The end of February is upon us, which means basketball playoffs are getting started in the state of Wisconsin.
Platteville, Lancaster and Cuba City are all locked in for Division 3, but they won’t be in action tonight. All three teams earned first round byes and will wait until Friday to get going in the regional semifinals.
In Division 4, Fennimore and Darlington each earned first round byes as well. The Redbirds are in a unique position, as they already know who their semifinal opponent will be. The Golden Eagles will have to wait until the night is out to get that answer.
Division 5 is chocked full of Six Rivers Conference opponents, and all of them will play in the quarterfinals. Benton takes on No. 1 seed Argyle/Pecatonica; Shullsburg has the No. 2 seed and will face Juda, while Potosi/Cassville will face off against Belmont. Southwestern is the only area team in that bracket that isn’t from the Six Rivers. They’ll face Wauzeka-Steuben in round one.
Here is a capsule look at the area teams:
Division 3 Sectional 2B
Tonight’s regional quarterfinals — Big Foot (11-12) at River Valley (15-9), 7 p.m.; Whitewater (1-23) at Turner (16-8), 7 p.m.; Dodgeville (8-16) at New Glarus (13-11), 7 p.m.; Delavan-Darien (14-8) at Evansville (11-13), 7 p.m.
Friday’s regional semifinals — River Valley-Big Foot winner at Edgerton (22-2), 7 p.m.; Whitewater-Turner winner at Cuba City (17-7), 7 p.m.; Dodgeville-New Glarus winner at Platteville (19-5), 7 p.m.; Delaven/Darien-Evansville winner at Lancaster (21-3), 7 p.m.
Saturday’s regional finals — Semifinal winners at TBD
March 5 sectional semifinals — Regional champions at TBD
March 7 sectional finals — Sectional semifinal winners at TBD
Platteville statistical leaders — Avery Richard (17.7 PPG, 40.5% FG,5.6 APG, 4.0 RPG, 4.2 SPG); Rianna Dye (14.1 PPG, 57.1% FG, 12.6 RPG); Quinn Temperly (9.4 PPG, 31.3% 3 PT, 3.9 RPG); Soraeya Stone (8.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG)
Cuba City top athletes — Aly Ingersoll, Bethany Daughtery, Emersyn Niles, Ashley Rowe
Lancaster statistical leaders — Lexie Olmstead (23.7 PPG, 52.1% FG, 32.7% 3 PT, 7.1 RPG, 7.0 SPG); Addison Morgan (10.4 PPG, 3.2 SPG); Maddie Driscoll (8.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.8 SPG); Kylie Olmstead (7.5 PPG, 41.1% FG, 2.4 SPG)
Outlook — As it turns out, playing at a high level during the regular season does have its advantages. Take it from Lancaster, Platteville and Cuba City, all of whom are sitting pretty waiting for a regional semifinal opponent to emerge after they each earned first round byes. The Flying Arrows went 9-1 in the Southwest Wisconsin Conference, landing atop the rankings with Platteville. Lancaster also put up an astounding 15-game win streak this season. The Hillmen went 9-3 to round out their regular season, finishing with a win over the Flying Arrows that secured them a share of the league title. Cuba City also took a share of their conference, tying with Mineral Point with a 12-2 record in the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League. Both should meet quality opponents in the regional semifinals, but for now they play the waiting game.
Division 4 Sectional 3B
Tonight’s regional quarterfinals — Clinton (9-14) at Belleville (14-8), 7 p.m.; The Lincoln Academy (0-12) at Cambridge (16-8), 7 p.m.; Marshall (9-14) at Abundant Life/Saint Ambrose (19-5), 7 p.m.
Friday’s regional semifinals — Clinton-Belleville winner at Deerfield (23-1), 7 p.m.; Darlington (17-7) at Brodhead (18-6), 7 p.m.; Cambridge-Lincoln winner at Mineral Point (20-4), 7 p.m.; Marshall-Abundant Life winner at Albany/Monticello (22-2), 7 p.m.
Saturday’s regional finals — Semifinal winners at TBD
March 5 sectional semifinals — Regional champions at TBD
March 7 sectional finals — Sectional semifinal winners at TBD
Darlington top athletes — Catie Hartwig, Sydney Wiegel, Maddie Gratz, Sadie Goebel
Outlook — The Redbirds enter regional play winners of four of their last five regular season contests. They will receive a first-round bye and get to skip the quarterfinals tonight but do have the advantage of knowing who they’ll play come Friday. Scouting Brodhead shouldn’t be too difficult. Stop Alecia Dahl, the only girl on the team to average double-digit points at 20.7 per game, and Darlington should be alright. On paper, this one is as evenly matched as they come with both teams sporting near-identical records.
