Eagles sneak past Beavers

Parker Breunig knows what it takes to rally the troops. As a starting quarterback on the Sauk Prairie football team, the senior signal caller led the Eagles to their first playoff berth in 12 years. Last Saturday night, it was Breunig’s turn to take over on the basketball court, and the 6-foot-2 swing man made the most of his opportunities to rally Sauk Prairie when it needed him the most. Breunig sank back-to-back three-pointers in overtime to spark Sauk Prairie to a thrilling 60-54 victory over host Beaver Dam in a Badger North Conference game. “In the second half, we pulled together as a team and really came through,” said Breunig, who drained a career-best four three-pointers and finished with a personal-best 14 points. “You could tell everyone out on the floor wanted to win. We just wanted it more.” Junior swingman Isaac Breunig, who shared team scoring honors with junior forward Brandt Wilson, scored 14 of his 15 points in the first half, including Sauk Prairie’s first seven points, to keep the Eagles (3-5, 2-3 Badger North) in the game despite several breakdowns on defense. “I told the whole team before the game that Isaac Breunig was going to have a moment,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said. “He hadn’t had a moment in terms of really dominating a game. He was awesome. He really kept us in it. He bailed us out.” Beaver Dam (2-8, 0-5) took a 33-31 lead into the break after sinking six three-pointers in the opening period. “I’m shocked that they’re 0-5,” McGann said of the Golden Beavers’ conference record. “They’re young, and they’re a smaller team. But they are a dangerous team. They can really shoot the ball.” Sauk Prairie, though, picked up its intensity on defense to hold the Golden Beavers to just 21 points the rest of the game. “We just had get back to our game plan and not let them get those open threes,” Parker Breunig said. “We played gap defense, which is what our team thrives on. “We just had to remind ourselves what we need to do, and if we do those things then we could win the game. Sure enough, it worked out.” Beaver Dam’s Broden Boschert, who finished with a game-high 19 points, gave the Golden Beavers a 54-51 lead in overtime with his second three-pointer of the game. After senior forward Trevor Spray scored to trim the Eagles’ deficit to one point, Parker Breunig drilled back-to-back three-pointers to give Sauk Prairie the lead for good at 56-51.  “Those were two enormous threes,” McGann said. “It was the coolest moment to see him and his teammates so happy. It was a really ugly win, but it was pure grit.” Wilson and Isaac Breunig each followed with a free throw to push Sauk Prairie’s lead to 58-51. Brady Helbing, who finished with 11 points, then sank his third three-pointer of the game to pull Beaver Dam within 58-54. However, Spray, who finished with 11 points, then made a pair of free throws to ice the victory. “That’s a game that three weeks ago, we lose,” McGann said. “When adversity hits, we don’t shy away from it now. It’s been fun to watch us grow in that respect.” Sauk Prairie held Golden Beavers’ junior guard Nate Abel to just two free throws – both in the first half – after he entered the game averaging 23.1 points per game. “That was unbelievable,” McGann said. “In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have imagined that. “Nate Abel is a game-changer. Trevor (Spray) guarded him, but we threw a lot of guys at him. Tyler Uselman at times, Ben German at times, Parker Breunig at times, so it was a team effort.”  Parker Breunig said the Eagles’ many scoring options also make them a force to be reckoned with. “Our team this year has a lot of guys who could go off at any time,” Parker Breunig said after the Eagles had four players finish in double figures in scoring. “You don’t really know whose night it’s going to be. “It was Isaac’s night (tonight). Trevor (Spray) could go off for 30, Brandt (Wilson) is a great player. Ben (German), myself, (Tyler), Uselman, Sam (Drescher), we all have the capability of doing it. It’s a matter of who’s going to do it. It will keep teams on their toes.”  • Fundraiser on deck: After a non-conference game at Lake Mills on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie returns to Badger North Conference play when the Eagles host Baraboo Thursday at 7:15 p.m. The game will also feature a benefit for Alyssa Gruender, who is a member of the U.S. Army and the fiancé of Eagles’ coach Sean McGann, who is also a 2012 graduate of Baraboo High School. Gruender was hospitalized on Halloween when, while having lunch with McGann, she began slurring her words and losing her ability to formulate a sentence Although no diagnosis was found, Alyssa experienced a major tonic clonic seizure on Nov. 1, which sparked a long road of testing and hospital stays and eventually a brain biopsy on Dec. 11. McGann said while there is still no diagnosis, Gruender has had numerous overnight stays at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee the past two months. The amount of time in the future that she will continue being readmitted is also unknown. Thursday’s benefit will include a 50/50 raffle, silent auction and miracle minute to help defray the expenses for travel, hospital stays, MRIs, CT scans and surgery for the Gruender family, which includes Alyssa’s parents, Brian and Laura, and siblings. “It’s also going to be Youth Night and hopefully our biggest crowd of the year,” McGann said. “All the money and proceeds will go to Alyssa to help pay for her medical bills.”  You can learn more by searching “Fight Like a Soldier” on Facebook. Donations are also accepted at www.gofundme.com/f/fight-like-a-soldier. The GoFundMe had raised more than $17,000 as of Sunday afternoon.   Jan. 4 Sauk Prairie 60, Beaver Dam 54 (OT) Sauk ….........… 31 17 12 — 60 Beaver Dam … 33 15   6 — 54 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Tyler Uselman 1 2-2 5, Ben German 0 0-0 0, Isaac Breunig 6 1-2 15, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 4 2-4 11, Brandt Wilson 6 1-3 15, Parker Breunig 5 0-0 14, Eddie Breunig 0 0-0 0.  Totals 22 6-11 60. BEAVER DAM — Broden Boschert 7 3-4 19, Brady Helbing 4 0-0 11, Alex Soto 1 0-0 3, Evan Sharkey 1 0-0 2, Tyler Bunkoske 5 2-2 17, Nate Abel 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 5-6 54. 3-point goals: SP 10 (Uselman 1, I. Breunig 2, Spray 1, Wilson 2, P. Breunig 4); BD 11 (Boschert 2, Helbing 3, Soto 1, Bunkoske 5). Total fouls: SP 14, BD 15.