Eagles hope to heat up in postseason

Sauk Prairie boys basketball coach Sean McGann knows the situation isn’t ideal. Still, McGann has plenty of faith in his Eagles as the postseason arrives. Sauk Prairie lost all three games last week and will enter the playoffs on its first three-game losing streak of the year. The Eagles, who earned the No. 1 seed in their regional, host either fourth-seeded Madison Edgewood or fifth-seeded Mount Horeb Friday in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal. “Regardless of last week, I feel very confident in this group,” McGann said. “We understand that the mistakes we made last week are now season-enders. We will continue to grow and learn from our mistakes and see what we can do in the postseason.” Here’s a look back at the Eagles week: • Watertown 56, Mount Horeb 41 — Despite 14 points from Brandt Wilson, the Eagles fell at Watertown on Feb. 8. The Goslings built a 28-15 halftime lead and never looked back. Devin Breunig added eight points for the Eagles. “Our Watertown game was as disappointed as I have been with our guys,” McGann said. “After watching film on that game, our guys saw how we threw all of our defensive principles out the window.” • Madison Edgewood 44, Sauk Prairie 31 — The Eagles had a season-low in points and fell to the Crusaders on Feb. 11. Brandt Wilson’s eight points led Sauk Prairie, who shot just 27% from the floor. “I thought our guys played harder, but we just shot the ball as poor as we have all year,” McGann said. “We shot 27% and still were in the game for a majority of the 36 minutes.” • Milton 53, Sauk Prairie 48 — Brandt Wilson had 21 points and Isaac Breunig added 11, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Eagles on Feb. 13. Sauk Prairie trailed, 23-21, at halftime and hung tight through the second half. But host Milton made enough big plays down the stretch to prevail. “Our last game at Milton was the team I recognized,” McGann said. “We played very hard and were very intense.  “We ended up missing some layups down the stretch that would’ve changed that game completely. It was a game I think we should’ve won, but it didn’t go our way. Credit to those three teams for playing hard and making plays.” Now, McGann is cautiously optimistic his team can get back on track Friday and begin its own postseason run. If the Eagles win Friday, they would host a regional final Saturday at 7 p.m. “I told our guys that regular season means absolutely nothing,” he said. “Just a few years ago we saw No. 1 seed Virginia go down in the NCAA tournament. Anything can happen and I want our guys to dream big.”   Feb. 13 MILTON 53, SAUK PRAIRIE 48 Sauk Prairie …..… 21 27 — 48 Milton ……...……. 23 30 — 53 SAUK PRAIRIE (fg ft-fta pts) — I. Breunig 4 1-2 11, E. Breunig 4 0-0 9, Wilson 8 1-1 21, Drew 1 0-0 3, D. Breunig 2 0-2 4. Totals 19 2-5 48. MILTON — Campion 10 2-4 25, Burrows 2 1-2 6, Bothun 1 0-0 2, Widner 4 0-0 8, Burdette 2 2-2 7, McIntyre 2 0-2 4, Kavanaugh 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 6-12 53. 3-point goals: SP 8 (Wilson 4, I. Breunig 2, E. Breunig 1, Drew 1); M 5 (Campion 3, Burdette 1, Burrows 1). Total fouls: SP 11; M 8.   Feb. 11 MADISON EDGEWOOD 44, SAUK PRAIRIE 31 Edgewood ……….. 19 25 — 44 Sauk Prairie ……. 13 18 — 31 MADISON EDGEWOOD (fg ft-fta pts) — Trudgeon 1 0-2 3; Hackworthy 0 1-2 1; Krantz 1 0-1 2; Newton 1 0-0 2; Regnieir 4 0-0 8; S. Jimenez 4 4-4 12; Deang 1 0-0 2; Thomas 2 1-1 5; Nwankwo 3 0-0 6; Clark 1 1-2 3. Totals 18 7-12 44. SAUK PRAIRIE — Uselman 2 0-0 5; K. Breunig 1 0-0 3; I. Breunig 2 0-2 6; L. Been 2 0-0 5; Wilson 3 0-0 8; Drew 1 0-0 2; D. Breunig 1 0-2 2 . Totals 12 0-5 31. 3-point goals: ME 1 (Trudgeon); SP 7 (Uselman 1, K. Breunig 1, I. Breunig 2, L. Been 1; Wilson 2). Total fouls: ME 13; SP 18. Fouled out: Wilson.