The City of Kenosha’s biggest sports rivalry takes center stage once again this Tuesday.
Highlighting this week’s county high school sports calendar, Bradford hosts Tremper in a girls-boys Southeast Conference basketball doubleheader at the Bradford Fieldhouse on Tuesday, with the girls game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the boys game to tip off after at approximately 6 p.m.
That’s the biggest highlight of a weekly winter sports schedule in the county that includes a packed slate of boys and girls basketball, boys hockey, gymnastics, boys swimming and wrestling.
Here are Kenosha.com Associate Editor Mike Johnson’s “Top 5 Events to Watch” in the county this week, along with a weekly calendar of high school varsity sports involving county teams.
TOP 5 EVENTS TO WATCH
TREMPER AT BRADFORD (girls basketball)
Tuesday (Jan. 10), 4:30 p.m., Bradford Fieldhouse (3700 Washington Rd., Kenosha)
The Red Devils and Trojans meet for the first time this season in a matchup of teams that feature a ton of talent and are tied for second place in the SEC. Bradford has won two straight to improve to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the SEC going into Tuesday’s matchup, and the Red Devils feature two of the top players in the area in senior forward Nevaeh Thomas, bound for NCAA Division I Evansville (Ind.) next season, and Syderah Farmer, bound for NAIA program Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., next season. Thomas leads the SEC in points per game with 25.8 and is second in rebounds per game with 12.8, while Farmer is third in scoring at 18.8 points per game and fourth in rebounds per game at 8.8. On the other side, streaking Tremper enters Tuesday on a three-game winning streak and is 10-4 overall and 4-1 in the SEC. Leading the Trojans are senior guard Aliana Brown, sixth in the SEC at 16.6 points per game, sophomore forward Emily Giese, first in the conference at 15.7 rebounds per game, and sophomore guard Josie Tenuta, who’s averaging 10.6 points per game. Bradford, Tremper and Oak Creek are in a three-way tie for second place in the SEC, one game behind 5-0 Franklin.
TREMPER AT BRADFORD (boys basketball)
Tuesday (Jan. 10), 6 p.m., Bradford Fieldhouse (3700 Washington Rd., Kenosha)
The back end of the doubleheader features the boys game between a pair of teams at the bottom of the SEC standings and searching for some traction. The Red Devils are coming off a big one-point city rivalry win at Indian Trail last week Friday and enter the week at 2-11 overall and 1-4 in the conference. Sophomore wing Andy Sauer (13.4 points per game) and senior wing DeAndre Jennings (12.2 points per game) are each scoring in double figures for Bradford. For Tremper, which is 2-9 overall and 0-5 in the SEC, junior guard DeJuan Graise is averaging 15.8 points per game and senior forward Will Starks is averaging 14.7 points per game to lead the way. The city rivals will play another girls-boys doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Tremper.
WILMOT QUAD (wrestling)
Thursday (Jan. 12), 6 p.m., Wilmot High School (11112 308th Ave., Wilmot)
County schools Westosha Central and Wilmot will join fellow Southern Lakes Conference programs Burlington and Elkhorn in a big wrestling quad on Thursday night out in Wilmot. Between the four schools in the quad meet, there are seven wrestlers among Wisconsin Grappler’s Division 1 state rankings. That includes two from Wilmot, senior Gianni Rebellato (22-1, No. 13 at 120 pounds) and junior Joel Sullivan (6-2, No. 9 at 152), and one from Central, senior Mason McNeill (13-1, No. 4 at 285).
MILWAUKEE MARQUETTE AT KENOSHA (boys hockey)
Friday (Jan. 13), 7 p.m., Pleasant Prairie IcePlex (9900 Terwall Terrace, Pleasant Prairie)
The Kenosha Thunder hockey team hosts a pair of games this weekend at the IcePlex, the first one a big Classic Eight Conference showdown against Milwaukee Marquette on Friday night. The Thunder are composed of students from the Kenosha Unified School District, as well as Westosha Central and Wilmot. Entering play this week, Kenosha is 8-4-0 overall and 2-3-0 in the Classic Eight, tied for third place in the eight-team conference. Indian Trail senior Liam VonElm-McKenna (seven goals, 10 assists) and LakeView Tech Academy senior Lucas Eltoft (11 goals, six assists) lead the Thunder with 17 points apiece, while Tremper senior Jake Shulte (nine goals, six assists) has 15 and Central senior Tyler Shike (five goals, nine assists) has 14.
