Elite Milwaukee Bucks Dominate in State Basketball Championships!
The Milwaukee area is sending four teams to boys state basketball in Madison on March 19-21, led by a two-time defending champion.
HARTFORD – The furthest any Milwaukee Juneau boys basketball team had gotten in the WIAA playoffs prior to March 14, 2026, was a sectional final appearance in 2003. First-year head coach Torre Johnson remembers it well. He was on that team.
Like many fathers, he wanted better for his son , Gonzaga commit Dooney Johnson. It was also important to them both to represent the city and school they call home . "This is the main reason why we really didn't go to prep school for Dooney," Torre Johnson said.
"We want to be here for the Milwaukee City kids and put on for the city and give these kids some hope. " That hope was exemplified in the roar of a crowd that saw the Pioneers advance to the WIAA state tournament for the first time as the final buzzer sounded March 14 at Hartford Union High School. Juneau defeated Howards Grove, 75-69, in a Division 4 sectional final on the strength of Johnson's 36 points.
Johnson got involved early, scoring the first seven points for the Pioneers. A couple possession lead slimmed to 35-34 at the half. A 66-61 Juneau lead with just over three minutes lefts was cut to one Howard Grove's Harry Schroeder (24 points) converted a four-point play, but productive trips to the free throw line held the Pioneers in front through the final two minutes.