Doubling their fun

Before a full-house on ‘Rock the Gym’ night, Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team proved its mettle, having to put in a little overtime to get the job done. Junior forward/guard Brandt Wilson finished with a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and senior swing man Trevor Spray added 12 points and 17 rebounds. But it took a stellar team defensive effort and some timely shooting for Sauk Prairie to record its second consecutive victory in overtime with a thrilling 49-46 victory in double overtime over Reedsburg last Friday night. “For us to grit out a win, I was super proud of our effort,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said. The Eagles also needed one overtime period to rally past host Verona 53-47 in a non-conference game on Feb. 4. “That’s fun, especially with the outcomes we had in both of them,” Sauk Prairie senior guard Parker Breunig said. “It builds us closer as a team.” Sauk Prairie (7-8, 5-4 Badger North) used a lock-down defensive effort to open a 20-12 lead over Reedsburg at halftime. The Eagles were clinging to a 10-8 lead midway through the first half before Wilson and Spray sank back-to-back shots beyond the arc, and Spray added a layup and one of two free throws to spark a 9-0 surge. “It wasn’t a very efficient first half for us,” Reedsburg coach Josh Rupnow said. “You can’t score 12 points in a half and expect to come out very well.”  However, the Eagles struggled to put the game away, opening the second half with just a Wilson 3-pointer to show for their first 10 possessions after intermission. Sauk Prairie missed four field goal attempts, three from beyond the arc, and committed six turnovers during that span to allow Reedsburg (13-4, 6-3) to pull within 23-20 with 11:30 left in regulation. After junior forward Isaac Breunig made a layup on the Eagles’ ensuing possession, the Beavers used an 11-5 surge to grab their first lead since the opening minute of the game after Carter Daniels drilled a three-pointer for a 31-30 lead with 5:45 left. Sauk Prairie regained the lead two possessions later on Parker Breunig’s post move and Spray later capped a 7-2 run with a layup. But Reedsburg rallied to tie the game 37-37 on Zach Bestor’s driving layup with 40 seconds to play. Spray then missed a 10-foot turnaround jumper in the lane as time expired. Bestor gave Reedsburg a 39-37 advantage on a jumper in the lane in the first overtime before Wilson countered with a three-pointer off a feed from senior point guard Ben German.  Fuhrmann, who finished with a team-best 13 points, then made one of two free throws to tie the game at 40. After Bestor missed two free throws with 1:07 left, Parker Breunig sank two free throws for a 42-40 Sauk Prairie lead with 26.7 seconds to play. “We try to put ourselves in situations like that all throughout practice,” Parker Breunig said. “Coach McGann does a really a good job of that, getting us ready to make big shots when we need them.”  However, Max Tully converted a twisting layup on the left block for the Beavers to tie the game at 42 as time expired to force a second extra session. Parker Breunig opened the second overtime, making one of two free throws. Following four lead changes, Spray’s pull-up jumper in the lane with 56 seconds remaining gave Sauk Prairie the lead for good at 47-46. Wilson made two free throws with 15 seconds left to cap the scoring. “Turnovers were a big part of their comeback,” Parker Breunig said. “But we pulled together as a team, and it was an awesome win.” Added Spray: “We just had to get stops on defense and stay tough.”  Reedsburg had one final opportunity to tie the game, but Fuhrmann’s 3-point try from the left wing missed and Spray scooped up the loose ball as time expired. “We figured they were looking to shut down Bestor so we were looking to get somebody open on the weak side,” Rupnow said. “We just wanted to get a good look from three and that isn’t easy to do. We didn’t get one.”  