The Brillion Lions Boys Basketball team is back in Madison, looking to capture what eluded them a year ago, a state championship.
The Lions are seeded second in the four-team Division Three field and will take on third-seeded Lakeside Lutheran in the state semifinals at approximately 3:15 Thursday afternoon at The Kohl Center in Madison.
Brillion went undefeated in The Eastern Wisconsin Conference this season with their lone loss coming at the hands of Division Two Mosinee 58 to 57 in mid-February.
The Lions are led by senior and EWC Player of the year Jeremy Lorenz.
He averages a double-double scoring nearly 22 points per game and hauls down about 12 boards per contest.
The 6’ 7” Wofford commit also shoots 68 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the line.
He also has plenty of help as Grant Geiger averages 13.5 ppg and first team all EWC Point Guard Parker Braun shoots nearly 50 percent from the floor and Bennett Olsen leads the Lions in making better than 46 percent from the three ball.
Lakeside Lutheran is the tri-champions of the Capitol North Conference and come into today’s game with a record of 25 and 3.
6’4” Senior Levi Birkholz leads them in scoring at nearly 22 ppg while shooting 64 percent from the floor and 76 percent from the foul line.
Meanwhile, Brillion is in search of their first state title since 2012 and understands it won’t be easy as they look for a rematch against West Salem in the champ game Saturday afternoon.
The Lions lost in the semifinals to West Salem by 10 last year and Head Coach Chad Shimek says what that loss taught them is that they had to get physically tougher, which he says they have, calling it one of if not the top reasons they are back in Madison.
West Salem. The top seed. Meets four seed and last year’s Division Four runners-up to Roncalli.
Milwaukee Academy of Science at 1:35 Thursday afternoon.
The winners meet for the Division Three State Title Saturday afternoon at approximately 2:30 p.m.
