The Washington Island Bucks basketball teams are heading off the island to participate in a weekend-long tournament. 

The Wisconsin and Michigan Islands are heading to the Put-in-Bay  for the Great Lakes Basketball Tournament! You can learn when, where, and how you can tune into the tournament below.

You can watch it LIVE here!

Put-in-Bay Athletics - https://www.youtube.com/@put-in-bayathletics8797/streams

WPIB Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/putinbayradio

UPDATED SCHEDULE (All Times Eastern)

FRIDAY:

11:00am Girls – Washington Island vs. Put-in-Bay

1:00 pm Girls - Mackinac Island vs. Washington Is

2:00 pm Boys – Mackinac Island vs. Washington Is

4:00 pm Boys – Put-in-Bay vs. Washington Island

SATURDAY:

7:00 am Girls – Combined teams

8:00 am Boys – combined teams

The Washington Island girls' basketball team will welcome a team from the big city for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

The Bucks will battle the Green Bay West Wildcats at 5 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on Saturday. Last year, the Bucks took third place in the Beaver Island Tournament as they took on teams from other island communities. The Wildcats are still trying to build their numbers to have a varsity squad. They have only played three games at the varsity level since the pandemic.

Thanks to the Gibraltar/Washington Island baseball team, attending or playing in a game on the island will soon be a lot safer.

Gibraltar/Washington Island baseball coach Jay Kita presented the Washington Island Islanders baseball club with a $1,500 check to be used for an AED defibrillator unit for use at their ballpark. According to the Door County Baseball League, the donation was made to "keep life rolling" and to support all players in the DCL, many of which have played for the Vikings over the last several years.

Teams across the league are fundraising for units after a scare at a Maplewood Mets game earlier this season. You can fill a boot at a Door County Baseball League this game this weekend or visit the link below to make your own donation.

Photos by Jim Rose courtesy of Door County Baseball League

Much like a college or professional basketball team, the Washington Island basketball teams boarded airplanes on Thursday ahead of their first games of the year on Beaver Island.

Both teams will play three games in two days at the Great Lakes Islands Basketball Tournament. The schedule is below; you can watch the games by clicking this link.

Friday

2:00 pm Girls – Washington Island vs. Put-In-Bay          

3:00 pm Boys –Washington Island vs. Put-In-Bay            
4:00 pm Girls - Washington Island vs. Mackinac Island  

Saturday
7:30 am Boys – Washington Island vs. Beaver Island           
8:30 am Girls – Washington Island vs. Beaver Island        
9:30 am Boys - Washington Island vs. Mackinac Island    

The Washington Island Bucks soccer team will head south on Friday for a match against Kewaunee.

The Bucks have won two games this year so far, including an exciting opening day win against the Algoma JV squad. They beat Faith Christian School 7-2 in their first foray in 8v8 soccer.

The Storm has struggled so far this season, playing their closest contest on Thursday in a 2-1 decision against Gibraltar/Sevastopol. They also lost on Tuesday to Cedar Grove-Belgium 6-2. The Storm is searching for their first win of the season after scoring just four goals in five games, all resulting in losses. 

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m.

The Washington Island Bucks soccer team traveled to Faith Christian School in Coleman, WI on Friday, September 2. Faith Christian plays in a 8 versus 8 soccer conference on a slightly smaller field than WIAA regulation sized field for 11 versus 11 players. This short-sided style of play was new to the Bucks, but they quickly adjusted and they first team to score in the game. Collin chipped the ball over the defender's head, and Bennett scored the first goal.  Bennett also scored the second goal of the game.  Later in the first half, Cameron  passed to Mason to put the Bucks up 3-0 by halftime.

Faith Christian opened the second half with a quick score to bring the score to 3-1.  Collin answered with a nice long shot to return the three goal advantage to the Bucks.  A special congratulations to Jaxin , who scored his very first goal in a soccer game to extend the Island's lead to 5-1.  The Conquerors scored a second goal making it a 5-2 game.  The Bucks defense remained strong for the rest of the game, and the Conqueror's goalie mishandled a strong shot by Fisher and the Bucks went up 6-2.  The final goal of the game was also scored by Fisher off a perfectly passed through ball by Mason.  The final was 7-2, and this second victory of the season sees the Washington Island soccer team undefeated. The goalkeepers for the Bucks were Spencer and Magnus .  