McGann said the Eagles, who are 7-4 in their last 11 games after an 0-4 start — which included a 72-44 rout by host Reedsburg on Dec. 12 — displayed the mental toughness he has been looking for. “In both overtimes (against Reedsburg), we were down, but to come back, this is the best experience you can get because you can’t simulate this in practice,” McGann said. “It never got to more than three points. It was a fun game. It almost felt like a sectional game with the intensity of the crowd.” • Sauk Prairie 53, Verona 47 (OT) — Trevor Spray scored 10 of his 18 points in overtime to help the visiting Eagles hold off the Wildcats in a non-conference game on Feb. 4. Sauk Prairie (6-8), which was without starting point guard Ben German and reserve junior guard Tyler Uselman due to illness, rallied from a late five-point deficit to tie the game, 39-39, on Spray’s driving layup in the final minute of regulation. “We’re already a thin team,” coach Sean McGann said. “We started Garrett Hertzfeldt and played seven guys. Kyle Been got some minutes, and Eddie Breunig played more minutes than he’s used to.” But Spray won the tip-off to start overtime and converted an old-fashioned three-point play off an offensive rebound and added a layup on back-to-back possessions to give the Eagles a 44-39 lead. Verona (3-14), which was led by Adam Bekz, who scored 16 points, never got closer than three points the rest of overtime.  Isaac Breunig added 16 points and six rebounds, while Brandt Wilson just missed recording a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. “We were down to our last sliver of hope, and Isaac Breunig just buried shots in the first half. He kept us in the game,” McGann said after Sauk Prairie trailed 22-20 at intermission with Breunig accounting for 11 points. But Sauk Prairie refused to fold down the stretch with sophomore guard Eddie Breunig accounting for all four of his points in the final minutes of regulation, including a layup off a steal. Spray then took over the game in overtime. “Trevor Spray was a monster in the second half,” McGann said. “And Garrett (Hertzfeldt) gave us a spark. Garrett boxes out and can defend the best player. He is a lot quicker than people think.” • On deck: Sauk Prairie was at Mount Horeb Tuesday, then hosts DeForest in a conference game on Youth Night on Friday at 7:15 p.m. The Eagles then host Beaver Dam on Feb. 18 at 7:15 p.m.   Feb. 4 Sauk Prairie 53,  Verona 47 (OT) Sauk Prairie … 20 19 14 — 53 Verona ….…… 22 17   8 — 47 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — Isaac Breunig 6 0-0 16, Trevor Spray 6 6-8 18, Brandt Wilson 3 3-4 8, Parker Breunig 1 4-4 6, Eddie Breunig 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 13-16 53. VERONA — Haakon Anderson 4 2-5 10, Adam Bekx 4 7-7 16, Kolson Roddick 1 0-0 3, Bennett Sherry 2 0-0 5, Jacob Kisting 1 0-0 3, Jake Poller 1 0-0 2, Trevin Lieck 1 0-0 2, Cole Jannusch 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 9-12 47. 3-point goals: SP 4 (I. Breunig 4); V 4 (Bekx 1, Sherry 1, Roddick 1, Kisting 1). Total fouls: SP 12; V 13. Fouled out: I. Breunig (SP); Bekx (V).   Feb. 7 Sauk Prairie 49,  Reedsburg 46 (2 OT) Reedsburg ….... 12 25 5 4 — 46 Sauk Prairie …. 20 15 7 7 — 49 REEDSBURG (fg ft-fta pts) — Zach Hale 1 0-0 3, Will Fuhrmann 6 1-2 13, Max Tully 4 4-5 12. Danny Kast 0 0-0 0, Carter Daniels 5 0-0 12, Zach Bestor 3 0-2 6. Totals 19 5-8 46. SAUK PRAIRIE — Tyler Uselman 0 0-0 0, Ben German 0 1-2 1, Isaac Breunig 3 0-0 7, Garrett Hertzfeldt 0 0-0 0, Trevor Spray 5 1-8 12, Brandt Wilson 7 5-6 24, Parker Breunig 1 3-4 5, Eddie Breunig 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-20 49. 3-point goals: R 3 (Daniels 2, Hale 1); SP 7 (Wilson 5, I. Breunig 1, Spray 1). Total fouls: R 16; SP 12.