By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
BROWN COUNTY – The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) recently released the brackets for the upcoming postseason tournament in boys’ and girls’ hockey.
Locally for the boys, No. 1-ranked Notre Dame Academy received a first-round bye and will host the winner of No. 9 West Bend/No. 8 Sheboygan South Feb. 20 at the Cornerstone Community Ice Center in Ashwaubenon (8 p.m.).
No. 4 Bay Port, which also received a first-round bye, will host the winner of No. 5 De Pere/No. 12 Oshkosh North Feb. 20 at Cornerstone (5:30 p.m.).
De Pere’s game vs. North will be Feb. 18 at the De Pere Ice Arena (8 p.m.).
A potential all-area sectional semifinal game between Notre Dame and Bay Port/De Pere would be Feb. 25 at Cornerstone.
No. 6 Ashwaubenon is on the bottom half of the sectional bracket and will host No. 11 Xavier Feb. 18 at Cornerstone (7:15 p.m.).
A win for Ashwaubenon in the regional opener would send it to No. 3 Neenah.
The 50th WIAA Boys’ Hockey State Tournament will be March 5-7 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison.
Due to the growth of boys’ hockey in the state, this is the first season the state tournament will utilize a two-division format.
A total of 83 teams – 51 in Division 1 and 32 in Division 2 – will compete for state titles.
All local teams are Division 1.
Girls’ tournament
Twenty-eight girls’ hockey teams from around the state will compete for a WIAA state title in a single division.
Locally, the Bay Area Ice Bears, a co-op team consisting of 28 players from eight different schools, received a No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Rhinelander Feb. 20 at Cornerstone (7:30 p.m.).
The state tournament will be held March 5-7 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
To view the complete postseason brackets, CLICK HERE.