Lake Country Lutheran's upset earns team of the week honor in latest boys hoops rankings

Zac Bellman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

AREA RANKINGS

Team (W-L), last week

  1. Wisconsin Lutheran (16-0), 1

  2. Arrowhead (14-1), 3

  3. St. Thomas More (15-1), 2

  4. Nicolet (12-3), 4

  5. Dominican (16-2), 6

  6. Pewaukee (13-2), 5

  7. Kettle Moraine (13-2), 8

  8. Whitnall (14-2), 10

  9. Germantown (12-4), 7

  10. Marquette (12-3), -

Others considered: Brookfield Academy (14-2), Carmen Northwest (13-2), Heritage Christian ((12-3), Homestead (13-4), Lake Country Lutheran (10-3), Milwaukee Juneau (9-3), Muskego (14-4), Waterford (12-5), Wauwatosa West (12-5), Westosha Central (10-2).

Lake Country Lutheran's Samuel Hans (4) elevates for a shot at home against Brookfield Academy, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.
Lake Country Lutheran's Samuel Hans (4) elevates for a shot at home against Brookfield Academy, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Lake Country Lutheran

The Lightning has vaulted into the Midwest Classic Conference race with eight straight wins to start 2024. Three of those came last week, starting with a 74-72 victory over Edgewood at home Tuesday. Senior Samuel Hans led the way with 30 points, followed by senior Carter Leibham with 14 and juniors Jack Poellet and Daniel Cleary each with 12. On Thursday, LCL defeated Milwaukee Lutheran 71-58 on the road, led by 29 points from Hans and 12 from senior Gavin Skrzypchak. The highlight of the week, however, was an 80-67 victory Saturday over Brookfield Academy that handed the Blue Knights their first conference loss. Hans tallied a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while leading an 11-steal team effort with four. Cleary added 17 points and eight boards. Poellet and Leibham reached double digits in scoring as well with 13 and 11 points, respectively. The Lightning, now 7-1 in league play, remains very much in the race behind Brookfield Academy (10-1) and Heritage Christian (8-1) entering this week. LCL has an opportunity to solidify that standing this week with conference games against Kingdom Prep Lutheran, Catholic Central and Living Word Lutheran.

COMING UP

St. Thomas More at Dominican, 7 p.m. Tuesday: An anticipated rematch of two top area teams battling for Metro Classic Conference supremacy. Dominican (8-1) can draw even in the conference standings with STM (9-0) with a win, while the Cavaliers will have the inside track to an outright title with a second win over the Knights.

Kettle Moraine at Arrowhead, 7 p.m. Thursday: The two teams that represented the Classic 8 at the state tournament last year are set for a critical conference rematch, as the Lasers (7-1) travel to Arrowhead (9-0).

Marquette at Germantown, 7 p.m. Friday: The leaders of the Greater Metro Conference run back a 78-73 matchup that went to the Warhawks earlier this season. While too early to be called a conference title game, the winner will be handing the loser a critical setback in that race.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lake Country Lutheran is team of the week in boys basketball rankings

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