Morning State Sports Briefs: DeLaRosa homer gives Brewers win over A's

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PHOENIX - Minor league catcher Anderson De La Rosa hit a three-run walk-off homer to give the Milwaukee Brewers an 11-9 exhibition victory over the Oakland A’s yesterday in Phoenix.

Vinnie Chulk took the loss for the Athletics. Casey McGehee belted his third homer in two days. Ryan Braun also went yard for Milwaukee, which improved to 4-and-1 in Cactus League play. Josh Willingham, Andy LaRoche, and Matt Carson all homered for Oakland. Brewers’ pitcher Manny Parra left with tightness in his back after throwing to just one batter. He’ll be re-evaluated today. Also, X-rays showed that Brewers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy is healing properly after he broke his right pinkie at practice. He’ll do some light throwing with a splint before he’s re-evaluated in a week. The Brewers will play San Francisco this afternoon.

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Green Bay Notre Dame will play Middleton tonight in the semi-finals of the boys’ state high school hockey tournament. And Eau Claire Memorial will play Wausau West in the other semi. All four schools advanced after yesterday’s quarter-finals in Madison. Notre Dame needed two overtimes to beat Milwaukee Marquette 3-2. Steven Phillips scored the deciding goal 22 seconds into the second extra period. Middleton eliminated Cedarburg 2-1. Brett Skibba scored both Middleton goals on power plays. Eau Claire Memorial shut out Wisconsin Dells-Reedsburg 6-0. Hunter Scott had two goals and Chuck Ayres had three assists for Memorial. And Wausau West blanked New Richmond 5-0. Ryan Condon scored a hat trick for Wausau West. Meanwhile, the girls’ state high school hockey tournament opens today in Madison with semi-finals in one division. Defending champion River Falls plays Appleton. And Mosinee goes against Sun Prairie. Title games in both tournaments will be played tomorrow.

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One of the most recruited athletes in Wisconsin says he’ll play his college basketball at North Carolina. Menomonee Falls junior center J.P. Tokoto announced his choice last night to about 200 people at a banquet hall in Wauwatosa. He said Wisconsin was his second choice, and it was not easy to take a pass on Bo Ryan’s Badgers. Tokoto said both Ryan and Tar Heels’ coach Roy Williams care about their players and have a passion for what they do. But he said their style of play separated the two – and the decision pretty much came down to whether he wanted to stay home or not. Tokoto is 6-7 with relatively long arms and a 40-inch vertical jump. But scouts say he needs to improve his ball handling and outside shooting. Tokoto is averaging 20.5 points and 10 rebounds a game for Menomonee Falls this season.

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It’s one-and-done for Wisconsin at the Big Ten women’s tournament. The sixth-seeded Badgers were upset by Number-11 Illinois in the first round yesterday, 63-56. The Illini scored the first 10 points of the game and never trailed after that. Illinois made nine-of-its-first-11 shots, and they were up by 15 almost seven-and-a-half minutes into the contest. Wisconsin had a late 10-4 run to make the final score respectable. Alyssa Karel led all scorers with 23 points, and she said her Badgers weren’t ready to play. And once Illinois got a big lead, Karel said her team never responded. The Illini ended a 13-game losing streak and improved to 8-22. They’ll play Michigan in today’s quarter-finals. Wisconsin dropped to 15-14 overall. The Badgers still hope to get a WNIT berth.

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The UW-Green Bay women used a second-half surge to win at Wright State last night, 75-54. The Phoenix opened the second half with a 17-6 run to lead by 14. Julia Wojta scored 20 points to help Green Bay win its 19th straight contest overall, and its 26th straight regular season conference game. LeShawna Thomas scored 16 for Wright State, which fell to 10-7 in the Horizon League and 17-11 overall. 15th-ranked Green Bay improved to 17-0 in the conference and 28-1 overall. They’ll play at Detroit tomorrow, with a chance for its second unbeaten conference regular season in the last three years.

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The UW-Milwaukee women have a three-game winning streak after a 65-55 victory at Detroit. Lindsay Laur had 17 points and 10 rebounds. She scored the Panthers’ final eight points, including six free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Lauren Allen scored 19 for Detroit, which fell to 6-11 in the Horizon League and 12-16 overall. Milwaukee improved to 9-8 in the conference and 12-and-16 overall. The Panthers clinched at least the number-six seed in next week’s Horizon League Tournament. They’ll close out their regular season tomorrow at Wright State.

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