Division 4 Sectional 3A
Tonight’s regional quarterfinals — Iowa-Grant (4-20) at Prairie du Chien (4-18), 7 p.m.; Montello (2-19) at Melrose-Mindoro (11-13), 7 p.m.; Wisconsin Heights (3-21) at Poynette (8-16), 7 p.m.; Nekoosa (4-19) at Necedah (6-14), 7 p.m.
Friday’s regional semifinals — Iowa/Grant-Prairie du Chien winner at Pardeeville (23-1), 7 p.m.; Montello-Melrose winner at Fennimore (15-9), 7 p.m.; Poynette-Wisconsin Heights winner at Bangor (18-6), 7 p.m.; Nekoosa-Necedah winner at Luther (15-9), 7 p.m.
Saturday’s regional finals — Semifinal winners at TBD
March 5 sectional semifinals — Regional champions at TBD
March 7 sectional finals — Sectional semifinal winners at TBD
Fennimore statistical leaders — Brylie Zink (10.5 PPG, 30.1% 3 PT, 4.5 RPG, 2.2 SPG); Brooklyn Ritchie (9.7 PPG, 8.6 RPG); Kate Kenney (8.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.8 APG); Kylie Cole (8.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG)
Outlook — Fennimore finished fourth in the stacked SWAL, despite posting a 9-5 record in league play. The Golden Eagles will look to return to late season form after going 3-1 to end the regular season, falling to Cuba City by 20 points in the finale. Still, they put themselves in good enough shape to earn a quarterfinal bye, which means they’ll have extra time to scout both Montello and Melrose-Mindoro. Both of those teams were sub-.500 to end the regular season.
Division 5 Sectional 2B
Tonight’s regional quarterfinals — Benton (1-22) at Argyle/Pecatonica (19-4), 7 p.m.; Potosi/Cassville (10-14) at Belmont (11-13), 7 p.m.; Boscobel (7-17) at Highland (15-8), 7 p.m.; Southwestern (6-18) at Wauzeka-Steuben (20-4), 7 p.m.; Black Hawk (5-16) at Barneveld (17-7), 7 p.m.; Seneca (9-13) at River Ridge (13-11), 7 p.m.; Riverdale (10-14) at Parkview (13-11), 7 p.m.; Juda (5-18) at Shullsburg (16-8), 7 p.m.
Friday’s regional semifinals — Quarterfinal winners at TBD
Saturday’s regional finals — Semifinal winners at TBD
March 5 sectional semifinals — Regional champions at TBD
March 7 sectional finals — Sectional semifinal winners at TBD
Benton statistical leaders — Ries Stulka (11.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG); Paisley Williams (5.9 PPG, 7.0 RPG); Addalee Lawrence (5.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG)
Potosi/Cassville top athletes — Manhattyn Udelhofen, Norah Post, Emma Uppena, Lillie Cooley
Belmont statistical leaders — Lexi Riechers (11.2 PPG, 34.8% 3 PT, 6.9 RPG, 2.1 SPG); Carsyn Ramaker (7.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG); Brittany Taylor (6.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.0 SPG); Jaelyn Leitzinger (6.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG); Zoe Wedig (6.6 PPG)
Southwestern statistical leaders — Abigail Foley (9.8 PPG, 7.3 RPG); Morgan Rogers (9.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 SPG); Charlee Kaiser (7.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG)
Shullsburg statistical leaders — McKinley Russell (12.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.3 APG, 2.5 SPG); Hailey Alt (10.6 PPG, 33.7% FG, 5.0 RPG); Addy Woodworth (8.6 PPG, 41.3% FG); Alexis Alt (8.0 PPG, 52.2% FG, 5.6 RPG)
Outlook — Division 5’s Sectional 2B might as well have been named the Six Rivers Conference gauntlet. 10 out of 11 of that league’s teams are on this side of the bracket and four of the quarterfinal matchups will be conference battles. Benton drew the short straw after only posting one win overall in the regular season; they’ll have to face conference winner Argyle/Pecatonica. Belmont and Potosi/Cassville will battle each other in the quarterfinals in a battle of equally matched foes. Shullsburg earned the No. 2 seed in regional play and will take on Juda, a team that only had five wins this year. Southwestern is one of just six non-Six Rivers teams to be in play and they’ll take on Wauzeka-Steuben, a 20-win opponent.