Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team drops two of three

It was an up and down week for Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team. The Eagles fell to Lodi, 61-52, on Jan. 30. Sauk Prairie rebounded with an 80-70 win over McFarland on Feb. 2. The Eagles then lost to La Crosse Central, 64-51, last Saturday. Sauk Prairie is now 10-8 on the year and 6-3 in the Badger Small Conference. Here’s a recap of the Eagles’ week. • Lodi 61, Sauk Prairie 52 — The host Eagles led, 25-23, at halftime. But Lodi opened the second half on a 15-0 run and never looked back. Nicholas Keyser and Tristan Kerska both had 16 points to lead Sauk Prairie, while Breyton Wardrop had eight points and Connor Breunig had seven rebounds. “The Lodi game was one we felt like we should’ve had, but (their) run to start the second half was too much for us to overcome,” Sauk Prairie coach Sean McGann said. “That on top of shooting our worst percentage from the year was a recipe for a tough night.” • Sauk Prairie 80, McFarland 70 — Tristan Kerska erupted for 22 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Breyton Wardrop added 20 points and eight rebounds to power the Eagles past the Spartans. Ben Henderson chipped in 13 points and Nicholas Keyser had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. “The McFarland game was one we challenged our guys to make offensive players uncomfortable,” McGann said. “We applied ball pressure all game and forced them into 20 turnovers.” • La Crosse Central 64, Sauk Prairie 51 — The Eagles trailed just 29-26 at halftime. But Central outscored Sauk Prairie, 35-25, in the second half. “We tried to do this same thing to La Crosse Central, who also has that same mindset and they just did it at a higher level than us,” McGann said. “They are a great program, so this was good for our guys to see.” • On deck: The Eagles were at Mount Horeb Tuesday, then host Portage Friday at 7:15 p.m. and travel to Lake Mills Saturday at 2:30 p.m. “It doesn’t get any easier this week with two top 10 teams (Mount Horeb and Lake Mills) in the state in their respected divisions,” McGann said. “We will keep trying to get better as we make a push towards the end of the season.”