Augusta boys win third straight, reach .500 mark

Byron King is in the middle of his third season coaching the Augusta High School Boys Basketball Team and the Beavers have reached a point they haven't been at before in his tenure.. Not only their overall record, which, after a 76-52 thumping of Cadott in a non-conference contest back on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at home, puts Augusta at 5-5 overall. It gives them momentum going forward - forward in a three-game winning streak the Beavers are in the middle of.

"It's a big deal because we haven't been in this position since I've started coaching and it's the result of good team chemistry, hard work and things clicking into place whether it's on offense or defense and how we teach it," King said.

Augusta's reversal started with its very first contest of 2026, a big win over Alma/Pepin (4-7) at home 62-46 back on Jan. 5. That was followed by a 62-44 beatdown of Independence/Gilmanton last week Thursday, Jan. 8 in Independence. The Beavers built up a good-sized lead in the first half at 37-16 and played with it throughout the rest of the ballgame, Seniors Bryce Buttke and Isac Mooney both were in double figures for AHS with Buttke scoring 22 and Mooney 11 points. Mooney also had seven rebounds and junior point guard Owen Lee finished with six assists against the winless Indee Panthers. Augusta shot 5-0 percent from the field and outrebound I/G by a 39-22 margin.

Then came Tuesday's game which followed the same script, a big first half performance where the Beavers led Cadott (1-10) 36-16 at halftime and stayed in control from there, keeping the lead in double -digits throughout a ragged and sometimes foul-prone second half. Mooney had 19 points to lead the way for Augusta in scoring and Lee finished with 18 points. Senior Tyler Lee was also in double figures scoring with 14 points.

"We've experimented and adjusted the offense to the players we had the past seasons," King said. "But what we have now are kids who have learned well what we're trying to do, have good athletic ability like Isac who plays above the rim and have players like Owen who are really good students of the game and play their position well with the knowledge of it," King said.

The acid test for Augusta comes this Friday, Jan. 16 at Blair-Taylor. Like the Beavers, B-T was 2-5 at one point this season but now have won three straight to reach .500. In fact this marks the start of a very tough stretch of schedule for Augusta vs. teams ahead of them in standings and in record for the next nine games well into February.

"I'm hoping we can make some noise in conference play and people start noticing us," King said. "And if we continue to play well we can."

Osseo-Fairchild's first loss of the season came last week Friday, Jan. 9 at Whitehall in a rescheduled contest. It was at the trail end of a three-game week for the Thunder (9-1) and the second of back-to-back games and sure looked like it as O-F was held to its lowest point total this season in a 53-44 defeat. In a low-scoring contest William Youngbauer's 20 points stood out for the home team as he was named WHTL's FM 102.3's Player of the Game. The win moved the Norse (7-4) a half-game behind O-F in the Large Dairyland standings at 7-1 to 7-2. Osseo-Fairchild stayed in front in the LDC with a bounce-back win at home over Alma/Pepin on Tuesday, Jan. 13 by a 75-37 outcome.

Twenty-fours before the Thunder knocked off Eleva-Strum at Central by a 52-30 score. O-F's Drake Vojtik was named WHTL 102.3's Player of the Game, not so much for scoring as had just six points, but for his grate work on defense. Calvin Barneson and Noah Martinson both had 10 points each for the Cardinals as they lost for the third straight time. But like the Thunder the Cards' had a bounce-back game as well on Tuesday, downing Melrose-Mindoro (3-7) 62-52 at Mel-Min. Barneson again led the way for E-S with 17 points and sophomore teammate Noah Semingson finished with 14. Afton Flynn scored nine points. Junior Bo Windjue led E-S with eight rebounds and freshman Hunter Nicolet had a team-best four assists. E-S improved to 5-6 overall with the win and will look to reach the .500 mark too as they host Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran (1-4) on Friday at 7:15 p.m.

Postponements and such have had Fall Creek's season going in fits and starts but the Crickets are still ranked in Division 4 at No. 7. The Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports Boys Basketball Media Poll for D-4 is as follows:

1). Milwaukee Juneau

2). Bonduel

3). Marathon

4). Kewaunee

5). Lomira

6). Eau Claire Regis

7). Fall Creek

8). Darlington

9). Hurley

10). Saint Mary's Catholic Central

The action is now heating up for the Crickets (7-1) and they have responded. Last week Friday, Jan. 9 FC used a big second half effort (33-11) to smash Bloomer (0-7) at home 62-29. Sophomore Bryson Elkins had a team-high 12 points. Senior Miles Schmidgall finished with a double-double 11 points and 13 rebounds while junior Jackson Tangley had 11 points and five assists. Orin Buresh led Blomer with nine points. That was a followed up by a Tuesday, Jan. 13 win at Chippewa Falls McDonell (7-4). The Crickets again played strong defense, holding the Macks to just 13 points in the second half after they had led 25-21 at halftime. Fall Creek assisted on 17 of its 18 made field goals led by Tangley's 18 points and four assists, Schmidgall's great all-around effort of 15 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks, and four assists and Josh Wright's seven point and three assists. Brennan Loiselle-Christianson led McDonell with 11 points.

Upcoming for Fall Creek is their annual trek to La Crosse on Friday, Jan. 16 for the Midwest Players Classic at the La Crosse Center. FC will take on Mineral Point (5-3) in a 7 p.m. contest. Then it's a pair of league games next week at Elk Mound (3-7) on Tuesday, Jan. 20 and at home vs. McDonell on Friday, Jan. 23. FC is in a second place tie with the Mounders in the Western Cloverbelt Conference at 3-1 with Regis 4-0. Regis and Fall Creek do not play each other until next month so the time up to that point will be for both teams to clear out the rest of the competition for the possible one-on-one showdown for the WCC title.