Submitted Article
The Hayward 8th grade boys basketball team participated in the Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament held by the Great Northwest Basketball League. The team included three Lac Courte Oreilles tribal members.
The tournament was hosted by Merrill on March 23 and 24, 2024. This elite tournament brought together 56 of the top community-based 8th grade boys basketball teams from across the State of Wisconsin to play either 6 or 7 games over the two-day weekend.
Hayward finished 11th in their field. They finished 3-3 in the state tournament. Hayward put up a tournament high of 83 points, led by a 40-point performance from Adel Amparo in an 83-63 win over Rhinelander, which was the most by any player in the tournament.
The Hayward boys brought a fast-paced potent scoring punch, which gave some teams problems. While most teams struggled to score 50 points, the Hayward boys averaged 53.5 points per game.
Hayward 8th Grade Boys Roster: Mikey Quaderer Jr., Joey Gajewski, Adel Amparo, Luke Halberg, Carter Lohman, Levi Belille, Francisco Espadas, Beck Johnson, Sully Sportel and Simon Hansen. Coaches included, Curtis DeCora, and Aaron Halberg. Tribal members included Levi Belille, Mikey Quaderer Jr, Adel Amparo and Coach Curtis DeCora.
Onalaska defeated La Crosse Central 63 to 45 to win the Division 2 Championship. The All-Tournament team for Division 2 consisted of: Jorden Calvert (La Crosse Central), Beau Chernick (Notre Dame), Devin Dassow (Medford), Braylon DeCleene (West De Pere), Bradyn DeLong (Onalaska), Bjorn Helstad (Rice Lake), Tyler Kowal (Onalaska), Cullen MacGlashin (La Crosse Central), Ben Wittnebel (Beaver Dam).
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.