Sauk Prairie’s girls win a pair

MOUNT HOREB – Experience is welcome in life as well as on the basketball court. But recent additions to Sauk Prairie’s girls varsity basketball team have also injected a positive energy for the Eagles.  Junior guard Naomi Breunig and senior guard Ella Schad provided the experience while a trio of freshmen — Annika Braund, Maggie Hartwig and Kaya Wilson — added some youthful energy and depth to lead Sauk Prairie to back-to-back Badger North Conference victories last week. Sauk Prairie trailed early in the second half, but rallied to defeat host Mount Horeb 65-51 on Jan. 28 behind a game-high 21 points from Naomi Breunig. Hartwig also nearly recorded her first varsity double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds against the Vikings. “It’s been cool, but I definitely did not expect to get called up,” said Hartwig, who added five steals, two assists and a blocked shot. “I like to bring energy and help as much as I can especially rebounding. “I just try my hardest to catch up with the girls because they are a little stronger than me in some areas. I’m getting used to it.” The Eagles then won for the fifth time in seven games when Naomi Breunig scored 26 points as Sauk Prairie routed Baraboo, 62-32, on Alumni Night last Saturday evening. That improved Sauk Prairie’s record to 10-7 overall, including 4-6 in the Badger North. “These are seeding games and ones to show your improvements going throughout the season,” Sauk Prairie coach Amber Fiene said. “This was important for us.” Against Mount Horeb, Sauk Prairie jumped out to a 30-23 halftime lead before the Vikings came out on fire in the second half. Mount Horeb made three of its first four field goal attempts and used a 12-4 surge to take a 35-34 lead with 13 minutes, 35 seconds to play. But Fiene went to the bench to shake up the lineup which sparked a 10-4 run for the Eagles, who never trailed the rest of the way. Schad said the Eagles’ victory was a team effort. “Our energy and confidence were really there,” Schad said. “Our entire bench was screaming the entire game, which helped us. We were ready for this.” Sophomore forward Olivia Paukner, who finished with nine points and five rebounds, started Sauk Prairie’s rally with an old-fashioned three-point play and capped the run with a fastbreak layup for a 44-39 lead. Mount Horeb never got any closer the rest of the way. Picking up the pace on defense with its run-and-jump scheme, Sauk Prairie forced 26 Mount Horeb turnovers, coming up with 17 steals. “Defensively, is where we took over,” Fiene said. “The first group I had to start the second half was two steps too slow and didn’t have the energy we needed and that we left that first half with. “Making a quick substitution to get a better chemistry group out there and a faster pace, really helped us get in a groove again. I think that our biggest focus tonight was our best effort, best attitude of the season yet. I was really proud of how the girls came out.” Following an embarrassing showing at Reedsburg five days earlier when the Eagles were outscored by 35 points in the first half, Sauk Prairie made sure that didn’t happen again. “We learned we can’t start slow, that’s what killed us (against Reedsburg),” said Schad, who finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal. “We came back in the second half, but we needed to start strong.”  Mount Horeb (8-7, 3-6) was led by Kenzie Coulthard, who finished with 14 points. Fiene said the recent promotion of Braund, Hartwig and Wilson, who were mainstays on a successful JV1 team this season, has provided a spark off the bench and some much-needed help on the boards. Braund chipped in with seven points and nine rebounds against Mount Horeb. Wilson was scoreless, but grabbed two rebounds. “Half of the reason they’re up is they’re tough on rebounding,” Fiene said of the trio, who have been splitting time between the varsity and JV1 teams. “We can count on them to rebound. The size, coachability, effort is all there with those girls. I feel lucky to have them.” After being swept by Mount Horeb last year and losing to the Vikings 48-36 at home on Dec. 10, Fiene said the victory was a confidence-builder. “This was huge with (Mount Horeb) being close to us in conference,” Fiene said. “Just knowing that we can handle them and were more polished and skilled than them with a lot more depth helped our confidence. Our depth helped a lot tonight as we were continuing to run the girls. We just exhausted (Mount Horeb) where they were asking for subs.” • Sauk Prairie 62, Baraboo 32 — Naomi Breunig scored 26 points to help the Eagles finish off a season sweep against the visiting Thunderbirds. Breunig also filled up the stat sheet, finishing with six rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots. Sauk Prairie roared out to a 16-1 lead midway through the first half and held a 27-13 edge at the break. The Eagles had 15 players receive time on the floor with 11 players scoring at least two points. Ella Schad added eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Annika Braund finished with four points and a game-high and career-best 11 rebounds. Autumn Klemm led Baraboo (1-16, 0-10) with 12 points. • On deck: Following a Badger North Conference game against Portage on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie hosts Beaver Dam in a league game on ‘Rock the Gym’ Night on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles play a non-conference game at Richland Center on Feb. 11 at 7:15 p.m.   Jan. 28 Sauk Prairie 65,  Mount Horeb 51 Sauk Prairie …… 30 35 — 65 Mount Horeb ….. 23 28 — 51 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Lexi Tobias 1 0-0 2, Naomi Breunig 9 1-2 21, Olivia Breunig 2 0-1 4, Faith Holler 0 0-0 0, Ella Schad 3 5-5 11, Olivia Paukner 3 3-3 9, Kaya Wilson 0 0-0 0, Annika Braund 0 7-10 7, Maggie Hartwig 3 2-4 9. Totals 19 18-27 65. MOUNT HOREB — Grace Vesperman 1 1-3 3, Anna Ollendick 0 2-2 2, Emma Anderson 5 1-2 11, Kenzie Coulthard 5 2-2 14, Myesha Thompson 0 1-2 1, Julia Magnuson 6 1-1 13, Emily Wallace 2 0-0 5, Kayla Plautz 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 8-12 51. 3-point goals: SP 3 (N. Breunig 2, Hartwig 1); MH 3 (Coulthard 2, Wallace 1). Total fouls: SP 17; MH 23.   Feb. 1 Sauk Prairie 62, Baraboo 32 Baraboo …….....… 13 19 — 32 Sauk Prairie …...... 27 35 — 62 BARABOO (fg ft-fta pts) — Autumn Klemm 4 4-6 12, Carly Moon 2 2-2 8, Taylor Pfaff 1 4-8 6, CeCe Oettinger 1 0-2 2, Jayden noss 1 2-6 4. Totals 9 12-24 32. SAUK PRAIRIE — Lexi Tobias 2 0-0 5, Naomi Breunig 11 1-3 26, Claudia Miller 0 2-2 2, Olivia Breunig 1 0-0 3, Faith Holler 1 0-0 2, Kassia Marquardt 0 0-0 0, Madi Pertzborn 0 0-2 0, Lauren Wideen 0 0-0 0, Ella Schad 2 3-4 8, Ruth Baker 0 0-0 0, Olivia Paukner 1 2-2 4, Kaya Wilson 1 0-0 3, Makenzie. Breunig 1 0-0 3, Annika Braund 2 0-0 4, Maggie Hartwig 0 2-2 2. Totals 22 10-15 62. 3-point goals: B 2 (Moon 2); SP 8 (Tobias 1, N. Breunig 3, O. Breunig 1, Schad 1, Wilson 1, M. Breunig 1). Total fouls: B 15; SP 19.