Eagles hope to make noise in postseason

They finished the regular season with a bang. Now, Sauk Prairie’s boys basketball team hopes to make some noise in the postseason. The Eagles rolled past Madison Edgewood, 69-44, on Feb. 22 in their regular season finale. Sauk Prairie finished the regular season 12-12 overall and 8-6 in the Badger Small Conference, which was good for third place. “We played very well,” Eagles coach Sean McGann said. “We were able to jump on them right away and never really let them back into the game. We were able to get everyone in the game for a decent amount of time, which always makes me happy.” Sauk Prairie put four players in double figures, led by Tristan Kerska’s 15 points. Kerska also added six rebounds and three assists. Nicholas Keyser added 12 points, while Breyton Wardrop had 11 points and Jackson Breunig chipped in with 10. Ben Henderson had six rebounds, Connor Breunig added five rebounds, and both Casey Brickl and Otis Andres had three assists. Now, Sauk Prairie turns its focus to the postseason. The Eagles opened the playoffs by hosting 10th-seeded Portage (6-18) in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. The winner of that game travels to second-seeded Beaver Dam (17-7) for a regional semifinal on March 1 at 7 p.m. The regional finals are March 2. Pewaukee is the No. 1 seed in the Eagles’ half of the sectional, followed by Beaver Dam, Wauwatosa West, DeForest, Milwaukee Lutheran, Baraboo, Sauk Prairie, Reedsburg, Milwaukee Marshall, Portage, Watertown and Wauwatosa East. Stoughton is the No. 1 seed on the bottom of the sectional, while Mount Horeb, Milton, Monroe and Monona Grove round out the top five seeds. Sauk Prairie defeated the Warriors, 49-32, on Dec. 12 in Portage. The Eagles then rolled to a 72-52 win over visiting Portage on Feb. 9. “We know that Portage is going to throw us something we have not seen on film, so we will have to do a good job of adjusting on the fly,” McGann said. “We will have to keep them off the glass and try to speed up the game as much as possible. We are not overlooking them because we know they are a physically tough team with some scorers. We are looking forward to the challenge.”