Sauk Prairie’s season comes to an end

Just as in the regular season, it was a 50-50 split when Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team competed in postseason play. Seventh-seeded Sauk Prairie opened the week with a convincing 60-39 victory over Badger North Conference rival and 10th-seeded Baraboo in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal game on March 3. The Eagles swept the season series with Baraboo, routing the Thunderbirds, 62-29, at home on Jan. 9 and rallying for 62-49 victory at Baraboo on Feb. 21. Sauk Prairie then advanced to the regional semifinals, but lost at second-seeded Monroe, 54-42, last Friday night. That marked the second year in a row the Eagles lost to the Cheesemakers in the postseason. Monroe was then eliminated, 75-61, by third-seeded DeForest in a regional championship game last Saturday. After posting an 8-15 record a year ago and losing its playoff opener, Sauk Prairie finished the 2019-20 season with a 12-12 record, which included an 8-6 mark that was good for fifth place in the Badger North. “It seemed like we were going back and forth and back and forth all season,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said. “Obviously, I’m excited to see our wins go up. But moving forward, our offseason has to be really good. We lose a lot of playing time with four guys in our rotation.” Against Baraboo, senior guard Ben German sank two free throws with 10 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Eagles a 24-15 halftime lead. Sauk Prairie led, 28-19, when it unleashed a 12-0 run to put the game away. German started the surge with a three-point play, and senior forward Trevor Spray capped it when he made a layup with just under 11 minutes to play to give Sauk Prairie a commanding 40-19 lead. German led the Eagles with 15 points, Spray posted a double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Brandt Wilson added 10 points and three steals. Baraboo (4-19) never got any closer than 16 points the rest of the way. Calvin Peterson scored 15 points, and Max Koenig added 14 for the Thunderbirds. “The second half, we played really, really well,” McGann said. “Baraboo got a lot better over the year. They improved and got tougher on defense. “But that second half, we were just really good, especially throwing the ball inside. That was something we wanted to do.” Sauk Prairie shot 53.8% (21 of 39) from the field against Baraboo, including a sizzling 85.7% on shots in the paint in the second half (12 of 14). However, Sauk Prairie struggled to score at Monroe, managing just 16 points in the first half. Spray finished the game with 15 points, while Isaac Breunig and Wilson added 12 points each. Junior Cade Meyer scored a game-high 18 points to pace the Cheesemakers (18-5). “We battled, we were just down five at half. It was a gritty game,” McGann said. “We just couldn’t make shots. We were 4-for-20 from 3. We just couldn’t make shots until very, very late when it was out of reach.” Monroe’s front line of the 6-foot-8 Meyer, 6-6 JT Seagraves and 6-4 Aaron Ziolkowski proved too much to overcome. “Cade Meyer is obviously hard to score on inside,” McGann said. “Carson Leuzinger at point guard is awesome. His pull-up game is so good. He hit a lot of shots. Monroe is a tough team to beat with their size.” Sauk Prairie graduates five seniors in starters German, Spray and Parker Breunig and reserves Aaron Frey and Garrett Hertzfeldt. They helped the Eagles hold opponents to just 52.3 points per game. But the offense was a work in progress much of the season with Sauk Prairie averaging just 50.7 points per game. “I know this offends people, but we didn’t earn a long playoff run with our offseason,” McGann said. “I wasn’t very happy with our senior class with how little they were in the gym. But they gave me all they had during the season. I’m really happy with that, and I’m proud of them for that. “But moving forward, we have a lot of guys who really love basketball and will really work this summer. We have a lot of kids playing AAU, which we haven’t in recent years. I’m excited to see how that translates, playing more and with them being better.”   March 3 Sauk Prairie 60, Baraboo 39 Baraboo ……...…. 15 24 — 39 Sauk Prairie ……. 24 36 — 60 BARABOO — Jaykee Williams 1 0-0 2, Will Jurvelin 0 0-0 0, Max Koenig 5 4-4 14, Graham Langkamp 1 0-0 3, Owen Nachtigal 0 2-2 2, Calvin Peterson 6 1-1 15, Gabriel McReynolds 0 0-0 0, Justin Philipp 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 7-7 39. SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Aaron Frey 0 0-0 0, Kyle Been 0 0-0 0, Tyler Uselman 2 0-1 4, Ben German 3 9-9 15, Isaac Breunig 3 0-0 7, Garrett Hertzfeldt 2 0-0 4, Trevor Spray 6 2-2 14, Brandt Wilson 4 2-4 10, Parker Breunig 0 4-4 4, Fadil Ahmetaj 1 0-0 2, Breunig 0 0-0 0, Drew 0 0-0 0, Eddie Breunig 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 17-20 60. 3-point goals: B 4 (Langkamp 1, Peterson 2, Philipp 1); SP 1 (I. Breunig 1). Total fouls: B 15; SP 9.   March 6 Monroe 54, Sauk Prairie 42 Sauk Prairie ……. 16 26 — 42 Monroe …………. 21 33 — 54 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Tyler Uselman 0 0-0 0, Ben German 1 0-0 3, Isaac Breunig 5 1-1 12, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 4 7-8 15, Brandt Wilson 5 0-0 12, Parker Breunig 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 8-9 42. MONROE — Carson Leuzinger 4 6-8 14, Max Golembiewski 2 6-8 12, Cade Meyer 8 1-2 18, Tyler Matley 2 0-2 4, JT Seagreaves 2 2-2 6. Totals 18 15-22 54. 3-point goals: SP 4 (Wilson 2, Breunig 1, German 1); M 3 (Golembiewski 2, Meyer 1). Total fouls: SP 21; M 13. Fouled out: German (SP).