DARLINGTON — Cuba City was not in a sharing mood on Friday night.
Division 4’s top-ranked Cubans locked up the SWAL boys’ basketball title outright by defeating the 4th-ranked Darlington Redbirds, 79-69, in front of a standing-room only crowd at Darlington High School Feb. 21.
“Darlington’s got a good basketball team, but we got a pretty good team as well. I’m happy to come away with a win in a tough environment here,” said Cuba City head coach Jerry Petitgoue following his 958th career victory — and first at Darlington since 2014. “We were in foul trouble tonight, but we fought through it. I was proud of how we overcame it.”
The Cubans (20-0 overall, 13-0 SWAL) got a combined 26 first-half points from juniors Brayden Dailey and Jack Misky to build up a 38-27 halftime lead, and then used a 19-for-23 effort at the free throw line in the second half to hold off the Redbirds (19-2, 11-2) and claim their first SWAL championship title since the 2012-13 season.
“We had a few stretches where they made some mini-runs on us. You can’t allow that against a team like Cuba City,” said Darlington head coach Tom Uppena, who led the Redbirds to the SWAL title a year ago. “When you get down to them, it’s really tough to battle back. I give my kids a lot of credit because they didn’t quit. We kept coming at them. That’s one positive to take away from tonight.”
Misky scored the first five points of the night to give the Cubans a lead they would never lose, and netted the team’s first nine points to lift them out to a 9-6 lead. The ‘Birds got as close as 9-8 on a basket by junior guard Easton Evenstad, but back-to-back putbacks by Dailey and Misky and a pair of baskets by senior Brady Olson pushed the Cuban lead back to seven.
An old-fashioned three-point play by junior Carter Lancaster brought the ‘Birds back within 17-14 with 8:39 to play in the half, however the Cubans used a 15-4 run to open up a 32-18 advantage.
Dailey tallied two more putbacks and his second dunk of the half to put the Cubans ahead by 15, but free throws by junior Cayden Rankin and Lancaster in the final 88 seconds made the halftime score 38-27 in the Cubans’ favor.
“We didn’t do a great job boxing them out in the first half. Dailey killed us on the glass. That was double-digits they got off of second-chance points. You’re not allowed any room for error against them,” Uppena said.
Rankin brought the ‘Birds back within 43-35 on a 3-pointer with 13:42 remaining in the game. The Cubans answered back with a 19-9 scoring run to go up 61-44, and then went 13-for-13 at the foul line over the final 7:06 to seal the victory.
“They are all good foul shooters. We’re confident when they go to the line. My two guards (Olson and Jackson Noll) did a good job of controlling the ball in the second half. When we opened up a 15-point lead, our guards took over. It’s tough for someone to come back on us because of them,” said Petitgoue.
Cuba City finished 20-of-24 at the line, and Darlington connected on 18-of-22 free throw attempts.
“We tried to extend the game as much as possible. You have to hope that they don’t make their free throws, and they made them. That’s what good teams do. We gave it our best effort, but we came up a little short,” Uppena said.
Dailey finished with a game-high 29 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots to lead the Cubans. Olson went 10-of-12 from the foul line on the way to 19 points and he added seven assists and three steals, while Misky tallied 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks and Noll chipped in with 12 points and three assists.
Lancaster poured in a season-high 28 points while adding six rebounds and two assists. It was the second time in his career he’s scored 28 points in a game.
Evenstad scored nine of his 11 points in the first half to keep the hosts on the Cubans’ heels, and Rankin netted 13 of his 15 points in the second half to try and rally the Redbirds from behind. Evenstad added two steals, and Rankin had two assists. Sophomore Hunter Hardyman had two assists and a blocked shot for the ‘Birds.
Darlington began the week by defeating Shullsburg, 77-53 in a non-conference contest at home for their eighth consecutive victory.
On Senior Night, senior center Ross Stauffacher poured in a career-high 21 points and senior guard Michael Riley scored a career-best 10 points for the Redbirds. Carter Lancaster added 16 points and Cayden Rankin chipped in with 13 to give the ‘Birds four players in double figures.
Junior Chandler Kelly went off for a game-high 24 points to lead the Miners (11-9). Junior Brandon Hoppman added 10 points, and junior Russell Hauser netted a career-high eight points for Shullsburg.
The Redbirds will complete the regular season with a SWAL game at Mineral Point (11-9, 9-4) on Thursday, Feb. 27.
The WIAA Division 5 tournament will begin on Tuesday, March 3. Darlington received the No. 2-seed in the regional bracket and has an opening round bye. The Redbirds will begin the playoffs by hosting the winner of the March 3 quarterfinal game between Belleville (13-7) and Necedah (13-7) in a regional semifinal contest at 7 p.m. March 6 at Darlington High School.