ST. THOMAS MORE AT ST. JOSEPH (boys basketball)
Saturday (Jan. 14), 7 p.m., St. Joseph’s Madrigrano Gymnasium (2401 69th St., Kenosha)
The Metro Classic Conference is arguably the top small-school conference in the state for boys basketball, and you can see exactly why on Saturday night at the Madrigrano Gymnasium when St. Joseph and St. Thomas More bring together some of the area’s top talent. For the Lancers, junior guard Eric Kenesie is averaging 23.0 points per game, which ranks second in the conference, and 7.0 assists per game, which ranks first. In the latest WisSports.net state rankings for players in the Class of 2024, released last week Wednesday, Kenesie checked in at No. 42. For the Cavaliers, meanwhile, the standout junior tandem of 6-foot-5 Amari McCottry (28.3 points per game) and 6-8 Sekou Konneh (15.2 points, 15.2 rebounds per game) were ranked Nos. 4 and 6, respectively, in the Class of 2024 player rankings. Thomas More enters the week 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the Metro Classic and ranked No. 8 in Division 3 in the latest state coaches poll, while St. Joseph enters the week 8-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference. The Lancers play another Metro Classic game before Saturday’s matchup, as they’re at Whitefish Bay Dominican on Tuesday night.
HONORABLE MENTION: Local hoops fans can check out a doubleheader of girls and boys action on Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s DeSimone Arena, as Christian Life hosts hosts Milwaukee school St. Anthony in a girls game at 1 p.m., followed by a boys game between Reuther and St. Anthony at 3 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL CALENDAR
MONDAY
Boys basketball–Round Lake (Ill.) at Wilmot, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY
Boys basketball–Milwaukee Academy of Excellence at Reuther, 5:30 p.m.; Tremper at Bradford, 6 p.m.; Franklin at Indian Trail, 7 p.m.; Greendale Martin Luther at Shoreland Lutheran, 7 p.m.; St. Joseph at Whitefish Bay Dominican, 7 p.m. Girls basketball–Tremper at Bradford, 4:30 p.m.; Indian Trail at Franklin, 7 p.m.; Delavan-Darien at Westosha Central, 7 p.m.; Wilmot at Elkhorn, 7 p.m.; Shoreland Lutheran at Greendale Martin Luther, 7 p.m.; Whitefish Bay Dominican at St. Joseph, 7 p.m.; Christian Life at Williams Bay, 7:15 p.m. Gymnastics–Elkhorn and Badger/Burlington at Wilmot/Union Grove/Big Foot/Williams Bay, 6 p.m. Boys swimming–Indian Trail at Bradford, 4:30 p.m.; Racine Unified Co-op at Tremper, 4:30 p.m.; Jefferson/Cambridge at Badger/Westosha Central/Wilmot, 5:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Boys basketball–Christian Life at Milwaukee Messmer, 7:15 p.m.
THURSDAY
Boys basketball–Racine Lutheran at Shoreland Lutheran, 7 p.m.; Lake Country Lutheran at Christian Life, 7:15 p.m. Boys swimming–Badger/Westosha Central/Wilmot at Edgerton/Evansville Triangular, 5:30 p.m. Wrestling–Westosha Central, Wilmot, Burlington and Elkhorn at Wilmot Quad, 6 p.m.; Bradford vs. Racine Horlick/Park and Oak Creek at Oak Creek Ninth-Grade Center, 6:30 p.m.; Tremper vs. Franklin and Racine Case at Racine Case, 6:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Boys basketball–Bradford at Franklin, 7 p.m.; Oak Creek at Tremper, 7 p.m.; Indian Trail at Racine Case, 7 p.m.; Lake Geneva Badger at Westosha Central, 7 p.m.; Waterford at Wilmot, 7 p.m. Girls basketball–Lake Geneva Badger at Westosha Central, 5:30 p.m.; Waterford at Wilmot, 5:30 p.m.; Franklin at Bradford, 7 p.m.; Tremper at Oak Creek, 7 p.m.; Racine Case at Indian Trail, 7 p.m.; Shoreland Lutheran at Racine Lutheran, 7 p.m.; St. Joseph at St. Thomas More, 7 p.m. Hockey–Milwaukee Marquette at Kenosha (Pleasant Prairie IcePlex), 7 p.m. Wrestling–Shoreland Lutheran and St. Joseph at Racine St. Catherine’s/Lutheran/Burlington Catholic Central Quad, 5 p.m.
SATURDAY
Boys basketball–Westosha Central vs. Howards Grove at West Bend East/West, 1 p.m.; Reuther vs. St. Anthony at UW-Parkside, 3 p.m.; St. Thomas More at St. Joseph, 7 p.m. Girls basketball–Christian Life vs. St. Anthony at UW-Parkside, 1 p.m. Gymnastics–Kenosha Co-op and Wilmot/Union Grove/Big Foot/Williams Bay at Franklin Invite (Altius Gymnastics Academy), 2 p.m. Hockey–Kettle Moraine at Kenosha (Pleasant Prairie IcePlex), 7 p.m. Boys swimming–Bradford, Tremper and Indian Trail at Bradford Invite, 10 a.m. Wrestling–Tremper, Wilmot and St. Joseph at Waukesha West Invite, 9 a.m.; Westosha Central and Wilmot at Muskego Invite (girls), 9 a.m.; Bradford and Indian Trail at Lake Geneva Badger Invite, 9:30 a.m.; Westosha Central and Christian Life at Waukesha South Invite, 8 p.m.