Eagles’ boys basketball team set for playoffs

Sean McGann has fond memories of his basketball playing days in high school, especially when it came to the postseason. McGann, who is just completing his second season as head coach at Sauk Prairie, would like his players to create some fond memories of their own. Sauk Prairie (11-11) won two of three games last week, including recording a victory on Senior Night, to send the Eagles into tournament play with four wins in their last five games. “I told them that records are completely irrelevant now,” McGann said. “Everyone is 0-0 and anything can happen. We see it every year in March madness that teams that aren’t supposed to win end up winning. That stuff doesn’t matter. I love this time of year. “None of them have had the experience of a long playoff run. I told them that my freshman year at Baraboo when I got brought up, we were 16-0 and in Division 1 and got to play Madison Memorial in the sectional semifinals. It’s the coolest feeling because your whole school is just so excited for you. It’s fun for the community. They’re really attending the games, and it’s a special time. “Anything can happen. If you play a good 36 minutes, you’ll get 36 more minutes.”  Sauk Prairie dropped a 58-31 decision at Wisconsin Dells — the No. 3 ranked team in Division 3 — on Feb. 24. But the Eagles responded with back-to-back victories at home, including a 45-43 nail-biter against River Valley on Feb. 25 and a hard-fought 49-39 decision over visiting Portage last Thursday night. “These games are hard to play,” McGann said. “Seedings are already set, but building a good feeling going into the tournament is huge.  “It was good for our guys to play in close games. You can’t simulate that in practice. We’ve had a lot of close games but to have that experience was good for us.” Following is a look at last week’s action:  • Wisconsin Dells 58, Sauk Prairie 31 — Senior forward Trevor Spray scored 10 points, but the visiting Eagles lost a non-conference game to the host Chiefs on Feb. 24. Wisconsin Dells (20-1), ranked third in the Associated Press Division 3 poll, held Sauk Prairie (9-11) to 13 points in the second half. Spray also led the Eagles, who shot just 30.8% from the floor (12-of-39), with nine rebounds and three assists.  McGann said the game served as a wakeup call for his team heading into the postseason. “Just seeing how hard they play is a good thing for us moving forward,” McGann said of the Chiefs, who were led by Brett Hirst, who finished with 15 points.   Sauk Prairie turned the ball over on eight of its first 10 possessions, which set the tone for the game. “We had 31 possessions in the first half and 15 of them were turnovers and we’re down by only 10. We should have been down by 30,” McGann said. “We finished with 26 turnovers. But we’ll keep getting better. Dells is a really good team. I’m not taking anything away from them. They were awesome.” • Sauk Prairie 45, River Valley 43 — Trevor Spray drained a three-pointer with 6 seconds remaining for the game-winner for the Eagles. “That’s my first game-winning shot in high school,” said Spray, who finished with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and also led Sauk Prairie with four assists, four steals and a blocked shot. “We were supposed to get it in the paint, but it didn’t work out, and Parker (Breunig) found me for an open shot. I didn’t really think about it. I just shot it. I knew it was going to go.” Junior forwards Brandt Wilson finished with 14 points. and Isaac Breunig added 13 points for the Eagles (10-11). Josh Maier scored 13 points, and Will Bailey chipped in with 12 points for River Valley (12-9). Sauk Prairie shot 43.3% from the floor (16-of-37), including 40 percent (6 of 15) from beyond the arc (6-of-15).  After the Eagles took a 27-24 lead into halftime, Spray sank two free throws to extend the margin to eight points with 13 minutes, 21 seconds to play. But River Valley used a 12-3 run capped by a banked jump shot from Will Jewel with 3:34 to play to give the Blackhawks a 43-42 lead. Neither team scored over the ensuing six possessions until senior guard Parker Breunig found Spray open on the left wing for a step back 3-pointer that hit nothing but net. “That was the first game-winning shot here that I’ve been a part of since I’ve been coaching,” McGann said. “We’ve had opportunities, but usually they were against us.”  • Sauk Prairie 49, Portage 39 — Isaac Breunig scored 13 points and Brandt Wilson finished with a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles, who rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to earn a season-sweep of the visiting Warriors on Senior Night. Sauk Prairie senior players Parker Breunig, Aaron Frey, Ben German, Garrett Hertzfeldt and Trevor Spray and senior manager Olivia Davis were honored in a pre-game ceremony. The Eagles (11-11, 8-6 Badger North) then went out and made sure the seniors won the final regular season home game of their prep careers. “At the end of the day, that’s what we wanted to get (a win),” McGann said. “Although it was not pretty, we got it done.” Portage (2-19, 2-13) grabbed a 22-17 lead at halftime, which disappointed McGann, who set out to do something about it. “I challenged them pretty good at halftime, and they responded,” McGann said. “I know that it is really hard to get motivated for the 22nd game of the season that is somewhat irrelevant. “But they still need to come and build a good feeling. If we play like that against Baraboo, our postseason will be really short.” Parker Breunig finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and a team-best three assists and three steals for Sauk Prairie. The Eagles also got eight points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots from Spray. Isaac Paul scored 12 points to pace Portage. On deck: Seventh-seeded Sauk Prairie hosted 10th-seeded Baraboo in a WIAA Division 2 quarterfinal regional game on Tuesday. The winner plays at second-seeded Monroe in a regional semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m.    Feb. 24 Wisconsin Dells 58,  Sauk Prairie 31 Sauk Prairie …… 18 13 — 31 Wisconsin Dells …. 29 29 — 58 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Aaron Frey 0 0-0 0, Kyle Been 2 2-3 7, Tyler Uselman 1 1-2 3, Ben German 0 0-0 0, Isaac Breunig 2 0-0 4, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 4 0-0 10, Brandt Wilson 1 0-2 3, Parker Breunig 0 0-0 0, Fadil Ahmetaj 1 0-0 2, Kyle Breunig 0 0-0 0, Elliot Drew 1 0-0 2, Eddie Breunig 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 3-7 31. WISCONSIN DELLS — Jack Steinhaus 1 0-0 3, Ben Koenig 1 0-0 3, Brett Hirst 7 0-0 15, Sam Millard 4 0-0 10, Bryan Funmaker 5 0-0 10, Riley Eck 3 1-2 7, Jake Hale 1 0-0 2, Barrett Witt 1 0-0 2, Brett Weiss 2 0-0 4, Dylan Nevar 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 1-2 58. 3-point goals: SP 4 (Spray 2, Been 1, Wilson 1); WD 5 (Milla rd 2, Steinhaus 1, Koenig 1, Hirst 1). Total fouls: SP 8; WD 11.   Feb. 25 Sauk Prairie 45,  River Valley 43 River Valley …...... 24 19 — 43 Sauk Prairie …...... 27 18 — 45 RIVER VALLEY (fg ft-fta pts) — Joe Ryan 1 0-3 3, Will Bailey 4 0-0 12, Tyler Nachreiner 2 0-0 4, Will Jewell 2 2-2 6, Brandon Springer 1 0-0 3, Zach Gloudemans 1 0-0 2, Josh Mayer 5 2-4 13. Totals 16 4-9 43. SAUK PRAIRIE — Kyle Been 0 0-0 0, Tyler Uselman 2 0-0 5, Isaac Breunig 5 1-3 13, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 3 4-6 11, Brandt Wilson 5 2-4 14, Parker Breunig 1 0-0 2, Eddie Breunig 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-13 45. 3-point goals: RV 7 (Ryan 1, Bailey 4, Springer 1, Mayer 1); SP 6 (Uselman 1, I. Breunig 2, Spray 1, Wilson 2). Total fouls: RV 11; SP 12.   Feb. 27 Sauk Prairie 49, Portage 39 Portage ….....……. 22 17 — 39 Sauk Prairie …..... 17 32 — 49 PORTAGE (fg ft-fta pts) — Brett Walker 5 1-2 12, Cooper Roberts 0 0-0 0, Colton Brandsma 0 0-0 0, Kendall Thompson 0 0-0 0, Isaac Paul 2 0-1 4, Matthew Miles 6 2-2 14, Delnato Sheppard 2 0-0 5, Logan Breunig 2 0-0 4. Totals 17 3-5 39. SAUK PRAIRIE — Aaron Frey 0 0-0 0, Kyle Been 0 0-0 0, Tyler Uselman 1 0-0 3, Isaac Breunig 3 7-9 13, Trevor Spray 3 2-5 8, Brandt Wilson 3 4-6 12, Parker Breunig 3 3-4 11, Fadil Ahmetaj 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 16-24 49. 3-point goals: Por 2 (Sheppard 1, Walker 1); SP 5 (P. Breunig 2, Wilson 2, Uselman 1). Total fouls: Por 13; SP 17. Fouled out: Miles, Sheppard (P).