Hurley basketball moves up to D-4 next year

By JASON JUNO

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Hurley --- The Hurley basketball teams are moving up to Division 4 for next year’s WIAA postseason tournaments.

The student count used by the WIAA for the 2024-25 school year rose 15 students from last year to 207 students.

That’s the largest enrollment number for Hurley since they were at 218 and in Division 4 for the 2014-15 school year. Two years later, they were at 175 and a new member of Division 5.

They’ve been in the state’s smallest division ever since the 2016-17 school year. That is except for the COVID year of 2020-21 when fewer schools played basketball, causing Hurley to move to D-4 for one year.

Hurley’s enrollment made a big jump from 179 in 2022-23 to 192 last year, when they unexpectedly stayed in Division 5. But the increase was just too much this year.

The WIAA uses an enrollment count from September of the previous year, so the number used for next year was recorded in September 2023.

So it includes this year’s big senior class of 56 students.

Hurley athletic director Steve Lombardo expects Hurley to move back to Division 5 in the coming years. That’s because their enrollment for the following years is projected to fall to 198 next year, 192 the following year and 176 the year after that, he said.

With that big senior class graduating, it might just be a one-year stay in Division 4, Hurley boys coach Mike Swartz said.

Hurley basketball excelled in its years in Division 5. The boys went to state in 2022, won three straight regionals from 2021 to 2023. The girls won two regional titles in that time.

“It’s going to be tough,” Swartz said. “We were in a pretty good spot in D-5 for a lot of years where we were one of the bigger schools there. Moving up to D-4, it’s a whole nother level of physicality.”

Hurley will be in a grouping with Abbotsford, Auburndale, Chequamegon, Colby, Crandon, Edgar, Marathon, Phillips, Spencer, Stratford and Washburn.

The Hurley girls’ bracket has a different grouping with Abbotsford, Cadott, Cameron, Chequamegon, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, Colby, Edgar, Ladysmith, Marathon, Chippewa Falls McDonell Catholic Central and Phillips.

The Marathon boys went to state last year and finished 27-2. The McDonell Central girls went 25-3 last year and also went to state.

“We’re going from a good spot to a real tough spot,” Swartz said. “We’ll just worry about getting better as the season goes on and go from there.”

The Washburn boys were in that grouping already last season. After finishing second in the Northern Lights Conference, they beat Abbotsford in the first round but lost 69-53 to Stratford in the second round.

“It is what it is,” Swartz said. “I think we’ve got a good young team coming back that can compete with anybody in the conference this year. We’re going to be playing predominantly Division 5 schools all year.”

The exceptions are Northland Pines, Chequamegon, Washburn and Ironwood, which itself moves up from Michigan’s smallest division for next season after finding postseason success in both volleyball and boys basketball.

Hurley has some recent history with these teams from back when it was playing in Division 4.

The boys beat Phillips in both regional finals when it won the 2005 and 2006 regional championships.

They beat Colby and Abbotsford to win the 2013 title but fell to Auburndale in the sectional semifinal.

The girls beat Ladysmith and Washburn to win the 2009 and 2010 regional titles, respectively.