By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
BROWN COUNTY – Several area boys’ and girls’ basketball players are currently among the best three-point shooters in the state.
With the postseason right around the corner, De Pere freshman John Kinziger leads a trio of Redbirds in the top-10 among the Division 1 ranks.
As of Jan. 27, Kinziger is tops in the state with his 35 makes in 72 attempts (49 percent), while Will Dehn (41-of-88 – 47 percent) and Ben Basten (31-of-70 – 44 percent) are fourth and fifth, respectively.
Green Bay Southwest’s Owen Stieber is ninth in Division 2 at 41 percent (25-of-61).
For the girls, Bay Port’s McKenzie Johnson is scorching the nets at 50 percent (59-of-119) to lead the state at the Division 1 level.
The Pirates (16-0) are currently ranked No. 1 in the state.
Lily Hansford, a former Ashwaubenon player now playing at Appleton East, is second at 43 percent (53-of-122).
West De Pere’s Imani Ninham is seventh in Division 2 at 36 percent (38-of-106).
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association will again be sponsoring the 3-Point Challenge as part of the girls’ and boys’ basketball state tournaments.
The 3-Point Challenge will be held Saturday, March 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Resch Center in Green Bay for the girls and Saturday, March 21, at 9:30 a.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison for the boys.
Fans can attend the event with tickets from the morning/afternoon session.
Contestants selected to participate in the challenge will be chosen based on three-point shooting numbers in the WisSports.net stats database.
In order to be eligible, coaches must enter the player information on WisSports.net.
The top two players in each division based on shooting percentage (min. 75 attempts) will be selected to participate.