A connection that began in fourth grade at St. Paul Lutheran School in Bonduel will continue into college.
Recent Bonduel High School graduates Jennifer Dowden and Lexi Reinke have committed to play basketball at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee next season.
Basketball was not the only reason the girls chose WLC, however.
Reinke was drawn to the school’s nursing program and its connections with nearby Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital. Dowden, who considered the University of Wisconsin-Madison, decided the smaller school will provide more individualized attention in the classroom as she pursues a career in physical therapy.
“Nursing is a big thing there, and that is what I want to go into,” said Reinke, who also considered Lakeland College in Sheboygan.
Reinke, who graduated in the top 10 percent of the BHS Class of 2015, will drop volleyball and softball to focus on basketball and academics.
“I not only worked hard in athletics, but also worked hard to become a good student,” she said. “I knew that sports were a great way to learn life skills, but ultimately I needed to do well in the classroom to be successful in a career some day.”
Dowden finished in the top 10 percent of her class.
“At WLC, I will get more one-to-one with the professors, where they will work with me while playing sports and also being able to work with them instead of being just a number,” she said.
While they’re dedicated to the academics, Reinke and Dowden also are looking forward to continuing the on-court connection they’ve built over several years.
“I think its really cool being able to continue playing with her, since we have been playing basketball together since grade school,” Dowden said. “It will be a fun experience.”
“I think it is really cool,” Reinke said. “We have chemistry together, so I think it will bring a lot to the team. I think we are both excited for it.”
They started their journey as fourth-graders, played in the Wisconsin State Invitational Tournament for sixth- to eight-graders together and competed in the Lutheran Schools National Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana. In seventh grade, they teamed up in the summer as members of the Legends of Green Bay AAU team.
Reinke’s pivotal season came in the eighth grade when she switched to the Green Bay Metro AAU squad.
“It was probably one of the summers that defined me as a player,” Reinke said. “New team, new coach, new teammates. I had to learn to be my own player and not rely on anyone else.”
A 6-inch growth spurt between her freshman and sophomore years also posed a challenge for the 5-foot-11 Reinke, who worked hard on her ball-handling skills and shots from beyond the 3-point arc.
The practice paid off for Reinke and her teammates. The Bears won back-to-back Central Wisconsin Conference-8 titles and compiled a 22-2 record last season. Reinke lead the team in steals (61), was second in 3-pointers (34), and was third in rebounds (102) and points (193).
Dowden led the Bears in rebounds (173), points (326) and blocks (33). She supplanted Bill Uelman as the school’s all-time leading scorer, with 1,397 points, and set BHS girls career records for rebounds (789), blocks (180) and two-points field goals (469).
Dowden was the CWC-8 player of the year, and Reinke was a unanimous selection to the all-conference first team.
Wisconsin Lutheran finished with a 24-5 record last year and will lose four seniors, which means there might be playing time for the freshmen.
“They had a great program and I wanted to be part of a team like that,” Reinke said. “And I wanted to be able to play.”
