Friday State Sports Briefs: UW's Evans injures knee in practice

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MADISON - University of Wisconsin mne's basketball forward Ryan Evans is listed as day-to-day, after being injured at practice yesterday. The team did not say how serious it was.

Media reports said Evans apparently hurt his right knee. A UW spokesman said the injury was still being evaluated late yesterday. Evans, a senior, leads the Badgers in rebounding with just over seven-and-a-half boards a game. He’s also averaging around 10.5 points. Forward Sam Dekker replaced Evans in the Badgers’ top unit at practice yesterday. He’s averaging nine-and-a-half points for the season, and almost 14 in his last five outings. The Badgers are tied with Michigan State for second place in the Big Ten Conference. Wisconsin hosts Purdue at noon on Sunday.

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There’s talk that Marquette and the other “Catholic-Seven” schools in the Big East Conference might be pulling out as early as this summer. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the league’s full members – those with football and basketball teams – will meet today in Atlanta to discuss the exit terms. Marquette and the league’s other basketball-first schools could be playing in their own conference as early as next season, depending on the exit fees that the other schools are willing to accept. The Golden Eagles will be part of a new league along with Georgetown, DePaul, Seton Hall, Providence, Saint John’s, and Villanova. Butler and Xavier also plan to join, along with possibly one other school. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey has suggested that the new league take the Big East name with them. He said those schools have carried the Big East’s flag, and it’s almost fitting that they keep it. In Brey’s words, “It’s going to be a heck of a league.”

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There will be a new boys’ state high school basketball champion in Division 5. Sheboygan Lutheran lost its shot at back-to-back titles, when it dropped a sectional semi-final last night to top-seeded Green Bay Northeast Wisconsin Lutheran 84-62. The other four divisional champs from last year are all still alive, going into tomorrow night’s sectional finals – Germantown, Onalaska, Brillion, and Whitefish Bay Dominican. Nine top-seeded teams lost last night – including three in Division-One where Superior, Milwaukee Hamilton, and Milwaukee Vincent all went down. Twenty-seven of the 42 Number-One seeds all won their brackets, and most will be matched with other top-seeds in tomorrow’s sectional finals. Those winners will advance to the state tournament in Madison, which begins next Thursday. On the girls’ side, the second round of the regionals begins tonight.

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The Milwaukee Brewers ended a five-game exhibition losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox yesterday in Phoenix. Outfield prospects Josh Prince and Khris Davis each belted two-run homers, as Milwaukee improved to 2-5 in Cactus League play. Another Brewers’ outfield prospect, Caleb Gindl, walked twice and stole a pair of bases. He’s hitting .556 this spring. Starting candidate Mike Fiers gave up a run on three hits in three innings. Today, the Brewers will play Colorado. Newly-acquired left-hander Tom Gorzelanny will start for the Crew against Rockies’ southpaw Daniel Rosenbaum.

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Milwaukee Brewers’ manager Ron Roenicke says playing first base is a lot harder than people think – but veteran shortstop Alex Gonzalez is making it look easy. He appears to have the inside track at the moment on the first base job for the start of the regular season – at least until Corey Hart returns in May from knee surgery. Mat Gamel was planning to open the year at first, until he re-tore the ACL in his right knee, and is out for the season. Gonzalez has never played at first in his big league career. But Roenicke says he’s already showing that he’ll be great fielding ground balls, turning double plays, and scooping throws out of the dirt. The Brewers are also trying out AA prospect Hunter Morris at first, along with minor leaguer Blake Lalli.

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Milwaukee Brewers’ starter Mark Rogers is pitching in an exhibition against the Italian national team today. Manager Ron Roenicke says he wants to give Rogers a bit of a different atmosphere, to try and get his fastball on track. Meanwhile, the Crew will get a look at its relief corps this afternoon, as the starters all get a rest when Milwaukee plays the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields in Arizona. Former starter Tom Gorzelanny, who will be in the Milwaukee bullpen this year, will make his spring debut for the Crew. He was one of two veterans the Brewers acquired during the winter for their relief corps. Michael Gonzalez is the other, and he expects to make his Milwaukee debut today as well. Milwaukee has been getting a lot of production from their starters in the early games of Spring Training – especially Yovani Gallardo and Marco Estrada, who leave next week for the World Baseball Classic. Gallardo will get one more start for Milwaukee on Sunday before joining his Mexican teammates for the international tourney which begins next Thursday.

