Boys basketball team wins two straight

With the postseason just days away, Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team picked the perfect time to put a winning streak together. The Eagles snapped a two-game skid with back-to-back Badger North Conference victories last week. Junior Isaac Breunig and senior Trevor Spray scored 15 points apiece to lead host Sauk Prairie to a 54-51 victory over visiting Beaver Dam on Feb. 18. The Eagles then hit the road and had to rally to defeat host Baraboo, 62-49, last Friday night with four players scoring in double figures led by Spray’s 21 points. The Eagles (9-10) then drew the No. 7 seed in their half of the sectional and will host 10th-seeded Baraboo (4-17) in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal game on March 3.  The winner advances to play in a regional semifinal game at No. 2-seeded Monroe on March 6. The Cheesemakers eliminated Sauk Prairie, 61-56, in a regional quarterfinal game last season. Following is a recap of last week’s action: • Sauk Prairie 54, Beaver Dam 51 —  The Eagles held a five-point halftime lead, then had to rally in the second half to earn a season sweep of the visiting Golden Beavers. Sauk Prairie defeated Beaver Dam 60-54 in overtime at Beaver Dam on Jan. 4. “Beaver Dam is a lot better than their record,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said. “They’re a tough matchup. They’re small, but they have all shooters. It was good for us to come back in that game. We needed a win really bad.” The Eagles (8-10, 6-6 Badger North) caught a break when junior Brandt Wilson scooped up a loose ball and found Isaac Breunig open in the right corner for a three-pointer at the buzzer to send Sauk Prairie into halftime with a 33-28 lead over the Golden Beavers (7-12, 3-9). “They was a broken play that turned out to be good,” McGann said. “Sometimes it’s so cool to be lucky. That takes the air out of an opponent going into half.” Isaac Breunig and Trevor Spray each scored 15 points for Sauk Prairie, which shot 50 percent (23 of 46) from the field. The Eagles outrebounded Beaver Dam, 32-24, with Wilson pulling down eight boards to go along with his 13 points. Spray also had six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Nate Abel finished with a game-high 21 points for Beaver Dam. • Sauk Prairie 62, Baraboo 49 — The Eagles trailed, 28-27, at halftime. But Trevor Spray scored 12 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, and senior Ben German scored 10 of his 16 points in the final frame, including 8 of 10 at the free throw line. German also recorded his first career double-double, pulling down a career-best 13 rebounds. “Ben (German) was awesome, Trevor (Spray) had two big dunks and Brandt (Wilson) had a big three,” coach Sean McGann said. “It was not pretty, but Baraboo had nothing to lose and that was the perfect example of what a playoff game is going to be like. “It’s do or die. That first half, defensively, we weren’t good. We were out of position and lost (Justin) Philipp, who had 23 points, a couple of times. They get hot, and the hoop looks big.” Sauk Prairie (9-10, 7-6 Badger North) used a 35-21 second-half run to pull away from the host Thunderbirds (4-17, 1-12). Philipp sank five of his six three-pointers in the first half to help Baraboo take a 28-27 lead into halftime. “It was a game that was far more competitive than I thought it would be,” said McGann, whose Eagles swept the regular-season series, including 62-29 victory over the Thunderbirds at home on Jan. 9. However, Baraboo recently snapped a 40-game losing streak in Badger North Conference play. “(Philipp) was averaging six points a game, but they were making everything,” McGann said of the Thunderbirds. “It was good we struggled. We need to realize that all players on the court are capable of making shots and going off. It was a loud environment. It was huge for us to come back and battle that and get a gritty win.” • On deck: Following a non-conference game at Wisconsin Dells on Monday, Sauk Prairie hosted River Valley in a non-conference game on Tuesday. The Eagles end the regular season and conference play against visiting Portage on Senior Night on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.   Feb. 18 Sauk Prairie 54, Beaver Dam 51 Beaver Dam …..… 28 23 — 51 Sauk Prairie …..