Girls Basketball Division 2 Preseason Top 10

Edgewood fell to Wauwatosa East by one point in a thriller of a Division 2 championship game a season ago. Despite the loss of a seven graduated players, the Crusaders are a top contender to get back to the Resch Center. A big reason for that is that head coach Lora Staveness is one of the best to do it in our state. She enters this year with 515 career wins and has rostered a contender year in and year out. Junior guard Anna Miller committed to Wisconsin earlier this fall and is one of the top players in the state that will surpass the 1,000 point mark early on this season. Beanie Thompson is another top junior for Coach Staveness that scores and rebounds at a high rate. The Crusaders will be challenged this season with a loaded non-con slate, including games with with Aquinas, Hartford, Arrowhead, Madison Memorial, and Xavier.

Rice Lake fell to Edgewood in the playoffs last season but have one of the better one-two punches back in senior Adaline Sheplee and junior Addison Schmidt. Sheplee is committed to Wisconsin while Schmidt has given a commitment to Green Bay to play both basketball and volleyball. That dynamic duo are matchup nightmares for opposing defenders as they both stand 6-2 or taller. are Head coach Darla Olson’s squad will be the favorite in sectional 1, and have scheduled non-con matchups with Prescott, Stevens Point, among others to prepare for a dee playoff push.

Xavier will move into division 2 from division 3 due to the tournament performance factor in 2025-26. All but two players return from a group that fell in the Division 3 state championship. Head coach Andy Vande Hey will get a huge boost this season in the form of junior Elle Krull. After scoring over ten points per game as a freshman, she missed the entirety of last season with an injury, but will be back in the lineup with her sisters Joy and Brynn Krull (both starters a season ago). Brynn is committed to DII St. Cloud State. Despite the move to Division 2, the Hawks are going to be a tough out and have scheduled non-cons with Laconia, Dominican, Edgewood, and Kettle Moraine,

The Blue Dukes won 24 games a season ago and fell to eventual champion Wauwatosa East in the sectionals. Junior Rowan Counsell is one of the top guards in the state after averaging 18.1 points and 3.5 assists per game. Senior Sage Miskel is a great backcourt mate for Counsell and currently holds offers from Division 1 and 2 programs. The top five scorers return this season for Whitefish Bay, as well as a few other contributors, giving head coach Jon Schneider a balanced, skilled, and experienced group. Non-conference matchups for the Blue Dukes include Muskego, Arrowhead, Oostburg, and Wisconsin Lutheran.

Like a few others on this list, Wauwatosa East ended the Vikings season in 2024-25. Head coach Randy Strutz returns all but one contributor from that squad, without a single senior on the roster. Juniors Kaelyn Nommensen and Beth Langebartels are 5-10 wings that can be game wreckers on both ends of the court. The rest of the Wisco roster is filled with juniors and sophomores that were major contributors as underclassmen. Wauwatosa East, Hartford, Waunakee, and Oostburg are just the tip of the non-con iceberg this season.

The Crusaders return quite a bit of experience from a team that lost in the sectional finals to Oostburg. A move from Division 3 to Division 2 this season and a graduation of two of the top three scorers could be reasons for concerns. However head coach Bob Wellenstein’s group is a mix of experienced seniors as well as a few juniors and sophomores that were a part of the sectional final team a season ago. Kelly Boinski is the top returning scorer for the Crusaders as are Sami Sarner, Ellen Mowbray, and Sloan Haase. Playing in a conference consisting of mostly Division 1 teams including powers like Arrowhead, Muskego, Mukwonago, and Kettle Moraine is the best preparation for a Catholic Memorial team come playoff time.

The Golden Beavers return the entire roster from last year minus one contributor. 99% of the production is back for head coach TJ Julka. Headlining the group is Nataya Donaldson, a 5-9 guard that can score in bunches, and currently holds a DI offer from Milwaukee. Emma Julka, Lucianna Gonzalez, Shea Ashley, and Abby Gutknecht averaged between five and ten points a season ago and provide plenty of experience and leadership. The Golden Beavers have Westosha Central, Brookfield East, and Oostburg in the non-con schedule.

Milton and Beaver Dam are two teams in a Badger-Large conference that is going to be a gauntlet in 2025-26. Good news for head coach Stacy Skemp, she returns her top two scorers and four of her top six. Senior Kyali Kilen and junior Kylee Buttchen are the top two producers back for the Red Hawks while Sydney Grady and Allison Kojo both started as sophomores. The youth from last year will have a year of development behind them, which will serve the Red Hawks well throughout the year with a tough schedule.

Shawano was a game away from state last season, falling to Rice Lake in a sectional final game. One of the top seniors in the state will be back this year in Leah Nordin. The Wisconsin commit averaged over 24 points, and 9 rebounds last season and has amassed 1,694 points and 712 rebounds in her career. She is a game changer for head coach Ryan Koenig. The Hawks will do battle with Xavier for the Bay Conference title but also have non-con matchups with Medford, Rhinelander, and West De Pere.

The Riverhawks will come in to the 2025-26 season with five of its top seven scorers back from a team that won 18 games a season ago. Senior wing Alahnna Simpson is an Eastern Illinois commit and averaged 20.2 points per game last season. She’s totaled over 1,300 points, 650 rebounds, and 260 assists in her three previous seasons. Ellie Gillitzer (2027), Malayah Simpson (2028), Emmerson Keeney (2026), and Chloe Ackerman (2026) give head coach Quartrell Roberson a plethora of returning experience. The Riverhawks will have Rice Lake in its sectional semi-final this season, but will play a tough MVC conference slate as well as a handful of non-con marquee matchups with Eau Claire Memorial, Wisconsin Dells, and others. The top two scorers

Colton Wilson serves a contributor and member of Bound Wisconsin. Wilson has worked in high school sports for 10 years, covering the state of Wisconsin in various sports. He has had roles in content creation, boys basketball coverage, director of events, and data management. Wilson is a graduate of Richland Center High School where he will currently serves as the Varsity Reserve boys basketball coach, entering his eleventh year coaching at the high school level. Wilson also has officiated basketball and organized youth tournaments for multiple years. You can follow him on Twitter at @ColtonWilson23 or reach him at [email protected].