7th grade basketball team competes at State Invite

CLINTON – The Clinton seventh grade girls basketball team participated in the Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament hosted at D. C. Everest, Wausau East, Mosinee and Marathon on April 11-12. This tournament, which was organized by The Great Northwest Basketball League, brought together 80 of the top community-based seventh grade girls basketball teams from all across the State of Wisconsin.

State champions were crowned in four divisions: Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4/5, based on the enrollment of the high school into which each team feeds.

The Clinton seventh grade girls team played in Division 3, finishing in 14th place. The results of Clinton’s six games were as follows:

Pool Play:

Clinton 35, Oconto Falls 18

Kewaunee 33, Clinton 29

Waupun 37, Clinton 25

9th – 14th Place Bracket:

Kewaskum 45, Clinton 29

Fox Valley Lutheran 36, Clinton 33

13th Place Game:

Oconto Falls 32, Clinton 28

Platteville defeated Freedom to win the Division 3 Championship.

The Clinton team is coached by Shayne Bryant; Assistant Coach: Terry Inman and Kevin Kalk; Coach: May Jo Birkholz. The All-Tournament Team for Division 3 consisted of: Josie Baker (Kewaskum), Paige Banks (Evansville), Bridget Froehlke (Wrightstown), Jordyn Girdaukas (Sheboygan Falls), Taylor Haase (Freedom), Becca Hoyer (Platteville), Sami Martin (Platteville), Peyton McGinnis (Waupun) and Carly Peters (Freedom).

In the other three divisions, Oconomowoc defeated Chippewa Falls to win the Division 1 Championship, Beaver Dam defeated Onalaska to win the Division 2 Championship and Melrose-Mindoro defeated Black Hawk to win the Division 4/5 Championship.

The Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament is an annual event, held in February, March or April of each year, pitting the top community-based teams in the State of Wisconsin against each other.

The tournament is organized by size of communities, much like the WIAA state high school tournaments, so that top teams can compete on a level playing field with other programs their size.

Separate tournaments are held for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys and girls.