The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has had a lot on its plate in recent months. But when it comes to basketball, no issue might be as intriguing as considering using instant replay for high school hoops.
Todd Clark, the WIAA's director of communications, indicated that such a topic is only in the early discussion stage. But it's still intriguing enough of a subject that is lending to some early debate.
“There's discussion there,” Clark said. “That's been talk about it at the basketball advisory committee. But things won't be talked about and voted on until June on that. We haven't talked about it. It's been kind of discussed because the National Federation just passed it to give the states authority to put in an instant replay under certain instances. If the WIAA would look at that, the obvious purpose for doing it would be those last-second shots. Did it go in at by the buzzer. Did it leave his hand in time?
“It would be things that they can review and actually change or alter. Was it a two or a three? Was he on the line? It's those types of things that would have an obvious affect on the outcome of the game. We haven't had any meetings since the federation released its capability to do that. I know Minnesota has done that with their ice hockey. They've had instant replay. Because it's televised, they've had the opportunity.”
Clark noted that having visual equipment at the game would obviously be needed for any hopes to have instant replay. That's why the focus is especially centering on state tournament games.
“It does leave it to those sports that are being televised,” he said. “That's why I think there's been a low progression to that. There's four layers of things it has to go through before the Board of Control decides if it goes through or not.”
Clark said one aspect of basketball not being considered is the shot clock.
“There's been some buzz,” he said. “But with the cost involved in putting the shot clock in, there's not a whole lot of interest in the state to do that.”
Baseball
La Crosse Central ended the regular season ranked No. 1 in the state at 24-2 under coach Kent Van Egtern, and is now taking dead aim at a state championship.
“We have a good group of kids who last year went to the state tournament. The pitching depth has been the key to our run so far,” Van Egtern said.
Senior Drew Ghelfi is among LC's top two pitchers. He's 9-0 and has pitched 43 innings with a 1.5 ERA.
“Drew throws pretty hard. He's at 88 to 91 miles per hour. He mixes in a really good change-up and puts in a decent curveball. He gets ahead with his fastball and is commanding with his offspeed which makes him pretty tough to hit.”
“Practice has really helped me a lot,” Ghelfi said. “We're focusing on pitching this year and that's really helped me. I've gained a lot of velocity this year.”
He's hitting .479 and is confident of a strong postseason.
“We help each other out hitting wise. If someone doesn't have a good day, someone else steps up,” Ghelfi said. “We can do some damage if we play to our potential.”
The other standout pitcher has been left-hander Lucas Warren, who is 6-2 with 62 strikeouts and 23 walks and an ERA of 2.71. He'll be playing college baseball at Winowa State.
“He's not the thrower that Drew is,” Van Egtern said. “He has great mechanics. He does a great job and he frustrates people. He's not overpowering but hits the spots he needs to hit. He's ahead in the counts a lot. He just nibbles and nibbles at the plate.”
Warren is also the team's leading hitter at .574 with four home runs and 37 RBI.
“We've been working a lot in practice like going to the opposite field and hitting off the tees,” Warren said. “We've spent a lot of time in hitting.”
It's been his best hitting season, Warren said.
Junior third baseman and pitcher Bobby Juan is at 38 hits on the season and 31 RBI. On the mound, he's 6-0.
“He's our three hitter and has some pop in his bat,” Van Egtern said. “He hasn't had any home runs this year. He has nine extra base hits. He is a lefthand hitter and can take the ball to anywhere on the field.”
“I've been trying to throw strikes, get ahead of the batters and rely on the defense,” Juan said. “I really have relied on the fastball. The curveball has come around lately. But my best pitch has been the fastball.”
"We know we can play with everyone in the state. It's just a matter of coming out ready to play everyday. I think we'll be able to do that.”
