverbelt Conference._The boys finished with a record of 16-8 and finished third in league play.__ The recent disqualification of the undefeated Madison Edgewood football team from the WIAA playoffs due to the use of an ineligible player is reminiscent of what happened to the 1981 Milwaukee Madison basketball team. After defeating Wausau West 77-60 in the title game, it was later found that Milwaukee Madison had used an ineligible player during the tournament series. Thus, the WIAA voided the title of the Class A Milwaukee School._ From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages hunters to donate Wisconsin-harvested deer to the department’s Deer Donation Program to help stock food pantries this holiday season and support residents in need throughout the state. Since the program began in 2000, hunters have donated over 94,000 deer, totaling more than 3.8 million pounds of venison distributed to Wisconsin food pantries. Through the Deer Donation Program, the DNR works with partnering meat processors to distribute thousands of pounds of donated venison to Wisconsin food pantries.

“Whether by harvesting an extra deer or donating the only deer they shoot, Wisconsin hunters have the chance to support their communities during the holiday season,” said Sarah Wyrick, DNR Wildlife Damage Program Assistant. “We thank all deer hunters, meat processing and nonprofit partners who help make this program a success for those in need.”

Headshaker of the week: My guess is many of you have heard the story of a California high school football team beating an opponent by a score of 106-0._The high school principal and coach have issued apologies for the debacle._Although not to the extent of the aforementioned, some of us may have experienced a humiliating moment or two in our athletic careers, however brief they might have been. For a coach, yes, a coach, to allow such a ridiculous outcome is beyond the pale. Similar outcomes have happened on the basketball court, the baseball and softball diamond, the soccer field, and seemingly in every kind of prep sport at one time or another. Who are these coaches? And for the fans who think it’s funny?_ Who are you?_I don’t really know if I want you on my side. To all those coaches and fans, it’s an embarrassing, despicable, and pathetic headshaker.