• Wisconsin Lutheran remains the top-ranked team in the Milwaukee area high school boys basketball rankings.
• Arrowhead, Greendale and Oak Creek joined the top-10 rankings this week.
• Wauwatosa West was named team of the week after securing three wins, including two in conference play.
• Several key matchups are scheduled for the upcoming week, including Brookfield Central at Wauwatosa West.

After some early-season nonconference bouts, Milwaukee area high school boys basketball teams began to get into the meat of their schedules last week with conference contests to establish the early pecking order.

One such battle was in the Southeast Conference between last week’s No. 2 team Racine Park and then unranked Franklin, which went 66-53 to the Sabers. Another notable pair of finals were the top-10 matchups for Wisconsin Lutheran last week, as the Vikings beat Slinger (68-46) and New Berlin West (69-20) to maintain their hold on the top spot while dropping the latter to others considered this week. Arrowhead, Greendale and Oak Creek join the top 10 in place of Greenfield, New Berlin West and Milwaukee Academy of Science.

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Dropped from the others considered this week are Germantown (1-2), Golda Meir (3-2) and Howard Fuller Collegiate (3-2), as Kenosha Indian Trail, Franklin and Whitefish Bay fill up their vacated spots among top-10 considerations.

Here are our full area rankings, others considered, team of the week and matchups to watch this week.

AREA RANKINGS

Team (W-L), last week

1. Wisconsin Lutheran (4-0), 1
2. West Allis Central (4-0), 3
3. Wauwatosa West (5-1), 4
4. Kettle Moraine (5-0), 5
5. Brookfield East (5-0), 7
6. Arrowhead (5-0), –
7. Slinger (3-1), 6
8. Racine Park (3-1), 2
9. Greendale (5-0), –
10. Oak Creek (4-0), –

Others considered: Franklin (2-1), Greenfield (3-2), Hartford (3-1), Homestead (3-1), Lake Country Lutheran (3-0), Kenosha Indian Trail (3-0), Milwaukee Academy of Science (3-2), Milwaukee Lutheran (5-0), New Berlin West (3-1), Whitefish Bay (4-1).

TEAM OF THE WEEK

MILWAUKEE — To honor those who were killed on Sunday in Sydney, Australia during a Hanukkah event, Chabad of Milwaukee will be honoring the memory of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed, and all those affected at the Hanukkah Festival and Gelt Drop event at Bayshore Mall in Glendale on Sunday evening, according to Rabbi Levi Stein.

“Acts of hate and violence are meant to spread darkness and fear,” Stein said in a statement. “Tonight we are choosing to respond with more light.”

Rabbi Schlanger was among the 16 victims killed during the terrorist attack that occurred at the “Hanukkah by the Sea” event held at Bondi Beach in Australia.

To honor the memory of Rabbi Schlanger and those affected, Chabad of Milwaukee will be handing out electric tea lights to those in attendance, giving out coins for Tzedakah (Charity), as well as encouraging everyone to do additional good deeds throughout the evening.

CEO of Chabad Lubavitch of Wisconsin, Rabbi Mendel Shmotkin, urged the Milwaukee community, Jewish and not, in a statement, “to come together tonight, not only as an act of solidarity with the Jewish people, but as a declaration that all good people stand on the front lines of this moral struggle.”

“This is a moment for Jews and non-Jews alike to recognize that we are on the same side of history,” he said. “History has also shown that when good people stand together, evil loses.”

Chabad will also be increasing security, Stein said, and will also be working closely with local law enforcement to ensure that everyone remains safe and warm during the event.

Rabbi Schlanger’s wife, who was also shot but survived, was the roommate and classmate of Stein’s wife, Leah. “This tragedy hits painfully close to home,” Stein said.

“Tonight, we gather not just to celebrate Chanukah – but to reaffirm that light, goodness, and humanity will always outshine the darkness,” Stein added.

Southeast Wisconsin communities speak out

In a statement sent to TMJ4, Forward Latino, a local non-profit, non-partisan, service and advocacy organization in Franklin, called out to everyone to “join us in a moment of remembrance and prayer for those whose lives were lost, and then to recommit ourselves to standing against hate and bigotry in all their forms.”

“We are confronted with the painful reality that hate and antisemitism continue to be actively and passively promoted, while too few speak out with the urgency such moments demand,” the statement continued. “During this holiday season, a time of faith, reflection, and renewal, we must each look inward and ask ourselves, ‘What can I do to help eliminate hate?’”

The Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Whitefish Bay posted a statement on social media thanking the Wisconsin Jewish Security Network, local law enforcement and everyone who works to keep the Jewish communities safe.

“Hanukkah is a holiday rooted in resilience – a reminder that even in moments of darkness, light endures,” the JCC wrote. “At the JCC, we believe the antidote to antisemitism is Jewish Joy, Connection, and Community, and we will not allow hate to silence our traditions or our plans to celebrate Hanukkah with our community today and for all eight nights.”

“Tonight, as we light our candles, we do so with broken hearts and in defiance of hate everywhere,” Co-Chair of the WisDems Jewish Caucus said in a statement sent to TMJ4. “We are resilient, and our community has never, and will never, hide away in response to this sort of violence.”

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