MONROE — Four area players were named to the 2019-20 Associated Press All-State teams. Unlike the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-state picks, the AP does not separate by divisions. Instead, five players are picked for first- through fourth-team, with an honorable mention list.
In girls basketball, Black Hawk senior Natalie Leuzinger was picked as a fourth-team selection. The 5-7 Wisconsin preferred walk-on averaged 16.5 points per game in her senior season, including a 41.1 shooting percentage on nearly 100 attempts from beyond the arc. She also averaged more than five rebounds, three assists and three steals per game.
In her career, Leuzinger finishes as the school’s all-time scoring leader (1,803), averaging 17.3 points per game. A season ago she helped lead the Warriors to the program’s first state championship with an undefeated record, and had the team again undefeated and back at the state tournament for the third consecutive season the COVID-19 outbreak cancelled the WIAA Division 5 state tournament less than 10 hours before tip-off.
Also all-state in girls basketball was Leuzinger’s teammate, junior Bailey Butler, a UW-Green Bay commit. Butler averaged 15.3 points per game this past winter, hitting 38.2% of 152 3-point attempts. She also averaged 3.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 6.9 steals per game. Early in the season she eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring mark and now has more than 1,300 points with one season to go in her prep career.
La Crosse Aquinas senior Lexi Donarski was selected as the state’s player of the year, with coach Dave Donarski being picked as the state’s top coach. Lexi Donarski was picked as the WBCA player of the year, a.k.a. Miss Basketball. Lexi Donarksi is an Iowa State commit, scoring 24.2 points per game this season with 6.9 assists and 5.5 steals. She also averaged 45.1% shooting from downtown on nearly 150 attempts. She finishes her career with more than 2,100 points.
Aquinas had a 25-1 record this winter and reached the WIAA Division 4 state tournament for the fourth-straight year. Aquinas was state champions in both 2018 and 2019, and runners-up in 2017.
In boys basketball, juniors Cade Meyer of Monroe and Carter Lancaster of Darlington were honorable mention selections.
Meyer is a top prospect in the class of 2021 from around Wisconsin. He averaged 18.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game this season as a player that could play both inside and out. Meyer helped lead Monroe to an 18-6 record and second-place finish in the Badger South. It was the most wins the program had seen in nearly a decade. He has scholarship offers from UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, South Dakota State and Valparaiso, with interest from several other schools.
Lancaster led Darlington to a 22-3 record, with all three losses coming to unbeaten and top-ranked Cuba City. Lancaster, at 6-4, is a versatile threat and has been a first-team all-conference pick all three years of high school. He averaged 20.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and was named the SWAL player of the year this season.
Johnny Davis, a Wisconsin commit from La Cross Central, was named the state player of the year, while Hall of Famer Jerry Petitgoue of Cuba City was picked as the state’s coach of the year. Davis was also selected as the 2020 Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin by the WBCA, averaging 27.2 points per game. Petitgoue’s Cubans were the top-ranked team in Division 4, going unbeaten on the season. The state’s all-time wins leader for coaches, Petitgoue had two players named all-state by the AP as well.
Wisconsin Girls AP
All-State Team
Player of the Year: Lexi Donarski, La Crosse Aquinas (unanimous)
Coach of the Year: Dave Donarski, La Crosse Aquinas
First team
Maddison Baker, 6-2, sr., West Bend West
Lexi Donarski, 5-10, sr., La Crosse Aquinas (unanimous)
Leilani Kapinus, 5-11, sr., Madison Memorial
Caroline Strande, 5-11, sr., Racine Lutheran (unanimous)
Maty Wilke, 5-10, jr., Beaver Dam
Second team
Leah Earnest, 5-11, sr., Stevens Point
Macy McGlone, 6-3, sr., Hortonville
Anna Mortag, 6-0 sr., Brookfield Central
Jaddan Simmons, 5-9, sr., Green Bay Southwest
Sitori Tanin, 6-2, sr., Middleton
Third team
Courtney Becker, 6-0, sr., La Crosse Aquinas
Bridget Froehlke, 5-9, sr., Wrightstown
Anna Lutz, 6-1, jr, Marshall
Sami Martin, 6-2, sr., Platteville
Natalie McNeal, 5-8, sr., Germantown
Fourth team
Abbie Aalsma, 5-9, soph., Waupun
Jada Donaldson, 5-6, sr., Beaver Dam
Natalie Leuzinger, 5-9, sr., Black Hawk
Khamya McNeal, 5-7, sr., Milwaukee King
Olivia Sobczak, 6-0, sr., Oconomowoc
Honorable mention
Kamorea Arnold, fr., Germantown; Paige Banks, sr., Evansville; Bailey Butler, jr., Black Hawk; Mesa Byom, sr., Melrose-Mindoro; Angie Cera, sr., Mukwonago; Ella Diny, sr., Wrightstown; Carley Duffney, jr., Green Bay Preble; Olivia Gamoke, jr., Onalaska; Morgann Gardner, jr., Racine Lutheran; Remi Geiger, sr., Loyal; Caelan Givens, sr., Chippewa Falls; Erin Hedman, sr., New Berlin Eisenhower; Emily Herzberg, sr., Melrose-Mindoro; Dru Henning, sr., Mukwonago; Ellie Hoesley, sr., Arcadia; Natalie Jens, jr., Beaver Dam; Mackenzie Johnson, sr., Bay Port; Nicole Johnson, sr., Mineral Point; Lily Krahn, soph., Prairie du Chien; Jasmine Kondrakiewicz, sr., Pius XI; Emily La Chapell, soph., Appleton East; Isabella Lenz, jr., Prescott; Peyton McGinnis, sr., Waupun; Sarah Mueller, sr., Stevens Point Pacelli; Brianna Nelson, sr., Eleva-Strum; Laura Nickel, jr., Marshall; Olivia Pitrof, sr., Racine Horlick; Olivia Rangel, jr., Franklin; Emmoni Rankins, sr., Madison Memorial; Haley Rens, jr., Laconia; Katie Rohner, sr., Waterford; Becca Schauer, sr., Ozaukee; Lauren Schill, sr., Pewaukee; Grace Schmidt, soph., Watertown Luther Prep; Kylie Schmidt, jr., Mishicot; Maddy Schreiber, jr., Kimberly; Julia Seidel, sr., Wausau Newman Catholic; Kylie Strop, sr., River Falls; Taylor Theusch, sr., La Crosse Aquinas; Maggie Trautsch, sr., DeForest; Liz Uhl, sr., Oregon; Kennedy Van Zile, sr., Rhinelander; Hailey Voelker, sr., Colby; Julianna Wagner, jr., Lake Mills; Emma Wollert, sr., Sheboygan Falls; Madison Zimmer, sr., Clear Lake.
