Eagles aim to get back on track

Aaron Andres knew it would be a tough week. Just maybe not this tough. Andres, Sauk Prairie’s girls basketball coach, watched his Eagles drop three straight games last week. Reedsburg defeated Sauk Prairie, 78-47, on Jan. 19. Madison Edgewood downed the Eagles, 56-36, on Jan. 21 and Beaver Dam topped Sauk Prairie, 70-39, on Jan. 23. “We knew it was going to be tough,” Andres said. “Beaver Dam and Reedsburg have been the top-two teams in the league for a number of years and they have a lot of good basketball players and Edgewood is a perennial power. All three teams are very well coached and do a variety of things to attack you.” The Eagles fell to 7-6 on the season. Here’s a look back at Sauk Prairie’s week: • Reedsburg 78, Sauk Prairie 47 — Maggie Hartwig and Naomi Breunig led the Eagles with 12 points each, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Sauk Prairie trailed just 40-36 at halftime. But the Beavers cruised after halftime, outscoring the Eagles, 38-11. “We played a very good first 14 minutes and were able to get some buckets,” Andres said. “Reedsburg asserted themselves in the second half by attacking the basket and exploiting some mismatches. We struggled to score the ball in the second half and that made it hard to keep pace.” • Madison Edgewood 56, Sauk Prairie 36 — The Crusaders rolled past the Eagles for the second time in a week. Naomi Breunig had a team-high 13 points for the Eagles and reached 1,000 points in her career.  “Quite and accomplishment in a high school career,” Andres said.  Annika Braund added eight points and McKayla Paulkner had seven. “We had just played Edgewood (Jan. 16) and they stuck it to us early in that one and really exploited us in the paint and then at the three,” Andres said. “We had a similar start.” • Beaver Dam 70, Sauk Prairie 39 — The host Beavers raced to a 33-19 halftime lead and were never threatened. Maggie Hartwig led the Eagles with 13 points, while Naomi Breunig added nine and Olivia Breunig had seven. “We played some good halves and some good stretches in each of the games,” Andres said.” Our turnovers and shooting percentage has made it hard to score consistently on offense.   “This also puts us on defense more frequently, which requires a lot of consistent effort, communication and understanding.  We are working on replicating this intensity in practice, continuing to improve our communication and team defense as we get ready for the postseason, which is a short two weeks away.”   Jan. 23 BEAVER DAM 70, SAUK PRAIRIE 39 Sauk Prairie ……. 19 20 — 39 Beaver Dam …… 33 37 — 70 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — N. Breunig 3 2-3 9, O. Breunig 3 0-0 7, Marquardt 1 0-0 2, Hartwig 5 3-8 13, Braund 1 0-0 2, M. Paukner 0 3-6 3, O. Paukner 0 3-6 3. Totals 13 11-25 39. BEAVER DAM — Jens 1 0-0 3, Salettel 1 0-0 3, Wittnebel 7 0-0 15, Hodgson 8 0-0 18, Kuenzi 2 1-1 5, Yagodinski 2 0-0 5, Oestreicher 2 0-0 5, Stonewall 1 2-3 4, Lapen 3 1-2 7, Czarnecki 2 1-2 5. Totals 29 5-8 70. 3-point goals: SP 2 (N. Breunig 1, O. Breunig 1); BD 7 (Hodgson 2, Jens 1, Salettel 1, Wittnebel 1, Yagodinski 1, Oestreicher 1). Total fouls: SP 9; BD 15.   Jan. 21 MADISON EDGEWOOD 56, SAUK PRAIRIE 36 Edgewood ………. 28 28— 56 Sauk Prairie …… 19 17 — 36 MADISON EDGEWOOD (fg ft-fta pts) — Andes 0 2-2 2, Barth 1 2-6 4, Iglar 0 2-4 2, Deang 6 3-4 15, Grosse 2 1-2 6, Olson 3 1-1 8, Lazar 5 2-2 19. Totals 20 13-21 56. SAUK PRAIRIE — N. Breunig 6 0-0 13, Holler 1 1-2 3, Wardrop 0 0-2 0, Hartwig 2 1-4 5, Braund 4 0-2 8, Paukner 2 3-6 7. Totals 15 5-16 36. 3-point goals: ME 3 (Grosse 1, Olson 1, Lazar 1); SP 1 (N. Breunig 1). Total fouls: ME 21; SP 14.   Jan. 20 REEDSBURG 78,  SAUK PRAIRIE 47 Reedsburg ……… 40 38 — 74 Sauk Prairie ……. 36 11 — 47 REEDSBURG (fg ft-fta pts) — C. Cherney 1 0-0 3; T. Cherney 6 6-7 19; S. Cherney 5 1-2 11; Mac. Wieman 1 0-0 3; Dietz 3 0-0 8; Mah. Wieman 10 7-5 25; Benish 2 0-0 5 . Totals 28 12-16 74. SAUK PRAIRIE — Klemm 2 0-0 4; N. Breunig 5 2-4 12; O. Breunig 2 2-2 7; Holler 1 2-4 4; Hartwig 5 2-3 12; M. Paukner 2 0-0 4; O. Paukner 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 8-13 47. 3-point goals: R 6 (C. Cherney 1, T, Cherney 1, Wieman 1, Duetz 2, Benish 1); SP 1 (O. Breunig). Total fouls: R 14; SP 15.