Two Tri-County Area hoops teams still unbeaten at halfway point of season

At the halfway point of the regular prep boys and girls basketball season, the Tri-County Area has two undefeated teams and a team with just one loss.

One of those unbeaten teams has a special honor that goes with their 8-0 record.

At the start of this week E-S moved to the top spot in the Bound Wisconsin.com/Zaleski Sports Network State Media Poll. The Cardinals moved up two spots but have not played since Dec. 19 against Augusta. The current D-5 poll is as follows:

1). Eleva-Strum 8-0

2). Pecatonica/Argyle 6-1

3). Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 8-3

4). Stevens Point Pacelli 5-1

5). Webster 8-0

6). Owen-Withee 9-1

7). Lena 8-0

8). Sheboygan Lutheran 6-2

9). Marshfield Columbus 7-3

10); Barneveld 7-3

Defending state runner-up Barneveld has three losses but they've all been to schools bigger than they are: Platteville, Belleville and Edgerton and all good teams. Edgerton is ranked No. 3 in Division 3 and Platteville is No. 7. Defending D-5 champ Wisconsin Rapids Assumption has three losses too but they are to No. 1 ranked Stratford in D-4, No. 8 Bonduel and a school treble its size in Rhinelander.

Top ranked teams in E-S's sectional for the 50th WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament, which is basically all of northwest Wisconsin, are Owen-Withee and Webster.

The Cardinals are led in scoring by junior Avery Glenz at 20 points per game while junior Avaya Zwiefelhofer is averaging 11 ppg. and fellow junior Maddea Brown nearly nine points a contest. Glenz is also the Cards' top rebounder at nearly eight a game and assists at four per contest.

E-S puts that No. 1 ranking on-the-line three times next week. They host Arcadia for a non-conference contest on Monday, Jan. 5. Twenty-Four hours later they'll have their biggest challenge so far this season playing at rival Blair-Taylor followed-up by a Friday, Jan. 9 contest at home vs. Osseo-Fairchild.

Other Tri-County Area girls teams have the following records: Fall Creek 5-4, Augusta 2-8 and Osseo-Fairchild 1-8. The Thunder will look to notch another non-conference win tonight vs. Elmwood/Plum City at Elmwood with tip-off set for 6:15 p.m. Everyone is back in action Tuesday, Jan. 6 with O-F hosting Lincoln, Augusta hosting Cochrane-Fountain City and Fall Creek at No. 5 ranked Neillsville.

The Osseo-Fairchild boys hoops team carries a 6-0 record into the new year and will look to stay unbeaten hosting Lincoln on Monday, Jan. 5 at 7:15 p.m.. The Hornets are 4-1 overall and are tied with C-FC atop the Dairyland Small. O-F used a strong start last season to build a cushion sizeable to win the Large Dairyland in their first season back in the league last year and look to do the same in 2026.

The Thunder are unbeaten but it is Fall Creek who is ranked. The 5-1 Crickets moved into the Top 10 this week at No. 10 in Division 4 after throttling Cadott 66-40 a week ago. FC is at a decent Thorp squad on Tuesday, Jan. 6 before hosting winless Bloomer on Friday, Jan. 9. The Bound Wisconsin.com/Zaleski Sports Media rankings for D-4 boys are as follows:

1). Lomira 7-0

2). Milwaukee Juneau 7-1

3). Bonduel 5-0

4). Darlington 2-0

5). Marathon 6-0

6). Manitowoc Roncalli 6-1

7). Whitefish Bay Dominican 5-1

8). Iola-Scandinavia 5-1

9). Kewaunee 6-0

10). Fall Creek 5-1

All four Tri-County Area school are in the same Division 4 sectional half-bracket. There are no other ranked teams in the northwest quadrant other than FC.

Juniors Miles Schmidgall and Jackson Tangley are the Crickets' top two scorers at 18 and 14 per contest. Schmidgall is averaging 12 rebounds per contest and Tangley a team-best five assists per game.

Eleva-Strum has its best record in since the 'teens at this point in their campaign at 4-4. While they lost a non-conference contest on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at Wausau Newman they were very competitive, falling by a three-point margin at 57-54. The Cards are led by their top scores, a pair of sophomores in Cashton Kulig and Afton Flynn. Central has tough tests lined-up this week at Blair-Taylor this Monday, Jan. 5 and then at home Thursday, Jan. 8 vs. Osseo-Fairchild.

Augusta is 2-5 overall and will look to pick up some wins this week as they host Alma/Pepin Monday,. Jan. 5 and at Independence/Gilmanton Thursday, Jan. 8 at Gilmanton.