ASHWAUBENON — The Elkhorn Elks girls basketball team faces a familiar foe Friday in its WIAA Division 2 state semifinal — well kind of.
The 3-seed Elks face 2-seed Whitefish Bay Friday, the same team they faced 29 years ago in their last state semifinal. The Elks went on to win that game and the final to take home the 1997 state title.
The 50th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Basketball State Tournament will take place Thursday-Saturday, March 12-14, 2026 at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon.
The #2 seed, Whitefish Bay, has eight previous appearances in the State Tournament with the last coming in 2019.
The Blue Dukes’ best outcome in any of the previous tournament experiences was a runner-up finish in Class A in 1986.
They defeated Whitnall 78-51 in the final of the Waukesha North Sectional. The Blue Dukes finished the regular season as champions of the North Shore Conference.
Elkhorn, the #3 seed, are the champions of the Southern Lakes Conference this season. They advance to the State semifinals after defeating Milton 66-47 in the final of the Janesville Craig Sectional final.
Rice Lake is the top seed in the bracket after the Warriors qualified for the first time in the program’s history last season, which resulted in a loss in the semifinals. They were the victors of the Stevens Point Sectional following their 59-45 win over Shawano in the final.
Beaver Dam, the fourth seed, qualifies for the seventh time. The most recent was when they qualified for the tournament that was canceled because of the COVID-19 virus pandemic in 2020. The Golden Beavers were attempting to become the first girls basketball program in WIAA history to win four consecutive State titles. In addition to the three championships they won from 2017-19, they also advanced to the title game in Division 1 in 1991 and finished runner-up.
STATE TOURNAMENT ON THE AIR: The State Tournament will be televised live on WKOW Madison, WAOW Wausau, WXOW La Crosse, WQOW Eau Claire, WCWF in Green Bay/Fox Valley and WVTV in Milwaukee. The finals will also be streamed live on the State Television Network’s websites and on Fox11online.com. Also, download the WIAA Sports Live app for live streaming video, scores, highlights and more about the WIAA State Basketball Tournaments. Live coverage of the tournaments on iOS or Android phones and tablets are also available on the app.
POST-GAME MEDIA CONFERENCES STREAMED: The post-game media conferences will be shown live without subscription on the WIAA.tv portal of the NFHS Network immediately following each game.
STATE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: The single elimination tournament features a five-division format with four teams qualifying in each of the five divisions.
Thursday, March 12
Division 3
#1 Oostburg (28-0) vs. Mosinee (24-4) – 1:35 p.m.
#2 Kettle Moraine Lutheran (27-1) vs. #3 Wisconsin Dells (28-0)*
Division 4
#1 Neillsville (27-1) vs. #4 Lomira (22-6) – 6:35 p.m.
#2 St. Mary Catholic (25-3) vs. #3 Albany/Monticello (26-2)*
Friday, March 13
Division 5
#1 Eleva-Strum (29-0) vs. #4 Fall River (17-11) – 9:05 a.m.
#2 Pacelli (23-4) vs. #3 Barneveld (22-7)*
Division 2
#1 Rice Lake (25-3) vs. #4 Beaver Dam (22-6) – 1:35 p.m.
#2 Whitefish Bay (24-4) vs. #3 Elkhorn (24-4)* — 3:15 p.m.
Division 1
#1 Wauwatosa East (28-0) vs. #4 Notre Dame (24-4) – 6:35 p.m.
#2 Arrowhead (26-2) vs. #3 Pewaukee (24-4)*
Saturday, March 14
3-Point Challenge – 9:30 a.m.
Division 5 Championship Game – 11:05 a.m.
Division 4 Championship Game*
Division 3 Championship Game*
Division 2 Championship Game – 6:35 p.m.
Division 1 Championship Game*
*Note: Subsequent games of each session will begin approximately 15 minutes following the previous game.