Girls basketball Regional Final Rapid Reaction

Higher-seeded home teams went 64-16 in the regional semifinal games, a winning percentage of 80%. This comes after higher-seeded teams went 115-23 in the first round (83.3%) and 137-23 in the second round (85.6%).

By far the biggest Cindrella team still remaining is Westosha Central. The Falcons finished in a distant tie for fifth in the Southern Lakes Conference, and just 8-16 overall during the season. They went on the road and defeated fourth-seeded Muskego in the first playoff game, then in the regional final on Saturday, the Falcons took down fifth-seeded Oak Creek 59-51.

Lowest-seeded teams still remaining:

There are no significant upsets in Divisions 2 through 5, as the lowest-seeded teams still left are a few number four seeds. 29 of the 32 number one seeds are still alive in Divisions 1 through 4, as well as all four of the top seeds in Division 1.

Things have started to get a little bit closer as we get deeper in the postseason. The average margin in the regional finals was 19 points per game. The overall average margin of victory was 24.6 points for the regional semifinals, down from the 28.7 in round one.

Whitefish Bay’s 81-31 victory over Brookfield Central was the largest margin of victory in a regional final. A total of six games were decided by at least 40 points.

It wasn’t just higher seeded home teams winning by sizable margins, as third-seeded Greenfield beat second-seeded Milwaukee Bay View 63-22.

On the other end of the spectrum, there were 21 of the 80 games played that were decided by single digits, including a pair one-point victories. Five other games were decided by three or less points.

In one of the wilder games of the night, fourth-seeded Columbus Catholic had top-seeded Pacelli on the ropes. Trailing by one, a wild Jaedyn Zdroik shot went out of bounds for Pacelli, with the clock showing 0.1 seconds left. Columbus Catholic should have had the ball with 0.1 seconds remaining and the lead, on the precipice of winning a regional title. However, unfortunately a Columbus Catholic player left the bench and ran on to the court to celebrate, believing the game was over. It wasn’t, and after conferring, the officials administered a technical foul on Columbus Catholic. That allowed Ella Van Order to make a pair of free throws to lift the Cardinals to a wild 74-73 victory.

We lost another defending state champion from last year, with three of the five advancing through to sectional play.

Sectional Semi-Final locations will be announced over the next couple days. All games are scheduled for Thursday at 7 pm, unless otherwise noted.

Division 1
#1 Stevens Point vs #5 De Pere at Pulaski High School
#2 Notre Dame vs #3 Kimberly at Appleton North High School
#1 Pewaukee vs #5 Neenah at Fond du Lac High School
#2 Appleton East vs #3 Hartford at Beaver Dam High School
#4 Mukwonago vs #1 Arrowhead at Waukesha West High School
#3 Brookfield East vs #7 Madison Memorial
#1 Wauwatosa East vs #13 Westosha Central at Waterford High School
#6 Kenosha Bradford vs #7 Franklin

Division 2
#1 Rice Lake vs #2 La Crosse Central at TBD
#1 Shawano vs #3 Rhinelander at Antigo High School
#1 Edgewood vs #2 Milton at Oregon High School
#1 Elkhorn vs #2 Catholic Memorial at East Troy High School
#1 Xavier vs #3 West De Pere at Seymour High School
#3 Beaver Dam vs #4 Port Washington at Homestead High School
#1 Whitefish Bay vs #2 Pius XI Catholic at Brown Deer High School
#1 Whitnall vs #3 Greenfield at Muskego High School

Division 3
#1 Saint Croix Central vs #3 Baldwin-Woodville at Hudson High School
#1 Wittenberg-Birnamwood vs #3 Mosinee at D.C. Everest High School
#1 Aquinas vs #2 Wisconsin Dells at Reedsburg High School
#1 Edgerton vs #2 Lancaster at Verona High School
#2 Winneconne vs #4 Brillion at Waupaca High School
#1 Oostburg vs #2 Laconia at Sheboygan South High School
#1 Kettle Moraine Lutheran vs #3 Lakeside Lutheran at Oconomowoc High School
#1 Milwaukee Academy of Science vs #2 Saint Thomas More at Messmer High School

Division 4
#1 Colfax vs #2 Cameron at Menomonie High School
#1 Regis vs #2 Neillsville at Osseo-Fairchild High School
#1 Saint Mary Catholic vs #3 Stratford at Omro High School
#1 Manitowoc Lutheran vs #3 Kewaunee at Denmark High School
#1 Pardeeville vs #2 Luther at Baraboo High School
#1 Deerfield vs #2 Albany/Monticello at Madison La Follette High School
#1 Kohler vs #3 Lomira at Chilton High School
#1 Dominican vs #2 Kenosha St. Joseph at Kenosha Bradford High School

Division 5
#1 Webster vs #2 Solon Springs at Amery High School
#1 Eleva-Strum vs #3 Owen-Withee at Altoona High School
#1 Independence/Gilmanton vs #3 De Soto at Arcadia High School
#1 Argyle/Pecatonica vs #3 Barneveld at Dodgeville High School
#1 Florence vs #2 Lena at Peshtigo High School
#1 Pacelli vs #2 Almond-Bancroft at Adams-Friendship High School
#1 Sheboygan Lutheran vs #3 Lourdes Academy at Central Wisconsin Christian High School
#2 Fall River vs #4 Madison Country Day at Lodi High School