The Wauwatosa East (Wauwatosa, WI) boys varsity basketball squad, featuring Virginia-bound senior wing Leon Bond, closed out a disappointing 2021-22 regular season in strong fashion Thursday (February 24). The reigning WIAA Division 1 state champion Red Raiders took a 9-11 record (per Wissports.net) into Thursday night’s matchup against a Menomonee Falls (22-2) squad that features UNC-bound senior guard Seth Trimble. Perhaps gaining a much-needed spark heading into postseason play, Wauwatosa East captured the upset victory, 61-57.
While leading his team to victory, Bond eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his high school career.
This is now one of my favorite high school memories! But not because I hit 1k points, yes that’s cool but it’s just a number. Tonight will go down as one of the greatest nights of my life because of the love and support of my family, team, and community! They made this special!🖤 pic.twitter.com/iuF9Xw4qkS
— Leon Bond III (@leonbx35) February 25, 2022
Bond, who is averaging 21.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game according to Wissports.net, now looks forward to regional playoff action next week. Fresh Coast Hoops 2.0 provided video from the upset win over Menomonee Falls. (Bond is no. 30 in white, while Trimble is no. 5 in black.)
McKneely Scores 32 In Regular Season Finale
University of Virginia guard signee Isaac McKneely scored 32 points as Poca (W.V.) cruised to a 91-44 blowout victory over Wayne in its regular season finale. The Dots have won 20 straight games to finish the regular season with a 21-1 record.
UVa bball commit Isaac McKneely is breaking high school records and now high school rims. https://t.co/LGY5KqIdFK
— John Freeman (@JohnFreemanUVA) February 25, 2022
Earlier this week, McKneely and company avenged their only loss of the season with a 56-42 home win over Nitro. Nitro defeated Poca, 52-46, at home on December 10.
Poca, which finished as the runner-up in the AA state playoffs last season, begins postseason play with a home matchup versus Buffalo in the Class AA, Region IV, Section 1 playoffs on Friday, March 4. The Dots swept the regular season series with Buffalo, winning by 29 points on the road and 37 points at home.
Traudt Leads Grand Island Into District Playoffs
Four-star forward and UVA class of 2022 recruit Isaac Traudt and the Grand Island Senior (Grand Island, NE) boys varsity basketball team face Lincoln Northeast in the District A-6 playoffs on Monday, February 28. The Islanders, 10-12 overall, are the no. 3 seed, while Lincoln Northeast (17-6) is the no. 2 seed.
Grand Island went 3-8 the first half of the regular season but captured seven of its final 11 games. The Islanders dropped the final three games of the regular season but hope to get back in the win column on Monday. In one regular season matchup between the two teams, Grand Island lost to Lincoln Northeast by just two points (46-44).
According to MaxPreps.com, the 6’9” Traudt is averaging 23.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this season (stats from 20 games). The future Hoo is averaging 3.2 turnovers, 2.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.7 blocks per contest as well.
Grand Island honored Traudt with the below tweet ahead of his final regular season home game.
#23 Isaac Traudt
Isaac will go down as the most decorated player in Grand Island Basketball history, but his loyalty, character, and humble approach is what we will remember most! pic.twitter.com/q4Vbyy8ftg— Islander Basketball (@IslanderBB) February 18, 2022
Dunn’s Last-Second Layup Gives Perkiomen Victory
The Perkiomen School (Pennsburg, PA) national team has compiled a 21-6 record heading into the February 25 matchup with Episcopal Academy. Perkiomen’s last game was an 82-80 victory over Mount Zion, in which Virginia-bound forward Ryan Dunn made the game-winning layup.
The National team downs #4 Mt Zion Prep, 82-80 on a Ryan Dunn buzzer beating layup!
Final Stats 📊:
Xaivian Lee – 22 pts.
Preist Ryan – 14 pts.
Sam Pohlman, Thomas Haugh – 12 pts.
Ryan Dunn – 10 pts. #PerkPride #pawsup🐾 pic.twitter.com/Es7s4ZWFCg— Perkiomen School Basketball (@PerkBasketball) February 17, 2022
Here is some more footage on the 6’7” Dunn courtesy of Instagram.
These next 4-stars will be joining a UVA team that will return most of its key players. Several on this year’s team have emerged from the bench to become key assets, and the current two newbies have had a very beneficial first year that will pay dividends next year. As a group, this year’s UVA team has collectively been better than any of its players. This is how our team of not-NBA players played equal to Duke’s team of future NBA pros. Yeah, any coach can look great if he parades out nothing but 5-stars. In contrast, Tony’s best teams are filled with initially not-5-stars. Then our BB wizard coaches them up to mostly 5-stars level individually, and the team itself up to pure 5-stars level. Sometimes it takes nearly an entire season to see and appreciate the unique wizardry in Tony’s method. He has shown that actual student athletes of high intellectual and moral levels can compete with fake students who only care about themselves.
ditto