Basketball tournaments are one step from moving to Green Bay

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The Wisconsin high school basketball tournaments are one step away from being moved to Green Bay.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Board of Control has endorsed a five-year deal to move the boys’ and girls’ tournaments from their long-time locations in Madison to the Resch Center near Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.

The board is giving the University of Wisconsin one last chance to assure that Badger and NCAA hockey events will not conflict with the normal dates for the prep tournaments – the second weekend in March for the girls, and the third weekend in March for the boys.

The girls’ tournament has been moved back in recent years to avoid conflicts with UW hockey at the Kohl Center, but the tournament will move back to its traditional date next year.

The univerity said it went a long way toward opening up the arena for the high school tournaments by arranging to have the new Big Ten hockey conference hold its tournament elsewhere at a neutral site beginning in 2014.

But the WIAA pointed to other conflicts. Its director, Dave Anderson, says his group needs to count on the Kohl Center being open, and if not, the board has approved a move to Green Bay.

The move could take effect next year, even though the WIAA has a contract with the university through 2013.

It would be a significant move, because the boys’ tournament has been played in Madison since 1920 with the exception of 1936 when it was in Wisconsin Rapids. The girls’ tourney has been in the state’s capital city every year since it began in 1976.

Green Bay was aggressive in pursuing the effect, and it even enlisted the Packers to help by providing a chalk-talk to tournament teams, or perhaps tours of Lambeau

Parking is much more plentiful in Green Bay, and the Packer stadium district has offered up to $50,000 to the WIAA to cover its first-year expenses.

Badger men lose to Michigan State

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team remains in fourth place in the Big Ten after losing at Michigan State 69-55 Thursday night.

The seventh-ranked Spartans scored 15 points on fast breaks in the first half, and that decided the game, according to Badgers forward Ryan Evans.

Michigan State used a 16-2 run to go up by 12 at the half. They led by as many as 21 later on.

Wisconsin had a cold shooting night, hitting just 34 percent from the floor and 21 percent from three-point range.

Draymond Green had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Michigan State, who moved into a tie for first place in the Big Ten with Ohio State. Both are 10-3 in the conference.

Evans had 17 points and seven boards for the Badgers, who lost their seventh straight game at East Lansing and have still not won there since 2004. The 15th-ranked Badgers are now 8-5 in the Big Ten and 19-7 overall. They have lost two of their last three games.

Women lose, too

The Wisconsin women were crushed at home by Michigan State Thursday night, 62-46. Coach Bobbie Kelsey said it was the Badgers’ worst game of the year on both ends of the floor.

Senior Anya Covington said her team did not have energy from the start as the Badgers were held to their second-lowest point total of the season. Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant said her team’s top defensive goal was to challenge Wisconsin from outside. And that worked, as the Badgers have now made just 3 of 21 shots from three-point range in their last two games after hitting a school record 12 three-pointers against Ohio State. Wisconsin fell to 4-9 in the conference and 8-17 overall. They’ll play at Nebraska on Sunday.

Tags: wi sports, sports, prep