MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
Appleton North (Wis.) Lightning have officially been named to the 12th Annual MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its 11th year honoring girls basketball.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for the top 100 teams nationwide. In order to be eligible a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the
MaxPreps National Rankings. For basketball, only 20 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 40,000 competing varsity teams. This puts the Lightning ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
Beating De Pere 49-34 in the Wisconsin
WIAA Division I state championship basketball game Saturday, March 10, marked the completion of an incredible 28-0 season – and earned Appleton North an invitation to the Tour of Champions.
Sophomore forward Paige Schabo led the champions with a game-high 16 points and junior guard Kari Brekke added 13 to pace the lightning to the 15-point triumph. Callie Pohlmann, just one of two seniors on the Lightning roster, poured in nine points.
With the game knotted at 27-27 in the second half, the Lightning took over. Following a 3-pointer by Kalen Kilitzke, Sydney Levy added a pair of buckets to put the champions up 36-29. Appleton North continued to pull away and at the end of the 20-4 game deciding run the Lightning were in control 47-31 and well on their way to the school's first girls state basketball championship.
Joe Russom's club began its run through the
Division I bracket with a 70-33 triumph over Oshkosh West before upending Oshkosh North 62-47, Appleton West 61-47 and Chippewa Falls 79-52 to win Section 1 and move onto the Final Four. The Lightning then dispatched King 75-52 before facing De Pere. Appleton North won all six tournament games by double-digit margins, outscoring their opposition 396-265.
The Lightning, who fell in the state semifinals a year ago, will take a 28-game winning streak into next season and return much of their roster. With the clean slate the Lightning secured the
No. 1 spot in all of Wisconsin. They finished
28th nationally in MaxPreps National Computer Rankings and grabbed the
No. 23 spot in MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 Writer's poll.
These incredible season Achievements have earned the Appleton North Lightning an invitation to the 12th Annual Tour of Champions.
Please join us as we celebrate with the girls basketball team, coaching staff, students and fans on Tuesday, April 18 at a lunch assembly, which starts at 11:30 a.m. in the school cafeteria.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.
