Low seed Augusta party crashes regional semifinals with FC, O-F
Sometimes a basketball team's stay in a tournament is so short it's hard to say they really and truly experienced March Madness.
But the Augusta High School boys team will be involved in the madness a little while longer. In fact they played a role in keeping things "mad" with their 45-43 upset of Whitehall on Tuesday, March 3 at Whitehall. in a first round, WIAA Division 4 regional tournament match-up. The Beavers were a No. 12 seed and the Norse a No. 5 and Whitehall had no problems winning the season series against them.
But that's why they play the postseason, because it gives teams like AHS, which has shown signs this season they can be a competitive team, a chance to demonstrate it. And Augusta did led by senior Bryce Buttke, who scored 12 points and who was named WHTL 102.3 FM Player of the Game. AHS led 30-24 at halftime and shot over 63 percent from behind the three-point line, making seven ttrifectas. Senior Tyler Lee scored nine points for Augusta and teammate sophomore James Shong finished with six points. Senior Isac Mooney grabbed a team-best 11 rebounds while junior Caleb Kolve made six assists. Augusta improved to 9-16 overall while the Norse finished 18-7.
So its onward and upward as far the beavers go in the tournament. Friday, March 6's regional semifinal contest pits them, against Dunn-St. Croix Conference champion and No. 4 seed Durand-Arkansaw (20-5) at Durand with a tip-time of 7 p.m. in this battle of purple. Leading the Panthers this seniors has been their pair of seniors Brett Breidung and Billy Weisenbeck. Both average double figures in scoring with Breidung at 14 ppg. while Weisenbeck averages nearly six rebounds per game and senior Ethan Mack leads the team in assists with nearly three per contest. Mooney, Buttke and fellow senior Owen Lee have been a three-headed monster for Augusta this season leading the team i.e. top three, in points, rebounds and assists, which is why they are moving on to the semis.
The winner gets either No. 1 seed and No. 7 ranked fall Creek (21-3), which had a first round bye, and or No. 9 seed Mondovi (11-14). The Buffs' upended No. 8 seed Melrose-Mindoro on Tuesday 60-53. The Buffs' top scorer is one of the top athletes at the school in sophomore Bode Falkner at 13.6 points per game. Fellow sophomore Beau Spindler averages 13.4 ppg. but its was senior Hayden Rykal who powered Mondovi to the first round regional tournament win over the Mustangs on Tuesday, March 3 by scoring 20 points. Spindler leads Mondovi with eight boards per game and sophomore Tyler Brenner has a team-best 3.5 assists per contest, showing betters days are ahead for the Buffs' with their young but talented line-up. Mondovi lost to Osseo-Fairchild 69-51 during the regular season as FC had no difficulty beating the Thunder in their match-up 63-45.
Speaking of the Thunder (21-3) they get No. 6 seed Onalaska Luther in the regional semifinals on Friday, March 6 at home. Luther, the state champs just a few years ago, may just be 14-11 this season but playing in the tough Coulee Conference will do that to a team and also get them ready for the playoffs. The Knights are led by senior Brody Greeno and Max Huelskamp, both in double figures scoring averaging 12 ppg. Huelskamp also averages eight rebounds per game and teammate junior Trent Berg dishes out four assists per contest. Berg and fellow junior Brody Pierce also average in double figures scoring as does freshman Javon Zenke. Luther had no problems advancing to the semis by beating No. 11 seed (7-18) Spring Valley 63-49 in the first round.
O-F hopes to have Noah Sullivan and Brooks Koxlien back in its line-up after the two were out with illness in the final week of the regular season. They will not only help the Thunder win the semifinal game but the potential finals match-up against No. 8 ranked and No. 2 seed Eau Claire Regis. The Ramblers had a first round bye and host No. 7 seed Bangor (16-9) in the semifinals. Bangor was nearly the victim of an upset themselves as they had to scrape by No. 10 seed Eleva-Strum (9-16) in the first round back on Tuesday, March 3. 61-59 at home. E-S sophomore Cashton Kulig had 26 points in the almost-upset effort and he finished with 10 rebounds. Junior Bo Windjue finished with 12 points and six rebounds and five assists for Central. Sophomore Noah Semingson was also in double-figures scoring with 11 points.
Regis won the overall Cloverbelt Conference championship over No. 7 ranked Marshfield Columbus last weekend in Neillsville. The Ramblers (19-5) rallied from 15 points down in the second half to win 66-59. Sophomore D.J. Cooper scored 22 of his game-best 33 points while senior Blake Risler scored 12 of his 14 points. These two along with Blake's younger brother, freshman Bennett, form the trio that leads Regis in scoring rebounds and assists this season.
WIAA Division 4 Boys Basketball Tournament Bracket: https://tournaments.wiaawi.org/brackets/Basketball/Boys/2026/2026_Basket...
