Every Thursday, we send out the great OnMilwaukee Weekend Preview filled with awesome things to do. Some are sports-related; many are not. So every Monday, we recap what happened in the world of Wisconsin sports while you were doing all those other awesome things.
Friday
Badgers beat Panthers, 47-43: It was an ugly, low-scoring, grind-it-out game between two similarly styled teams, but Wisconsin, led by freshman Ethan Happ, ultimately prevailed over Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Happ had a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds, while Nigel Hayes added 13 and Vitto Brown had 12 for Wisconsin, which made just 4 of 19 three-pointers.
Admirals lose to Checkers, 2-1: Milwaukee goalie Marek Mazanec stopped 27 shots while Charlotte’s John Muse made 29 saves during regulation and overtime, forcing a shootout at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Muse stonewalled all four Admirals players, while the Checkers’ Justin Shuff beat Mazanec to give the Ads their first shootout loss of the season in eight tries.
Saturday
Admirals beat Checkers, 6-2: A night after a loss to Charlotte that was dominated by goaltender play, Milwaukee’s offense exploded against John Muse and tallied six goals at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Max Gortz and Matt White scored two goals apiece – White added an assist, too – while Admirals goalie Juuse Saros made 13 saves to get the win.
WIAA boys state basketball championships: At the Kohl Center in Madison, five exciting title games took place. In the Division 5 game, Chippewa Falls McDonald put the defensive clamps on Catholic Central in the second half, winning 63-41. In the Division 4 contest, Dominican won its record fifth consecutive state championship, beating Cameron 62-43. At the Division 3 level, Waupun knocked off Appleton Xavier, 59-58, in its first return to the state tournament since 1927. In the Division 2 game, Kaukauna tied the tourney record for points scored in a 91-62 win over Waunakee. And in the Division 1 title game, Stevens Point capped an undefeated season by repeating as state champs with an 89-64 victory over Muskego.
Sunday
Badgers beat Musketeers, 66-63: Bronson, baby! Junior guard Bronson Koenig shook off a couple of difficult recent performances to nail two clutch three-pointers, including the buzzer-beating game-winner against Xavier in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Koenig scored a game-high 20 points, including six three-pointers, while Ethan Happ added 18 as Wisconsin advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in six years.
Bucks lose to Jazz, 94-85: Milwaukee shot 52.3 percent from the field, committed four fewer turnovers and had 10 blocks and 10 steals in the game, but still lost to Utah at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Jabari Parker (19 points), Khris Middleton (13) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (12) were the only Bucks to score in double figures, while the Jazz’s balanced attack had seven such players, led by Gordan Hayward’s 18.
Admirals defeat Wolves, 2-1: In Rosemont, Ill., in their third game in three days, Vladislav Kamenev scored the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining to beat Chicago. Goalie Marec Mazanec stopped 19 shots to get the win for the Admirals, who improved to 8-3-0-0 against the Wolves this season and remained in second place in the Central Division.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
