Winter Boys Win Lakeland East Championship

Winter Boys Basketball wins Lakeland East Conference ChampionshipPhoto byExplore Southern Sawyer County

Winter WI - The Winter Boys Basketball team hosted the Lake Holcombe Chieftians for the last game of the regular season for the Warriors. Previously, the Warriors and Chieftians squared off in Lake Holcombe, whereas the Warriors set a school record with 112 points in a 112-96 final score. This fast paced game included 208 combined points, something northern Wisconsin hasn't witnessed in quite some time.

The Chieftians enter the game with a 10-12 record, and 6-8 in Lakeland East Conference play, meanwhile the Warriors enter the game 16-7, and 12-3 against conference opponents. A victory by the Warriors boys squad secures sole ownership of the Lakeland East Conference title.

Lake Holcombe jumped out to an early 4-0 lead off of consecutive turnovers by the Warriors. The Warriors made substitutions just one minute into the game. The Warriors applied their patented full court pressure, and immediately jumped out to a 15-4 lead, Coach Webster called a timeout to make some adjustments. Another 12 point run by the Warriors prompted a second timeout by the Chieftians with a score of 27-7 with 9:41 remaining in the first half. The Warriors went into the half time break with a 65-38 lead. The Warriors forced a 21 turnovers on the Chieftians.

The second half included more full court pressure, and the Warriors led by as much as 31 with a 76-45 lead with 14:05 remaining in the second half. More full court pressure forced an additional 13 turnovers on the Chieftians. The Warriors cracked the century mark with a Carter Petit jumper at the 5:58 mark, the score was 100-75. Logan Hautamaki knocked down a 3 late in the game to push the score to 114 and break the new school record for points. Kingston Frey pulled down an offensive rebound and a put back to give the Warriors their highest point total in school history with 116 points.

The final score was 116-82

The Warriors set the school record against Lake Holcombe last time out with 112 points, and tonight the Warriors broke that record again with 116 total team points.

Carter Petit led all scorers with 38 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block. Malte Colliander contributed 24 points, 2 rebounds 6 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block. Curtis Thompson Jr added 18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Gunnar Greuel added another double-double with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Adam Bednorski flirted with his first career triple double adding 13 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. Logan Hautamaki finished with 3 points, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Kingston Frey rounded out the scoring with 2 points, and 3 rebounds.

The Warriors secured 46 team rebounds while dishing out a season high 38 assists, while grabbing 19 team steals. Winter forced 34 team turnovers for Lake Holcombe and finished with 60 points in the paint.

The Warriors secure their first conference title since 1996, making it 28 years since the last time Winter held the title. Winter also achieved the most wins in a season with 17. In 1996, the Warriors finished 17-7 on the season, in 1996 teams were allowed 18 regular season games, and lost in the sectional finals to Plum City for a bid to the state tournament. The 1996 Warriors finished the season 13-6 and 4 four straight post-season games to bring them to 17-6, the loss to Plum City brought them to a 17-7 overall record on the season.

The Warriors look to post-season play as they likely will secure a 2-seed in the WIAA Division 5 (Sectional 1) playoffs, which is the highest seed Winter has ever held.

Mark Miller, editor of the Wisconsin Boys Basketball Yearbook has projected Winter to be a 3-seed, so only time will tell as the WIAA Seeding Show will be held on Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 11:00AM. The Warriors will have a seeding show party at the Winter School then jump into team practice to prepare for their playoff run.