The WIAA heard Wauwatosa East's appeal on sophomore transfer student Larry Bradley today and will make the announcement of their decision sometime next week.

To quickly summarize, Bradley, whose parents still live in Milwaukee, moved in with his uncle Marshall Williams, who lives in Wauwatosa. Bradley, a 6-3 guard, started for Milwaukee Vincent last season and averaged 7.3 points per game. He is considered one of the top sophomores in Wisconsin.

The WIAA denied a transferred waiver application in November. Tosa East appealed and pincipal Nick Hughes and athletic director Linda Vitrano traveled to Stevens Point for the hearing Friday. 

I was told the decision has been made, but the announcement is not until next week. Hello?  Takes that long to write a press release?

I have no inside information, of course, but I don't have a good feeling on this one.

@@@

Seth Mortag, a 6-4 freshman forward, is not only the first freshman to make the varsity for veteran coach Mark Adams, but he is also starting for the Lancers. Mortag played on a summer AAU team coach by former Milwaukee Bucks guard Mo Williams. He scored 10 points in his first varsity game, a double OT win over South Milwaukee.

@@@

Daniel Patton has stepped up for the Spartans, as the Brookfield East guard scored 25 points in the first two games, including 16 in the opener. He is a good outside shooter for coach Andy Farley's gang.

@@@

Brookfield East and West Allis Central, usually the teams to beat in the Greater Metro Conference wrestling race, hooked up in the first dual of the conference season. The Spartans won 36-27 behind pins by Andy Wanta, Zach Sines and Joe Wahhab. East coach Bud Sines must be smiling.

@@@

The school rivalries busted out early this season. Tosa West girls slipped by Tosa East, 33-31, in a thriller Tuesday night at West. The Tosa East boys travel to Tosa West Saturday night and then the Brookfield East boys and girls travel to Central for a twinbill on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. (girls) and 7:30 p.m. (guys).

@@@

That's it for now. Look for more blogs coming at you more often now that the winter season is underway.

Be a Hit and Have a Ball!

On back-to-back nights last week, I saw something that really disappointed me. And it had nothing to do with what happened on the basketball court.

Before I say anything, I want to say on the record that I think the Brookfield Central and Wauwatosa East basketball fans are among the best fans that I have had the chance to watch the past six years. Their outfits are creative and their enthusiasm is contagious. Maybe that's why I was disappointed, because the Lancer and Red Raider fans have set high standards in my eyes.

First of all, last Wednesday, the Tosa East boys team hosted Menomonee Falls in a game which was moved from Tuesday because of the cold weather. I couldn't believe what I saw. Not only was it one of the smallest crowds that I have ever been a apart of at a Tosa East boys basketball game, but one of the quietest. I actually counted 61 students in the student section.

It couldn't have been the competition, because Menomonee Falls has the ability to beat anyone in the Greater Metro Conference. In fact, the Indians led the Red Raiders at half-time the first time they played. It took a curious foul call in the final seconds to give Tosa East a chance to win the game in regulation this time around.

I know it wasn't just me, because a high-profile Tosa East official made the comment to me afterwards, "Maybe we're not the place to be any more." 

The next night, I attended the Brookfield East-Brookfield Central girls-boys doubleheader at Central. The stands were not even half full for the girls game, an important GMC battle between the unbeaten Lady Lancers and the desperate Lady Spartans, who needed and got, a huge 39-35 victory.

With two minutes - TWO minutes - left in the game, like clockwork, the color-coded blue and white Central students paraded into the gym as a group. Hello?  Where were you people for the first game? A game which was much more entertaining and more meaningful in the GMC race than the nightcap would be.

With all the cold weather and the re-scheduling of games last week, I'm going to give the students the benefit of the doubt based on their past history.

Or maybe, just maybe, they were home studying.

Agree or disagree with me, but feel free to leave a comment.

And always remember to be a hit and have a ball.

With most athletes off until later this week because of exam week, let's take a look at some highlights from the past week in Brookfield and Wauwatosa prep sports.

Wauwatosa East's 160-pounder Nick Morin became the all-time winningest wrestler in Tosa history by winning four matches last week (103-34). He surpassed Jake Benedict's 102 victories from 2001-05.

DSHA basketball coach Scott Witt felt as if his team lost the Greater Metro Conference title last Friday when the young Brookfield Central Lady Lancers beat the pre-season favorite Dashers, 45-38. "They (BC) have to lose two games and I don't think that's going to happen," Witt said. "I think it's between us and Brookfield East for second place."

The young Lancers only have two seniors in the top seven of their rotation and junior Joana Bielefeld (11.5 PPG) and sophomore Erin Lueder (12.5) are two of the GMC's top players. But that won't stop Dan Wandrey from worrying, because Central's head coach is the GMC's version of Lou Holtz.

Tosa West's Jesse Zeisse was inserted into the starting lineup for Andrea Kwak last week, when Kwak missed a practice. The results worked out great for both girls. Zeisse scored nine points in a win over Greenfield and then Kwak scored 10 in a double overtime win over Whitnall including four in the second overtime.

Brookfield Central handed Wauwatosa East a 53-51 loss on Jan. 15 and pulled into a first-place tie with the state-ranked Red Raiders. A couple things came out of this game. The key to the game was Central's discipline in their half-court offense, as the Lancers didn't fall apart after East rallied from a 10-point deficit. Central ran time off the clock in the final minutes, looking for a lay-up. Unsung hero Mitch Aprahamian was at the top of the key when he whipped a pass to Luke Duckett driving to the basket for a lay-up and the win.

The Central scoreboard had a short circuit (or something), because it went out a few minutes before the start of the second half, in the third quarter and then with two minutes left to play. When East's Tony Walls grabbed a loose ball and called time-out while flying out of bounds there was then a few seconds of controversy over whether the clock expired.

Tosa East's Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey has averaged 11.3 PPG, scoring 16, 8 and 10 points since breaking the middle finger on her shooting hand. She improved her scoring over three points per game. There is no truth to the rumor coach Rob Hamill is thinking of having the rest of his squad wear similiar splints.

After starting the season with 13 straight losses the co-op team of Wauwatosa East/West/New Berlin Eisenhower/West/Whitnall (now that's a mouthful) won their first hockey game, 6-2, over Oconomowc on Saturday.