Previewing the Best Boys Basketball Games for December 1-3

Rhinelander started the year out with a dominating win over Crandon, but for Ashland it’s game 1. Gavin Greene is the top returning for the Oredockers, while senior sharpshooter Devon Feck is the top producer for the Odags.

Two teams that will look different from a year ago square off here in their season openers. Both the Spartans and Mustangs have holes to fill in their rotations, but figure to be in contention for their conference titles respectively.

Preseason contenders in the Dunn-St. Croix and Middle Border conferences, this early season non-league game is another to watch in the northwestern part of the state. Nick Johnson will rely heavily on senior Kobe Russell this season while Luke Weber leads the returnees for Durand.

Two teams that will likely be ranked throughout the season square off in this one. Both have difficult weeks in general as you’ll see in our later week preview. Arrowhead has high hopes behind a strong junior class, while the same can be said for the Blue Dukes who are coming off an 88-35 opening season win over Milwaukee North.

Everest played two tough games at the Wausau East Thanksgiving Tournament, going 1-1, falling to a very good Superior squad. Ashwaubenon enters the year with a lot of question marks. Amari Allen is starting as a freshman at Alabama and their would-be senior point guard Elijah Fenner is out for the year with a leg injury.

Waterford challenged itself early on this season, having already faced the Division 2 state runner-ups from a season ago Racine Park. The Wolverines now get the Division 2 defending state champs in the Trojans who came out of the gate rolling last week in a win over Waukesha South.

Both of these teams will be likely contenders in the Trailways-East conference. This early season matchup is a great way to see who has the upper hand early on in league play.

Two preseason ranked teams in Division 3 square off here as Xavier is coming off a close loss to Kettle Moraine Lutheran while Mosinee survived late against New London. Both teams have the potential to make deep playoff runs which makes early season non-league games like this one, fun to watch.

Marathon will begin its season going on the road twice this week against two very good opponents. The Red Raiders get a Regis team on both teams’ opening night, which has Cloverbelt-East aspirations and beyond.

Like Oakfield/Lourdes, this has early season implications in the Trailways-South. The Challengers will have a bit of a rebuilding to do under head coach Mike Thies, while Parkview has senior scorer Aiden Crane to rely on, coming off a 37-point outing in an opening night three-point loss to Pecatonica.

This game is about what is new with both programs. For Mineral Point, it’s the post-Dan Burreson era as long-time assistant coach Bret McGraw takes over. For Potosi, they graduated a great deal from last year’s 20+ win team, but enter the first year of a co-op with Cassville which brings over junior Ben Infield.

Mount Horeb took care of one SWC opponent on opening night, knocking off River Valley. The Vikings will head to SWC preseason favorite Platteville this week where head coach Mike Huser’s team will look new with a loss of graduation of a number of players, but also the transfer in of Grady Poppy from Shullsburg.

Two head coaches will have game one in their new digs in this one as Brown Deer welcomes in Darryl Longley and Dominican will be under former Fond du Lac coach Nick Ford. There will be no shortage of talent in this one as both teams have high season aspirations.

It’s game one for both of these squads that return nearly the entire roster from last season. Germantown was our third ranked team in the Division 1 preseason rankings as Cahlil Jones, JJ Walters and company lead a Warhawks team that has postseason aspirations. The Lions have plenty of talent back led by seniors Mavox Nimani and Jake Veley, as well as sophomore Will Kowske.

Both teams will be playing the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday night. The Lancers have a team full of athletes that are fresh off a football state championship. Brookfield Academy has high hopes this season with head coach Pat Clarey fielding an extremely talented squad that will compete for a Midwest Classic title and further playoff aspirations.

These two talented programs will do battle in their first games of the season on Wednesday night. North is coming off a state tournament appearance but will enter the post-Zay Mitchell period. No worries for coach Brad Weber as he’ll have Minnesota-State Mankato recruit Bryce Ott leading the way. For Eau Claire Memorial, coach Chad Brieske must replace a very talented 2025 graduated class and game one will be a big test for the Old Abes.

Need more Wisconsin high school basketball content in your life? Listen to our newest podcast Baseline Banter where we’ll preview the week ahead, review the week behind, interview coaches/athletes/media members and more in our state, and talk some of the hot topics. Episodes release every Monday morning.

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