Waunakee rolls by Sauk Prairie

Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team got off to a strong start against Badger North Conference leading Waunakee in a rematch on Jan. 28. But Waunakee used a late first-half flurry to take control and then relied on its superior depth to eventually pull away for a 69-46 victory over Sauk Prairie. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen them play,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said of the Warriors. “They were pushing the ball really hard. “That was the second straight game I only played seven guys. Right now our depth is not good. We need to have some guys step up in practice and show they deserve to get on the floor in games.” Caden Nelson led Waunakee (12-4, 7-1 Badger North) with 16 points¸ Jack Dotzler, Casey Fischer and Andrew Keller each chipped in 10 points each for the Warriors, who earned a season sweep of the Eagles (5-8, 4-4). Waunakee won the first meeting between the teams 56-37 at Prairie du Sac on Dec. 7. The Eagles were determined to reverse their fortunes when they got off to a good start in the rematch. But Waunakee used a closing 8-0 surge in the first half to take control. “We played an awesome 16 ½ minutes and just had a bad last minute and a half there,” McGann said after Waunakee sprinted into halftime with a 33-23 lead. Waunakee coach Dana MacKenzie said the Warriors’ timely defense, balanced offense and depth proved to be the difference. “We forced a couple of turnovers. But I thought we did a really good job of playing fast, but playing in control on offense,” MacKenzie said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are very similar and we wanted to pick up the tempo. So we played some more guys, and tonight it worked.” Senior forward/guard Trevor Spray scored a game-high 21 points for Sauk Prairie. Spray also finished with five rebounds and a team-best four steals and three blocked shots. Sauk Prairie shot 35.4% from the floor (17 of 48), including 22.2% (4 of 18) from beyond the arc. Waunakee shot 43 percent from the field and outrebounded the Eagles 39-25, including a 15-8 advantage on the offensive boards. “We talked about how it’s easy to play well in stretches, but great teams always finish,” McGann said. “You could tell (Waunakee) was focused on that. “We just relaxed for 90 seconds (in the first half) which doesn’t seem like a lot. But that’s a big difference going into the half down two, tied or down 10.”  Waunakee was coming off back-to-back losses to top-ranked Madison La Follette and to Badger South Conference-leading Monroe in the Badger Challenge. So McGann and the Eagles expected to see a Waunakee team ready to bounce back and they weren’t disappointed.  “It was good to see we focused on playing 36 minutes as hard as we can,” MacKenzie said. “We played well, we shared the ball and played pretty good D.” Junior forward Brandt Wilson finished with 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds for the Eagles. Senior guard Parker Breunig also contributed four points, five rebounds and two steals. Waunakee opened a 19-point lead early in the second half before Sauk Prairie countered with a 9-4 surge to trim its deficit to 54-40 when Spray got open inside for a dunk with 14:30 left to play. But the host Warriors countered with a 13-2 run to build a 67-42 lead with just under 2 minutes to play as both teams cleared their benches. “We were subbing in guys a lot more and keeping it fresh,” MacKenzie said. “Over time it kind of wore on Sauk (Prairie) a little bit. Give them credit. Sean (McGann) switched up his defense late and put a little fight in those guys. He’s doing a great job.”  While McGann was pleased with the Eagles’ start, he said the Warriors physically and mentally wore Sauk Prairie down. “They pressured us and we missed a lot of opportunities out of their pressure and took some iffy shots and that led to some points for them,” McGann said. “Right now, we’re just not mentally tough enough to compete with good teams. “Obviously, it’s frustrating to lose. But this game doesn’t define our season. We need to keep playing hard.”  • On deck: Following a non-conference game at Verona on Tuesday, Sauk Prairie will host Reedsburg in a Badger North Conference game on ‘Rock the Gym’ Night on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Eagles will then play at Mount Horeb in a conference game on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7:15 p.m.   Jan. 28 Waunakee 69, Sauk Prairie 46 Sauk Prairie ....….. 23 23 — 46 Waunakee ....……. 33 36 — 69 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Frey 1 0-0 3, Tyler Uselman 0 0-0 0, Ben German 1 0-0 2, Isaac Breunig 1 0-0 3, Garrett Hertzfeldt 1 0-0 2, Trevor Spray 7 5-8 21, Brandt Wilson 4 2-2 10, Parker Breunig 2 0-0 4, Ahmetaj 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 8-12 46. WAUNAKEE — Caden Nelson 5 3-4 16, Aidan Driscoll 2 0-0 6, Jaxson Zibell 3 1-3 8, Hough 1 0-0 3, Dotzler 3 3-4 10, Fischer 3 2-2 10, May 1 0-0- 2, Andrew Keller 4 2-3 10, Keenan 0 2-2 2. Totals 23 13-18 69. 3-point goals: SP 4 (Spray 2, I. Breunig 1, Frey 1); W 10 (Nelson 3, Driscoll 2, Fischer 2, Dotzler 1, Hough 1, Zibell 1). Total fouls: SP 17; W 16. Fouled out: German, I. Breunig (SP).