Sauk Prairie’s rally comes up short

Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team displayed a lot of resiliency after falling into a huge hole in its season-opener last Saturday afternoon. But an early 22-point deficit proved to be too much to overcome. Junior forward Brandt Wilson scored 17 points and senior forward Trevor Spray added 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but visiting Lodi held on for a 61-54 victory. Lodi made four of its first five 3-point attempts to storm to an 18-2 lead when Jack Persike drained a trey with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half. After Spray scored off a put-back 10 seconds later, the Blue Devils (1-0) — who sank 7-of-12 3-pointers in the first half — got back-to-back threes from Logan Richards. Caydon Coddington then converted a steal into fastbreak layup to cap an 8-0 surge for Lodi to stake the Blue Devils to a commanding 26-4 lead. “Any varsity kid can shoot uncontested threes and feel good,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said. “We didn’t contest threes today and that’s why it felt like they hit everything. They got in a rhythm, and we were turning it over.” Senior guard Ben German ignited a comeback for the Eagles with a 3-pointer off an assist from junior guard Tyler Uselman to jump-start a 12-0 surge capped by a Spray jumper. “Just playing defense and getting stops and then pushing the ball in transition got us back in it,” Spray said. “We just had to communicate with each other.” That run pulled Sauk Prairie within 26-16 and gave the Eagles some hope. “I think it was a little bit of nerves,” McGann said of Sauk Prairie’s start. “We kind of looked a little bit scared when we started the game. Lodi came out really, really confident.” German added 10 points for Sauk Prairie, sinking three treys. “Ben has worked a lot on his shot,” McGann said of German. “He just needs confidence. “I told him ‘your shot’s not always going to fall, but when it does it’s a bonus for us.’ He brings a lot in terms of defense and leadership and things like that.” While the Eagles are hoping to pick up the pace on offense this season, McGann said the turnovers weren’t solely due to a desire to run the floor and attack the rim. “We worked on press break every single day,” he said. “But handling the pressure and handling the ball is just something we’re going to have to keep working on and get better with time. “That first game nerves definitely hurt us in the beginning.” Lodi, which doesn’t have a player taller than 6-foot-3 on its roster, came out in a full-court press, and Sauk Prairie committed 15 turnovers in the first half. That led to 19 points for the Blue Devils and put the Eagles into their early hole. Richards sank five 3-pointers to pace Lodi with 17 points, Trey Traeder added 15 points, including three 3s, for the Blue Devils. While McGann expected Lodi to attack from the perimeter, he didn’t expect the disastrous beginning. “I told them in the locker room before the game that we were going to take some punches,” McGann said of the Eagles. “But I didn’t expect that.” Sauk Prairie trailed 37-26 at halftime and came out strong in the final period, opening with a 5-0 run on Spray’s back-to-back field goals and German’s free throw. Spray’s three-point play tied the score at 40-40 with 11 minutes to play, capping a 14-3 Eagles’ run. “We know we can compete with anybody if we hang onto the ball and don’t give up easy points,” Spray said. Spray, who recorded his first double-double, also had six blocks to anchor the Eagles’ inside defense. “That’s the way he’s going to have to be,” McGann said of Spray’s opening performance. “But it just can’t be Trevor. We need to have guys who can offensive rebound and limit them to one shot defensively. “I’m proud of how Trevor played, and he’s going to have to have a big year for us, especially rebounding, for us to be successful.” Lodi pulled out to a 47-43 lead, before Sauk Prairie tied the score, 47-47, on Wilson’s strong post move with 6:37 left to play. “Seeing how we competed and battled back from a few punches was good,” McGann said. But the Eagles were unable to take the lead as Lodi ended the game with a 14-7 closing surge. “A lot of teams would have folded, but we battled back,” McGann said. “That was a game we could have won. We put ourselves in a position at the end where we could have gotten it. Unfortunately, they just made more shots than us. “We had 23 turnovers overall. When you turn the ball over that much, you don’t deserve to win.” • On deck: Following a non-conference game at Stoughton on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie hosts Waunakee in a Badger North Conference opener on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 30 Lodi 61, Sauk Prairie 54 Lodi ……............……... 37 24 — 61 Sauk Prairie .............… 26 28 — 54 LODI (fg ft-fta pts) — Trey Traeder 6 0-0 15, Quinn Faust 1 0-0 2, Caydon Coddington 3 1-2 8, Connor Faust 2 0-0 5, Logan Richards 6 0-0 17, Jack Persike 2 4-4 10, Kade Parsons 2 0-0 4, Greg Lins 0 0-0 0.Totals 22 5- 61. SAUK PRAIRIE — Tyler Uselman 0 1-2 1, Ben German 3 1-2 10, Isaac Breunig 1 0-0 2, Trevor Spray 7 1-1 16, Brandt Wilson 7 0-0 17, Parker Breunig 2 1-2 5, Sam Drescher 1 0-0 3, Eddie Breunig 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-7 54. 3-point goals: L 12 (Traeder 3, Coddington 1, C. Faust 1, Richards 5, Persike 2); SP 8 (German 3, Spray 1, Wilson 3, Drescher 1). Total fouls: L 8; SP 13.