The Washington Island soccer team got their season off on a high note on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over the Algoma JV team.

Below is a recap of the game from the Washington Island School Facebook page:

The Washington Island soccer team will return to action this Tuesday when they play the Algoma JV team.

The co-ed squad was resurrected last year with head coach Kirsten Purinton, playing primarily mainland team's JV squads. Algoma was their opponent last August when they played in their first match in nine years. 

The Wolves' varsity squad went 3-12 last year, including 1-7 in the EWC/Packerland.

Match time is set for 6 p.m.

The Washington Island soccer team will play a home game on Thursday afternoon.

It represents the soccer program's first home game against a peninsula opponent in years when the Sturgeon Bay JV squad makes the trip on the ferry. The co-ed team has already played the likes of Gibraltar and Algoma this season. 

The kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Picture courtesy of Washington Island School

The Washington Island soccer will hop off the ferry this afternoon for a match against the Gibraltar JV team. 

The Bucks have left the island once already this season to play the Algoma JV squad. 

The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

A new team might be forming at Washington Island School following a recent school board meeting.

The school board approved Kirsten Purinton as a volunteer coach for a co-ed soccer program this fall. Purinton currently sits on the school board as its clerk. In a post on Facebook, Purinton's hope is to resurrect a program that has been dormant since at least 2012. In that year, the Bucks played a pair of contests against Algoma on the road. They lost both games according to Wissports.net, falling 3-2 and 1-0.

The district is investigating if enough middle and high school students are interested in participating in soccer this fall with the first practice slated for August 16th. Students enrolled in Washington Island School District and home-school students in 7-12 grades are eligible to participate. 

Interested students are encouraged to email Zuzka Krueger before Friday, July 30 or call Purinton. 

Despite the school not being able to compete in many WIAA events, Washington Island's Jim Rose was honored last month

Rose is the recipient of the 2020 Wisconsin Association of Athletic Directors Distinguished Service Award. He is a former teacher at Washington Island School and in the past has served as an assistant boys basketball coach in addition to other roles promoting athletics on the island. Washington Island Principal Michelle Kanipes says it was an honor well deserved.

Washington Island boasts basketball, trap shooting, cross country, and equestrian teams. They also join forces with Gibraltar in the spring.

When the COVID-19 pandemic canceled their annual tournament trip to the Wisconsin Dells, members of the Gibraltar/Washington Island baseball team could only think of one place where the money should go.

The team donated $1,500 to the Door County Fire Chiefs Association and $500 to efforts on Washington Island as communities across the country address the needs of their residents. Gibraltar senior baseball player Brandon Stillman says the money they raised was a sign of support from the community for their team. He believes it was only right to donate it back.

The donations came a day after the Gibraltar Area School Board unanimously approved canceling in-person classroom and extracurricular activities for the rest of the school year. 

Picture courtesy of the Door County Fire Chiefs Association

You can read more and listen to the full interview with Brandon Stillman by clicking this link for DoorKewauneeHighSchoolSports.com.

It does not happen often, but Washington Island will get an opportunity to play against one of its fellow teams from the peninsula.

Down on the calendar as a scrimmage, the Bucks will help the Algoma Wolves get ready for their regular-season beginning at 6 p.m.  Luxemburg-Casco will travel for a series of scrimmages as well on Monday night, facing NEW Lutheran and host Kohler beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The smallest school in the state has a cross country team similar in stature, but it did not stop them from running hard and having success on the trails.

The team competed in three different meets this year, though it did not have enough runners to qualify for the final team scores. Ryan Jorgenson consistently was the Bucks' top runner for the boys, finishing in 87th at the Jim Bremser Invite, 32nd at Algoma, and 25th at Sturgeon Bay. He was able to break the 24-minute mark in all three races for the five-kilometer (3.1 mile) race. Max Johnson and Evan Lux also registered times for the Bucks this season.

On the girls side, Julia Valentincic and Tara DeJardin traded positions throughout the season, finishing in the 28-minute to 31-minute range during the three meets for the five-kilometer distance.