The Luxemburg-Casco High School boys and girls basketball teams will be on the court Monday. The girls are at Notre Dame Academy. It is the second contest of the year for them. The opener was Tuesday, an 82-46 loss to Wrightstown. The L-C girls lost several seniors to graduation from last year's squad which made it to the sectional semifinal. The Spartans fell in that game to Notre Dame.

The L-C boys basketball team opens up at home against Green Bay East. The two teams met last season in February with the Spartans falling 96-87. East scored over a hundred points in a contest earlier in the season. An early season contest may be the best time to catch an offensive-minded squad. There's a good possibility that the Red Devils will take a while to get into a full offensive rhythm. They dropped their first six games in 2018-2019.

The Luxemburg-Casco Spartan girls began the Taylor Schmidt era with a home loss to North Eastern Conference rival Wrightstown 82-46 on Tuesday night.  Schmidt, the new head coach of the L-C Spartan program, lead Algoma to a state championship in high school as a player and played collegiately at U.W.-Oshkosh.  The Tigers took a commanding 54-19 lead into halftime and never looked back.  Wrightstown was led by Ella Diny who scored a game-high 34 points.  The Spartans had two players in double figures including senior Cassie Flynn.  Luxemburg-Casco (0-1, 0-1 overall) will now travel to Notre Dame on Monday in a non-conference clash with the Tritons.  

The National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) has announced that Jenny Bandow, Athletic Director and Dean of Students at Luxemburg-Casco High School, has been recognized by the organization as a Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA).

To earn the CAA distinction, Bandow demonstrated to the NIAAA the highest level of knowledge and expertise in the field of interscholastic athletic administration. The voluntary certification process included a thorough evaluation of her educational background, experience and professional contributions, as well as a rigorous, comprehensive written examination.

“This is a well-deserved recognition for Jenny,” says Glenn Schlender, superintendent of the Luxemburg-Casco School District. “Attainment of this professional certification puts her into an elite group of interscholastic athletic administrators across the country while also signifying completion of a comprehensive plan for self-improvement which enhances her ability to serve the district, community and profession. It fits right in with the district’s ongoing commitment to staff training and improvement.”

Bandow has been with the Luxemburg-Casco School District since 2000, serving as athletic director since 2006 and as dean of students since May 2015. She was the founding head coach of the boys and girls varsity soccer teams, coaching the boys through 2008 and the girls through 2011. Bandow, then Jenny Lushine, was a standout soccer player herself at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 1995-98.

The NIAAA is a national professional organization consisting of all 50 state athletic administrator associations and more than 12,000 individual members. It is dedicated to promoting the professional growth of high school athletic administrators and preserving the educational nature of interscholastic athletics and the place of these programs in the secondary school curriculum.

The accolades keep coming for the state champion Luxemburg-Casco volleyball team as the Northeastern Conference announced its end of season awards.

Senior setter Bekah Day earned NEC Player of the Year honors while also being placed on the first-team all-conference squad. Joining on the first team was senior middle blocker Holly Baierl. Second team all-conference honors went to junior opposite Hannah Derenne, and junior outside hitter Kenzie Hanson. Sophomore Grace Holschuh was given all-NEC honorable selection accolades.

Six members of the Luxemburg-Casco Spartans were named to eight slots on the All-Northeastern Conference football teams this week.

Senior running back Reece Worachek and junior offensive lineman Blake Yagodinski earned first-team All-NEC honors. Junior lineman Kyle Kroll earned second-team recognition on the offensive side of the ball while being an honorable mention designee on defense. Junior linebacker Luke Brolin was named All-NEC honorable mention while Matt Cravillion earned the same distinction as a utility player and defensive back. 

Six members of the Luxemburg-Casco Spartans were named to eight slots on the All-Northeastern Conference football teams this week.

Senior running back Reece Worachek and junior offensive lineman Blake Yagodinski earned first-team All-NEC honors. Junior lineman Kyle Kroll earned second-team recognition on the offensive side of the ball while being an honorable mention designee on defense. Junior linebacker Luke Brolin was named All-NEC honorable mention while Matt Cravillion earned the same distinction as a utility player and defensive back. 

Coming off a strong fall sports season, the Luxemburg-Casco Spartans winter sports will be previewed for the upcoming campaign on WBDK 96.7 FM Wednesday night from the Rendezvous of Luxemburg.  Coaches and student-athletes from the boys and girls basketball programs and the wrestling squad will be featured during the show that will run from 5:30 pm until 7 pm.  Taylor Schmidt will start things off as she takes over the helm as the new coach for the girls' basketball team.  Chaz Treml will follow with the Spartan wrestling program and Tyler Thrune will wrap it up with the boys' basketball squad.  The broadcast will also be streamed live on DoorCountyDailyNews.com.  The schedule for the evening is listed below.

5:30 pm Girls Basketball 
6:00 pm  Wrestling
6:30 pm  Boys Basketball

Only one player from the area made the Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association 2019 All-State team this fall and it is probably not from the team you thought it would be.

Despite winning the state championship this fall, Sturgeon Bay landed no players on the team. The lone area representative is senior midfielder Carter Sewell, who figured into the equation for many goals for Luxemburg-Casco whether it was scoring the goal or assisting on it. 

The WSCA Best Eleven was made up primarily of Division 1 players, including player of the year Erich Legut of Waukesha West. 

Luxemburg-Casco fought off a furious rally by McFarland in the third set to capture its first-ever state volleyball title at the Resch Center Saturday afternoon.