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A former soccer club player at UW-Madison will become the first woman to try out at an NFL regional scouting combine. 28-year-old Lauren Silberman will show off her place-kicking skills on Sunday at the New York Jets’ training facility in Florham Park, New Jersey. She said she’s working hard to prepare, but she’s also realistic about her chances. Silberman will compete against more accomplished college kickers, and a combine official said the goals are for kickers to boot 55-yard field goals and get their kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. Silberman graduated from the UW’s main campus. She later started a consulting firm which helps athletes train by using video games to improve their performance. Silberman wrote a master’s thesis on that subject at MIT.

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The road to a national basketball title begins today for three Wisconsin men’s college teams. The NCAA Division III tournament opens with a Field-of-62. UW-Whitewater opens at home this afternoon against Dubuque, with the winner to face either Centre College or North Central of Illinois in the second round next Friday. UW-Stevens Point opens tonight at home against Northwestern College of Minnesota, and the winner will play either Calvin or Rose-Hulman next week. The third Wisconsin team, Saint Norbert, plays at Wheaton tonight. The winner faces either top-ranked Saint Thomas or Aurora in Round-Two. Meanwhile, four Wisconsin women’s teams will open national Division III play tonight – and three of them are in the same sub-regional hosted by UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks go against Wisconsin Lutheran, and Carthage faces Thomas More of Kentucky. Both winners will play each other in Whitewater tomorrow for a chance at the Sweet-16. The other Wisconsin women’s team, UW-Stevens Point, plays Concordia-Moorhead tonight in Iowa. That winner faces either Simpson or Westminster of Missouri in Round-Two tomorrow.

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The playoffs begin tonight for the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team. The Badgers will host a best-of-three series with Saint Cloud State at the UW’s new LaBahn Arena. Wisconsin has the Number-two seed in the WCHA, after tying with North Dakota for second-place in the regular season. The Badgers, ranked sixth in the nation, come in at 21-9-2, while Saint Cloud is 9-22-3. Game-Two is tomorrow night – and if necessary, the third-and-deciding contest will be played Sunday afternoon. The series winner advances to the WCHA Final Face-off next weekend. Meanwhile, the 16th-ranked Badger men’s hockey team plays at No. 13 ranked Nebraska-Omaha the next two nights. Wisconsin is tied for sixth in the WCHA with two weekends left.

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University of Wisconsin women’s hockey forward Brianna Decker is one of 10 finalists for her second straight Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. It’s the sport’s top national honor, and Decker won it a year ago after she led the NCAA Division I with 37 goals. She’s now a senior, and she leads the Badgers with 27 goals and 23 assists. Last October, Decker became just the 17th player in the nation to record 200 points for her career. The list of finalists will be cut down to three a week from today. The winner will be announced in Minneapolis on March 23.

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The state high school team wrestling tournament begins tonight at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison. The state’s best individual grapplers took home their medals a week ago – and many will return to help their teams try to win gold. The Division 1 quarterfinals will be held this evening. Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln will not be there to defend the title it won for nine times in 10 years. Wausau West is this year’s top-ranked school, and will go against Burlington in tonight’s final match. Sauk Prairie opens the proceedings against Mukwonago. Undefeated Kaukauna faces Lake Geneva Badger. And Bay Port grapples Menomonee Falls. Tonight’s winners advance to tomorrow’s semifinals at 9 a.m. In Division 2, semifinals and finals take place tomorrow. Defending champ Luxemburg-Casco opens against Ellsworth, and Mauston faces Chilton/Hilbert. In Division 3, returning champion Coleman goes against Clear Lake in tomorrow’s semis. And then two unbeatens will go against each other – Lancaster and Random Lake.

