Dear Wisconsin prep sports fans. We are on the cusp of the best time of the year. Sorry high school football, baseball, cross country, softball, wrestling, track and field, soccer, tennis, and golf fans, there is nothing like the WIAA basketball tournament. From the smell of popcorn, the raucous Cardinal pep band music (much better than piped music over the public address system), and rambunctious, rowdy student cheering sections, there is no better athletic feeling in the air than the basketball postseason. And many Cardinal fans remember a lot of it. Bella Lenz draining a three against the Hayward Hurricanes. Randy Hansen hitting a floater in the lane against the Prentice Buccaneers. Aric Herried drilling an 18-footer against the St. Croix Central Panthers. Dave Swanson hitting a baseline jumper against the Frederic Vikings. Kaycee Charette completing a three-point play against the Fall Creek Crickets. And Peter Brookshaw bringing the crowd to its feet at the Kohl Center in March 2018 against the Valders Vikings. Add the sights and sounds of tournament basketball, there is nothing better. They will talk about tournament games past and present during morning breakfast at Ptacek’s, over a burger at Philanders, and while sipping coffee at Twisted Oak. Fans will talk about the exploits of guard Mike Bjurquist, the driving ability of Anna Lindseth, the alley oop dunks of Charlie Tayson, the three-point shooting of Shannon Huppert, the finesse of Gary Seifert, and of the aggressiveness of Cara Gilbertson. So when it comes to high school sports, it is the most wonderful time of the year. 

The Prescott Cardinal boys basketball team picked up the #1 over the weekend and will host the winner of the game between #9 seed Baldwin-Woodville and #8 seed St. Croix Central. The WIAA Division 3 Regional Semi-Final game will be held on Friday, March 7 with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Like Prescott, Osceola received a bye in round one with the #2 seed in the bottom of the regional bracket and will play the winner of the game between St. Croix Falls and Somerset. Number 4 seed Ellsworth and #3 seed Northwestern were the other two teams that received byes in the 12-team regional. The regional championship is scheduled for Saturday, March 8 with the game also scheduled for 7 p.m. 

The Prescott Cardinal girls basketball team will host the winner of the game between Northwestern and Spooner this Friday with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Earlier this season the Cardinals defeated Northwestern by a score of 45-44. Northwestern and Cameron shared the Heart of the North Conference title with records of 17-1. They finished the season with an overall record of 19-5. Baldwin-Woodville, the #1 seed in the regional bracket, will play the winner of the game between Barron and Hayward. 

Congratulations to junior Violet Otto on winning the Middle Border Conference scoring title. Otto will enter the postseason on pace to end up with the third highest single season scoring total in school history. Michigan Tech guard Isabella Lenz scored 593 points during her junior year and Haylee Yaeger scored 503 during her senior season for the Cardinals. For the boys Peter Brookshaw’s incredible total of 849 points during the 2017-18 Championship season sets the bar. In fact, Brookshaw’s single season total ranks #18 in WIAA single season history. 

UW-Stout junior Liz Rohl went 1-3, walked three times, and drove in a run as the Blue Devils split a Saturday doubleheader with the College of St. Benedict. Stout enters the week with an overall record of 2-2. Rohl, a 2022 Prescott alumnus, hit .286 for the Blue Devils last spring. Infielder Rebecca Heinz went 3-4 and drove in three runs as Macalester humbled North Central (MN) by a score of 13-0. Heinz, a 2023 Cardinal alumnus, is in her second year with the Scots. North Dakota State College of Science pitcher Ella Stewart enters the week with an ERA of 1.24 and has struck out 24 hitters in 16 ⅔ innings pitched. A 2024 Prescott grad, Stewart led the Cardinals to the WIAA Division 3 State Championship last spring. 

Headshaker of the Week. Yep. The Times They are A Changin. Managing general partner of the New York Yankees Hal Steinbrenner announced on Friday that the organization has amended its long-standing facial grooming policy, which had dated to the 1970s. Yankees players, coaches and other uniformed personnel are now permitted to sport “well-groomed beards” moving forward. Steinbrenner said there will be “parameters” to maintain a look that is “clean and disciplined.” The Yankees GM said the long beard sported by the Phillies’ Brandon Marsh wouldn’t pass muster and added, “We’re not trying to look like cast members of Duck Dynasty.” In the National League the Cincinnati Reds were the last to lift the ban on facial hair in 1999. Now, I am quite confident the following comments are sure to draw some ire, perhaps leading to an angry email or two or five, but c’est la vie. There’s something to be said about the “clean look” of the Yankees. It exudes class and professionalism - the hallmark of wearing Yankee Pinstripes. On the other hand, players whose appearance resembles a college student who slept in their car over the weekend or a hunter who spends two razor less weeks in a Wisconsin deer camp is not a look worth emulating. The unkempt look of the Major League Baseball players evokes pure slobbery. In fact, it’s a headshaker.