Old rivals FC, O-F meet again in regional semis
OSSEO - Say, don't I know you from somewhere?
Osseo-Fairchild is only just one year removed from the Western Cloverbelt Conference (WCC) and in the Dairyland Conference and no doubt they'll continue to play their old rivals Fall Creek as a non-conference foe. But the match-up, especially in basketball, may not have the same edge to it as neither team is competing for a WCC title.
Unless they're matching-up in the playoffs. Then all bets are off.
That's the case this Friday, March 7 as Fall Creek, 17-8 overall, travels to OFHS, 20-4 overall, for a WIAA Division 4 regional tournament semifinal contest tipping off at 7 p.m.
It's hard to tell the indications from the non-conference contest the two teams played back on Feb. 10 will say about Friday's regional semifinal. Both teams had played 48 hours before and came together on a Monday. FC won 66-58, recovering from the 87-41 beatdown it took from Eau Claire Regis. The Thunder were led by their top three scorers as they've season: junior Mason Schmidt had 18 points, senior Drake Swett scored 16 and senior Jack Steinke had 12 points. The Crickets' defense played a crucial role holding the Thunder well below its scoring average for the season, including a miserable 3-for-19 showing from the three-point line. Without the transition three, it will be tough for the Thunder to control the tempo of the game. That's also important when it comes to rebounds, which FC, using its size advantage, outrebounded O-F 39-28. They also had more assists (22-16) and the Thunder struggled with 17 turnovers. Both teams had three players in double figures but the Crickets were more balanced as sophomore 6-7 center Miles Schmidgall had 14 points and 10 rebounds while their sophomore guards Josh Wright and Jackson Tangley each had 17 points. If that gets repeated, more than likely FC will emerge the victory. Both teams are of equal strength when it comes to depth and Fall Creek won over O-F a year ago in the regional semis in Fall Creek.
For the first time in six years it was FC and not O-F having the first round bye in the regional tournament. Ideally, the season starts over in March and everyone is 0-0 and certainly Eleva-Strum, which had no wins in the regular season, took that hope to heart as they battled Fall Creek - Tuesday, March 4 in Fall Creek - close in the first half and a portion of the second. The Cards used an 11-8 flourish at end of the first half to only lead 32-24 and only led 39-33 in the second before the Crickets used their size and depth to pull away for a 72-44 win. Schmidgall led the way not just with 23 points and a whopping 23 rebounds against smaller Redbird line-up. Teammate, junior Cullen Kramer finished with nine boards. Tangley scored 16 points and Wright had nine as the Crickets shot 50 percent from three. Junior Evan Seidling led FC with four assists.
Fall Creek has won five in a row and seven of its last eight ballgames. While it has momentum, O-F does have some rest, having not played in a week and some positive vibes too after beating a Blair-Taylor squad at home - that was coming into the contest on a winning streak - soundly 77-61 for their best record in six years.
The winner may well have to just enjoy bragging rights for year as a regional final match-up this Saturday, March 8 at No. 1 seed and ranked La Crosse Aquinas (20-3), the defending sectional champ and a team hungry for the state title that may well have been denied them last year thanks to a last-second shot by eventual champ Mineral Point in the state semis, seems more-than-likely. The Blugolds tied for first in the big school Mississippi Valley Conference with Holmen and return the bulk of the team which competed at state last year led by junior guard Logan Becker, their leading scorer at 15 ppg, along with senior guard Trey Bahr (14 ppg., seven rebounds) and sophomore guard Calvin Bahr, who averages eight rebounds and three assists a game. The Blugolds may run a three-guard offense but they have some height led by senior 6-7 center John Veglahn and senior forward 6-4 Vince Bahr.
The WIAA Division 4 Eau Claire North Sectional Tournament will be played next week, Thursday and Saturday. One of the semifinals will be at Osseo-Fairchild. It could well be a rematch between Durand-Arkansaw and Aquinas or Eau Claire Regis, who will more-than-likely face the Panthers in the regional finals this Saturday in Eau Claire.
In playoff action from Tuesday in Division 5, No. 14 seed Augusta (3-22) saw its season end in a 56-39 loss at No. 3 seed Lincoln (20-5).
WIAA Division 4 Regional Tournament Brackets: https://halftime.wiaawi.org/CustomApps/Tournaments/Brackets/HTML/2025_Ba...
