Afternoon State Sports Briefs: Bucks' GM Hammond to sign three-year deal

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MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Bucks’ general manager John Hammond will signed a three-year contract extension this afternoon.

Hammond said a few weeks ago he was negotiating with team owner Herb Kohl. Both Hammond and former coach Scott Skiles entered the season in the final years of their contracts. Skiles left 16 days ago in what was reported to be a mutual agreement with his bosses. That’s after the team lost four-in-a-row and fell to .500. Since then, the Bucks have gone 6-2 under new coach Jim Boylan – and both Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova have said it’s easier to play with a more relaxed coaching staff. Hammond was the NBA’s executive-of-the-year in 2010, the last time the Bucks made the post-season. Hammond also got high marks for trading Andrew Bogut – who has only played four games for Golden State in the last year due to injuries – in exchange for Monta Ellis, who’s being talked about as a possible All-Star. Milwaukee holds the seventh of eight Eastern Conference playoff spots, with a six-game lead over the top team that’s outside looking in at the moment. Hammond will face some big challenges this summer in keeping both Jennings and Ellis, both of whom are in the final years of their contracts.

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The Saint Norbert College men’s basketball team will try to hang onto first place in the Midwest Conference tonight, when it plays at Lake Forest. The Green Knights are 9-2 in league play, a game ahead of second-place Cornell and two games up on Carroll of Waukesha. Cornell hosts Knox College. Carroll travels to Appleton to take on Lawrence. And Ripon is at Beloit. The Midwest women’s teams will have the same opponents at the same locations tonight. Cornell tops the women’s standings at 10-1, and Saint Norbert is second at 9-2.

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In men’s play in the Northern Athletics Conference, North Division leader Lakeland will travel to third-place Concordia-Mequon tonight. Lakeland is 9-2, with a one-and-a-half-game lead over second-place Milwaukee School of Engineering – which plays at Marian. Also, Wisconsin Lutheran hosts Rockford. Lutheran is in third place in the South Division at 4-5. Aurora is the leader at 8-1.

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In the CCIW, the Carthage men host North Park, and the Carthage women travel to North Park. The Lady Reds lead their circuit at 6-0, two games up on Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan. The Carthage men are tied for third place at 3-3.

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A Wausau native has been named the WCHA men’s hockey player-of-the-week on offense. Nate Condon is a junior forward for Minnesota. He scored five points last weekend when the Gophers beat and tied North Dakota. Condon had a goal and two assists last Friday night, and then a goal and an assist the next night. He ranks fourth on the Gophers with 23 points, including nine goals.

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Samia Taylor of UW-Milwaukee has been named the Horizon League women’s indoor field athlete-of-the-week. Taylor, a senior, won both the long jump and the triple jump at the Iowa State Open last weekend. Ja’Quan Patterson of Detroit was named the top men’s field athlete. Also, Nathan Welchlin of Milwaukee was named the men’s swimmer-of-the-week. He won all four of his events in a pair of dual meets. Welchlin, a senior, took first in both the 100-butterfly and the 200-butterfly against Northwestern. And he won the 100-freestyle and 200-butterfly against the University of Chicago. Ashley Dow of Youngstown State was named the top female swimmer.

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Concordia-Mequon is the coaches’ pre-season favorite to win its third straight men’s tennis title this spring in the Northern Athletics Conference. The Falcons have a winning streak of 18 regular season matches, and they received half of the first-place votes in the coaches’ poll. Edgewood received the other half, and is picked to finish second. The Milwaukee School of Engineering is projected to take third.

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SCORES

Boys' high school hockey

Amery 5, Baldwin-Woodville 0

Beaver Dam 6, Monroe 5, OT

De Pere/West De Pere 4, Neenah/Hortonville 3

Eau Claire Regis/Chippewa Falls McDonell/Bloomer 8, Menomonie 0

Fond du Lac 4, Milwaukee Marquette 2

Monona Grove 4, Stoughton 3

Onalaska 5, La Crosse 1

Schofield D.C. Everest 2, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 1

Stevens Point 9, Marshfield 0

Wisconsin Dells/Reedsburg 5, Baraboo/Portage 4

Burnett County Blizzard 9, Moose Lake Area, Minn. 0

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