Wisconsin Boys AP
All-State Team
Player of the Year — Johnny Davis, sr., La Crosse Central
Coach of the Year — Jerry Petitgoue, Cuba City
First Team
Patrick Baldwin Jr., 6-9, jr., Sussex Hamilton (unanimous)
Johnny Davis, 6-5, sr., La Crosse Central (unanimous)
Carter Gilmore, 6-7, sr., Hartland Arrowhead
Tyrese Hunter, 6-1, jr., Racine St. Catherine’s
Jacob Ognacevic, 6-8, sr., Sheboygan Lutheran
Second Team
Dalton Banks, 6-2, sr., Eau Claire North
David Joplin, 6-7, Jr., Brookfield Central
Max Klesmit, 6-3, sr., Neenah
Isaiah Stewart, 6-0, sr., Madison La Follette
AJ Vukovich, 6-5, sr., East Troy
Third Team
Jake Buchanan, 6-0, sr., Kimberly
Jordan Davis, 6-4, sr., La Crosse Central
Alex Huibregtse, 6-4, sr., Grafton
Keonte Jones, 6-3, sr., Madison East
Preston Ruedinger, 6-2, jr., Oshkosh Lourdes
Fourth Team
Cole Booth, 6-1, sr., Plymouth
Brayden Dailey, 6-6, jr., Cuba City
Mason Dorn, 6-1, jr., Seymour
Kobe Johnson, 6-3, jr., Glendale Nicolet
Kamari McGee, 6-0 jr., Racine St. Catherine’s
Honorable Mention
Alex Antetokounmpo, sr., Whitefish Bay Dominican; Carson Arenz, sr., Onalaska; Grant Beirne, sr., Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau; Charlie Bender, jr., Lake Mills; Caden Boser, sr., Eau Claire Memorial; Michael Casper, Sr., Merrill; Aidan Clarey, sr., Brookfield Academy; John Bunks, sr., Appleton Xavier; Ryan Claflin, sr., Southern Door; Cole Crubel, sr., River Ridge; Mason Dopirak, jr., Manitowoc Lincoln; Ben Emler, sr., Columbus; Will Fuhrmann, sr., Reedsburg; Logan Geissler, sr., Bay Port; Derek Gray, sr., Madison La Follette; Reed Gunnink, sr., Laconia; Cade Hall, Sr., Mauston; Darius Hannah, sr., Milwaukee Academy of Science; Luke Healy, jr., Hudson; Sam Haese, jr., Wrightstown; Adam Hobson, sr., Stoughton; Logan Jedwabny, sr., Kaukauna; Jordan Johnson, jr., Elkhorn; Zac Johnson, jr., River Falls; Matthew Kissner, Sr., Pittsville; Mason Kramer, sr., Prairie du Chien; Gabe Krueger, Sr., Wausau East; Carter Lancaster, jr., Darlington; Grant Manke, sr., Bangor; Cade Meyer, jr., Monroe; Quinton Murrell, jr., Milwaukee King; Parker Nielsen, sr., Prescott; Brady Olson, sr., Cuba City; Peyton Rogers-Schmidt, sr., Chippewa Falls; Cameron Palesse, jr., Waukesha West; Brandin Podziemski, jr., St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy; Colin Schaefer, sr., Sun Prairie; Donovan Schwartz, sr., Winnebago Lutheran Academy; Tyrell Stuttley, sr., Onalaska; Kaleim Taylor, sr., Milwaukee Academy of Science; Karter Thomas, sr., Oshkosh West; JaKobe Thompson, jr., Racine Case; Terrance Thompson, sr., La Crosse Central; Casey Verhagen, so., Sheboygan Lutheran; Caleb Williams, Sr., Wild Rose.