… 33 21 — 54 BEAVER DAM (fg ft-fta pts) — Broden Boschert 4 0-0 9, Brady Helbing 5 0-0 13, Alex Soto 1 0-0 3, Evan Sharkey 0 0-0 0, Eli Wilke 0 0-0 0, Tyler Bunkoske 2 1-2 5, Nate Abel 8 3-4 21, Mason Ferron 0 0-0 0, Braxton Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 4-6 51. SAUK PRAIRIE — Tyler Uselman 0 0-0 0, Ben German 2 2-2 8, Isaac Breunig 7 0-0 15, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 7 1-2 15, Brandt Wilson 6 0-1 13, Parker Breunig 1 1-2 3, Fadil Ahmetaj 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 4-7 54. 3-point goals: BD 7 (Helbing 3, Abel 2, Soto 1, Boschert 1); SP 4 (German 2, I. Breunig 1, Wilson 1). Total fouls: BD 11; SP 9.   Feb 21 Sauk Prairie 62, Baraboo 49 Sauk Prairie …..… 27 35 — 62 Baraboo …..……... 28 21 — 49 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Tyler Uselman 0 0-0 0, Ben German 3 10-13 16, Isaac Breunig 1 0-0 2, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 9 3-4 21, Brandt Wilson 5 1-2 13, Parker Breunig 3 4-4 10, Fadil Ahmetaj 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 18-23 62. BARABOO — Jaykee Williams 0 1-2 1, Will Jurvelin 0 0-0 0, Max Koenig 3 6-6 12, Graham Langkamp 0 0-0 0, Own Nachtigal 2 0-1 4, Calvin Peterson 4 0-0 9, Gabriel McReynolds 0 0-0 0, Justin Philipp 7 3-4 24. Totals 16 10-13 49. 3-point goals: SP 2 (Wilson 2); B 7 (Peterson 1, Philipp 6). Total fouls: SP 13; B 19.             GIRLS    BASKETBALL It was a special evening last Thursday for Sauk Prairie seniors Ruth Baker, Livia Jurt, Isabel Menendez Ontanon, Claudia Miller, Madi Pertzborn, Ella Schad, Lexi Tobias and Lauren Wideen. The class was honored during pregame ceremonies in the Eagles’ final regular-season home game. Baker, Miller, Pertzborn, Schad, Tobias and Wideen were members of the varsity team, while Jurt, a foreign exchange student from Switzerland, and Menedez Ontanon, a foreign exchange student from Spain, were members of the JV program.  However, visiting DeForest put a damper on the evening, recording a 75-52 victory over Sauk Prairie in a Badger North Conference prep girls basketball game. “We played well in the first half,” Sauk Prairie coach Amber Fiene said. “(DeForest) just gradually pulled away.” Fiene started an all-senior lineup, including Baker, Pertzborn, Schad, Tobias and Wideen with Miller as the first player off the bench for the Eagles (12-10 overall, 5-9 Badger North). Freshman Jaelyn Derlein, though, scored 11 of her team-high 14 points in the first half to help the Norskies (19-3, 12-2), ranked fifth in the Associated Press Division 2 poll, jump out to a 42-27 lead at the intermission. “They hit two big three-pointers right before halftime,” Fiene said. “That made the lead look bigger than it really was. They are an impressive team. They shot really well, especially from the three-point line.”  Schad finished with a game-high 20 points and made 10-of-13 free throws. She also finished with four rebounds, two assists and three steals. “Ella played such a great game, probably her best of the year,” Fiene said of Schad, who plans to play soccer at Coastal Carolina University next year. “She executed the game plan like no other. She was getting to the basket non-stop. She was listening to where the open drive was. She just played her heart out.” • On deck: Sauk Prairie, which received the No. 6 seed, hosted 11th-seeded Portage in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal game on Tuesday. The winner will play at No. 3-seeded Reedsburg in a regional semifinal game on Friday at 7 p.m.   Feb. 20 DeForest 75, Sauk Prairie 52 DeForest …...…… 42 33 — 75 Sauk Prairie …..... 27 25 — 52 DeFOREST (fg ft-fta pts) — Alyssa Laufenberg 0 2-2 2, Natalie Compe 1 5-6 8, Maya Pickhardt 2 1-2 5, Maggie Trautsch 4 2-3 12, Riley Herrick 1 1-2 3, Jaelyn Derlein 5 1-1 14, Sydney Hahn 0 1-2 1, Sam Schaeffer 4 1-4 10, Taylor Tschumper 2 4-4 8, Megan Mickelson 1 3-4 5, Brooke Buhr 0 4-4 4, Morgan Hahn 1 1-2 3. Totals 21 26-36 75. SAUK PRAIRIE — Lexi Tobias 3 0-0 6, Naomi Breunig 5 1-1 12, Claudia Miller 0 0-0 0, Olivia Breunig 0 0-0 0, Faith Holler 0 0-0 0, Kassia Marquardt 0 0-0 0, Madi Pertzborn 1 0-0 2, Lauren Wideen 0 1-2 1, Ella Schad 5 10-13 20, Ruth Baker 0 0-0 0, Annika Braund 2 2-6 6, Maggie Hartwig 1 3-6 5. Totals 17 17-28 52. 3-point goals: D 7 (Derlein 3, Trautsch 2, Compe 1, Schaeffer 1); SP 1 (N. Breunig). Total fouls: D 21; SP 24.