Finding themselves down early in the first set 8-2, Luxemburg-Casco was able to regroup and took control late to win 25-21, capturing seven of the final 10 points.

Luxemburg-Casco made McFarland dig out of 13-6  hole, but never let them get within striking distance in the second game, winning 25-17.

Championships are not meant to be easy and Luxemburg-Casco found that out in the third game. McFarland got out to a 13-7 lead before head coach Jeff Frey called his first time-out to stem the tide. It worked as Luxemburg-Casco captured five of the next seven points before McFarland showed a burst of its own, forcing Frey to call another timeout. Luxemburg-Casco would score 11 of the final 15 points to clinch the title.

Hannah Derenne showed nice touch in many of her team-leading 14 kills while Grace Holschuh added another 11. Bekah Day registered 39 assists in her final match for Luxemburg-Casco while Alli Routhieaux led the team in digs with 13. A relatively even game statisically between the two teams, Luxemburg-Casco outpaced top-seeded McFarland in kills 45-27.

FINAL STATS

The Luxemburg-Casco Spartans girls volleyball team came out fast and beat the Wisconsin Lutheran Vikings 3 sets to none on Friday afternoon in a Division 2 State Semi-Final at the Resch Center in Green Bay.  The Spartans jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first set and cruised to a 25-15 win.  Set two saw the Spartans control most of the game and led from start to finish to win 25-22.  The final set was a see-saw affair which saw the Vikings take a three point lead only to have the Spartans come back and prevail 25-23.  The Spartans will now take on the McFarland Spartans Saturday at 2:30 pm in the state championship match.  Tyler Thrune and Tim Kowols will have the call on 96.7 FM WBDK with the pregame starting at 2 pm.  The broadcast will also be streamed on DoorKewauneeHighSchoolSports.com.

Luxemburg-Casco School District has committed to an early release for students Friday. Class schedules have been adjusted along with lunch so that all district schools can end by 12:30 PM. The High School office has been selling tickets since Tuesday with hours extended until 5 PM yesterday due to demand. At some points, they had run out of supply and were forced to request more. As of 24 hours ago, over 700 tickets had been purchased. 

The matchup is at the Resch Center in Green Bay, a multi-purpose arena with seating of approximately 9,900. The WIAA is running a contest called Rush to the Resch which gives $1,000 to the school in each division which sells the most presale tickets. Early returns give L-C a great chance at taking home the check for Division 2. For those looking to purchase tickets to the State Title matches on Saturday, that must be done separately.

The Luxemburg-Casco girls volleyball team will battle Wisconsin Lutheran Friday afternoon at the Resch Center in Green Bay at the WIAA Division 2 state semi-finals.  The Spartans earned their second trip to state in three years with a victory over Xavier in the sectional finals last Saturday.  Wisconsin Lutheran knocked off top seeded Mosinee in five games to qualify for the state semi-finals.  The winner of Friday’s match will face the winner of McFarland and Bloomer on Saturday at 2:30 pm for the state championship.  Friday’s broadcast on WBDK 96.7 FM will begin at 1:30 with the pregame and first serve at 2 pm.   Tyler Thrune and Paul Schmitt will have the call in a match that will also be streamed on DoorKewauneeCountyHighSchoolSports.com.

The Luxemburg-Casco volleyball team knows its opponent when it opens the WIAA State Tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay on Friday.

The WIAA announced Sunday the Division 2 state volleyball field, which places the Spartans playing against Wisconsin Lutheran in the semifinal round at 2 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that match would play the winner of McFarland and Bloomer at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

This is the second time Luxemburg-Casco has advanced to the state tournament in three years, defeating Merill before falling to Lakeside Lutheran in 2017.

Picture courtesy of Luxemburg-Casco volleyball

Luxemburg-Casco rallied after losing the first set to beat Xavier in the sectional final at Little Chute on Saturday night. The Spartans then took the next 3 sets and will play in the state semi-finals on Friday. Bekah Day had 47 assists and 9 digs. Grace Holschuh led the team in kills with 18 and blocks with 4. Hannah Derenne added 16 Kills and 16 digs and Kenzie Hanson Kenzie contributed Hanson-11 Kills and 14 digs. Alli Routhieaux had a nice match with 15 digs. Luxemburg-Casco Head Coach said, "Xavier did a great job of putting pressure on us early in game 1, but I thought we started to settle in late in game 1 and carried it into the next 3 games.  Proud of the way our girls didn’t panic and went back to playing the way we wanted.  We did a great job of spreading the ball around.  So proud of our girls and excited for them."

Luxemburg-Casco will now have to wait until Friday to play in the state semi-final game. The Spartans will take on Wisconsin Lutheran at the Resch Center in Green Bay with the match starting at 2 PM.

Picture courtesy of Ron LeCloux.

For the second straight year, Luxemburg-Casco volleyball has defeated Notre Dame in the sectional semi-finals. It was the same score as last year as well with L-C taking the match 3-2 (25-13, 25-27, 26-28, 25-18, 15-10). Luxemburg-Casco had to rally down 2-1 to take the final two sets. The Spartans will now take on Xavier in the sectional finals in Little Chute on Saturday. Xavier prevented Little Chute from being the home team by beating them 3-2. The match will start at 7 PM with a trip to states on the line.

Notre Dame was the correct answer to yesterday's trivia question. Congratulations to Sam Prokash for answering the question correctly! Sam is the winner of a $25 certificate to The Rendezvous in Luxemburg.