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Wisconsin’s best high school gymnasts will compete for state gold medals tonight. The individual competition is up first at the state meet to be held in Wisconsin Rapids. Team trophies will be up for grabs tomorrow. A squad made up of Franklin, Muskego, Oak Creek, and Whitnall high schools won the Division 1 crown a year ago. In Division-Two, Whitefish Bay is the returning champ, and has won three gold trophies in the last four years. There are seven individual returning champs among the two divisions. They include Jessica Krause of Hartland Arrowhead, who tries to become only the fourth person to win three titles in the floor exercise.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s swim team started the day in sixth place at the Big Ten Championships at Indiana. Michigan led the team standings after two days with 316 points. The Badgers had 101. Senior Michael Weiss has set four new Wisconsin records during the meet, including two last night. One was in the 500-freestyle, in which he broke his own mark by about three seconds with a time of 4:14-point-oh-seven. He finished second in the event. Weiss also joined three teammates in setting a new UW mark in the 400-medley relay in 3:10-point-29. The NCAA qualifying time was good enough for a fourth-place conference finish. Sophomore Drew TeDuits also set a new record for the 100-yard backstroke in a leg of that relay, with a time of :46.81.

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UW-Milwaukee lost its early lead after the second day of the Horizon League men’s swim meet in Chicago. Cleveland State was the new leader going into today’s action. The Vikings had 317 points, to 294 for UWM. Green Bay is fourth. Willem Poelmans of Green Bay won the men’s 200-individual medley in a league record time of 1:49-point-oh-six. K.J. Heger of Milwaukee won the one-meter diving crown. On the women’s side, Green Bay was still second after Day-Two, 26 points behind front-running Cleveland State. Milwaukee is third. Emily McClellan of the Panthers won the 200-individual medley in two-minutes, 49-hundredths seconds.

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SCORES

WIAA boys' state high school hockey tournament

Quarterfinals in Madison

Eau Claire Memorial 2, Whitefish Bay 1

Green Bay Notre Dame 7, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 0

Superior 6, Fond du Lac 3

Verona 6, Wausau West 3

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WIAA boys' high school basketball sectionals

Division 1

Stevens Point Sectional

Schofield D.C. Everest 54, Superior 35

Oshkosh North 71, Stevens Point 47

Mequon Homestead Sectional

De Pere 67, Sheboygan North 43

Germantown 61, Arrowhead 46

Sun Prairie Sectional

Madison Memorial 59, Middleton 49

Mukwonago 80, Janesville Craig 69

Racine William Horlick Sectional

Milwaukee Rufus King 52, Milwaukee Vincent 47

Racine J.I. Case 67, Milwaukee Hamilton 55

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Division 2

Marshfield Sectional 1

Hortonville 50, Rhinelander 43

Onalaska 47, Rice Lake 39

Fond du Lac Sectional

Grafton 58, Slinger 41

Pulaski 45, Seymour 39

Janesville Craig Sectional

DeForest 59, Monroe 56

Stoughton 66, Wilmot Union 39

West Allis Central Sectional

New Berlin Eisenhower 52, Waukesha Catholic Memorial 43

Wisconsin Lutheran 52, Milwaukee Washington 48

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Division 3

River Falls Sectional

La Crosse Aquinas 63, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 47

Barron 63, Somerset 57

Ashwaubenon Sectional

Brillion 53, Wrightstown 51

Little Chute 41, Appleton Xavier 40

Middleton Sectional

Lodi 63, Marshall 56

Wisconsin Dells 42, Prairie du Chien 34

Hartland Aarrowhead Sectional

Berlin 58, Oostburg 45

East Troy 67, Brown Deer 57

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Division 4

Durand Sectional

Auburndale 54, Hurley 27

Unity 36, Colfax 35

Appleton North Sectional

Amherst 70, Oconto 50

Reedsville 55, Shiocton 50

Wisconsin Dells Sectional

Cuba City 56, Southwestern 44

Onalaska Luther 55, Fall Creek 46

Brookfield Central Sectional

Whitefish Bay Dominican 72, Kenosha St. Joseph 55

Laconia 75, Fond du Lac St. Mary's Springs 56

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Division 5>

Spooner Sectional

Clayton 45, Prentice 33

Drummond 31, Luck 28

Menasha Sectional

Green Bay NEW Lutheran 84, Sheboygan Lutheran 62

Niagara 55, Almond-Bancroft 46

La Crosse Logan Sectional

Elmwood 55, Cochrane-Fountain City 51

Royall 61, Cassville 56

Fort Atkinson Sectional

Racine Lutheran 50, Milwaukee Academy of Science 35

Randolph 56, South Wayne Black Hawk 53

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