WBCA ALL-STATE BASKETBALL - Rib Lake’s Blomberg named to coaches’ All-State hoops team

WBCA ALL-STATE BASKETBALL

Not only was Rib Lake’s Jackson Blomberg named the top boys basketball player this season in the Marawood North, the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association, last Wednesday, placed him among the top 12 Division 5 players in the state.

Blomberg’s strong season landed him a spot on the prestigious WBCA Division 5 All-State team, which this year consists of 11 seniors and one junior. Most of the first-team players led their teams to WIAA sectional finals or the state tournament, where the three Division 5 games were all entertaining and competitive.

Unfortunately, the Redmen didn’t quite get that far, falling to Owen-Withee 45-43 in a regional final on March 2. But Blomberg was the leader on a team that went 21-6 overall and won the Marawood North with a 12-4 conference mark. It was Rib Lake’s best season since the 2020 season that was cut short at the sectional final round due to Covid.

Blomberg, a second-team Marawood North pick last year and one of four unanimous choices for the all-conference team this winter, averaged 14.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game while appearing in all 27 of Rib Lake’s games. He scored 388 points to lead the squad. He ranked second on the team with 152 rebounds, was second in assists with 55 and led the team with 50 steals. He also led the team with 45 made 3-pointers, 32 of which came in Marawood games.

In conference play, he averaged 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 16 Marawood contests. Blomberg had six 20-point games during the season, led by a 29-point outburst in a 69-49 win at Athens Dec. 12. He also had seven rebounds and two steals in that win over the defending conference champions. His high in rebounds was nine in a 6850 win at Phillips on Jan. 9, while he had eight in the season-opening 54-23 nonconference win over Northland Pines. He had a season-high six assists in a 66-38 non-conference win at Gilman on Jan. 2 and had four assists three times, including during a 74-60 win over Phillips on Feb. 22 and in a 66-57 loss to a good Auburndale squad on Jan. 18.

Blomberg is the first Rib Lake player to earn a WBCA All-State award since Levi Ewan got honorable mention in 2020.

Along with the 12 first-team players this season, 15 more received honorable mention.

On the first team, Blomberg joins two members of the state champion Columbus Catholic Dons, Blake Jakobi and Emmitt Konieczny, as well as Jimmitrius Davison of state runner-up Abundant Life Christian. Senior TJ Lamb and junior Ayden Phillips of state qualifier Almond-Bancroft are on the team as well as Isaiah Kastern of Solon Springs, who defeated Owen-Withee 59-41 in the March 9 sectional final at Ashland.

Kastern is a 6-5 forward who plans to play collegiately at Bemidji State University. He led Solon Springs to its first-ever state appearance by averaging 28.9 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Phillips is a repeat selection to the first team. At 6-7, he averaged 24.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots while sharing Central Wisconsin South Player of the Year honors with Lamb, who averaged 17.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.4 steals per game.

Ryan Popowich of Bruce is the other repeat first-team choice. At 6-4, he averaged 22.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game.

Jakobi averaged 14.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals for Columbus Catholic, champions of the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference. Konieczny came back after missing the early part of the season following an auto accident and averaged 14.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He scored 31 points in the Dons’ 81-75 state-championship victory over Abundant Life. Davison, a 6-4 forward, scored 7.5 points and grabbed 10.3 rebounds per game for Abundant Life while adding 2.8 blocked shots and 2.7 assists per game.

The first team also includes Ahmad Badwan of Salam, who averaged 29.9 points and 14.8 rebounds while leading his team to a sectional final; Noah Hemmersbach of sectional finalist Cashton, and Heath Poppy of Shullsburg.