Hoping for a playoff run

Amazingly, the postseason in already here. And perhaps Sauk Prairie’s girls basketball team has ironed out some of the kinks that plagued them in recent weeks. The Eagles snapped a five-game losing streak with a pair of wins last week. Sauk Prairie defeated host Baraboo, 62-50, on Feb. 2. The Eagles then edged visiting DeForest, 43-42, on Feb. 5. Second-seeded Sauk Prairie now hosts third-seeded McFarland in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game advances to a regional final Saturday against an opponent and at a location to be determined. In the Eagles’ win over Baraboo, Naomi Breunig led three players in double figures with 18 points. Maggie Hartwig added 13 points and McKayla Paulkner had 10. Sauk Prairie led, 32-24, at halftime, then gave up just one field goal in the first 11 minutes of the second half and pushed its lead to 20. The Eagles’ lead grew to 25, before Baraboo finished the game on a 13-0 run to make thigs more respectable. “We did not play a very consistent first half on the defensive end, but got some stops late and matched their scores early to give us a bit of a lead at the half,” Eagles coach Aaron Andres said. “We were up 20 to 25 (points) until 1:30 left.  “Baraboo pressed our subs and went on a 13-0 run in the last 1:37 to get it to 12. It was a solid all around effort on both ends! Frustrating end to the game, but overall solid performance.” In the Eagles’ win over DeForest, Olivia Breunig hit a three-pointer with 2:30 left to give Sauk Prairie a 43-40 lead. The Eagles didn’t score again, but held on for a thrilling win. Naomi Breunig led the Eagles with 12 points, while Maggie Hartwig added six. DeForest led, 21-20, at halftime and pushed that advantage to 38-31 late in the second half. But Hartwig scored seven straight points to tie the game at 38 and set up the thrilling ending. “DeForest can really shoot the three and we did not have much time to prepare for their scheme, so I was happy with how we competed,” Andres said. “We have not had a lot of close games so it was exciting to work on late game situations.   “Great to play a game. We learned a lot and it will give us some more to build off of as we prepare for the postseason.”   Feb. 5 SAUK PRAIRIE 43,  DeFOREST 42 DeForest ……..….. 21 21 — 42 Sauk Prairie …… 20 23 — 43 DeFOREST (fg ft-fta pts) — Rauls 1 0-0 2; Compe 2 0-0 5; Roth 2 0-0 5; Kelliher 4 3-4 12; Szepieniec 1 0-0 2; Derlein 3 0-1 7; Schaeffer 1 0-0 2; Bartels 0 1-2 1; Oberg 2 0-1 4; Hahn 1 0-0 2 Totals 17 4-8 42. SAUK PRAIRIE — Klemm 1 1-1 3; N. Breunig 5 1-3 12; O. Breunig 1 0-0 3; Holler 1 0-2 2; Hartwig 3 0-0 6; Braund 1 2-2 4; M. Paukner 4 1-2 9; O. Paukner 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 5-10 43. 3-point goals: D 4 (Compe, Roth, Kelliher, Derlein); SP 2 (N. Breunig, O. Breunig). Total fouls: D 13; SP 10.   Feb. 2 SAUK PRAIRIE 62,  BARABOO 50 Sauk Prairie ......... 32 30 — 62 Baraboo ................. 24 26 — 50 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — N. Breunig 7 2-3 18, Radl 1 0-0 3, O. Breunig 3 1-2 7, Holler 2 0-0 4, Hartwig 4 5-5 13, Braund 3 0-1 7, M. Paukner 4 2-2 10. Totals 24 10-13 62. BARABOO — Ross 5 0-0 14, Fluette 1 0-0 3, White Eagle 8 2-4 18, Pfaff 4 0-0 11, Frank 0 2-2 2, M. Gruner 1 0-2 2. Totals 19 4-7 50. 3-point goals: SP 4 (N. Breunig 2, Radl 1, Braund 1); B 8 (Ross 4, Pfaff 3, Fluette 1). Total fouls: SP 7; B 11.