DARLINGTON — The Redbirds are back-to-back regional champs in Division 4 following a 64-42 win over 3 seed Cuba City (17-9). 

“I thought the guys had great energy all week,” Darlington head coach Tom Uppena said. “Practices were competitive, and they were locked into the scouting report.”

The Cubans were kept off the scoreboard for over seven minutes as the second-seeded Redbirds (21-5) amassed a 15-0 lead. Cuba City sliced into Darlington’s advantage to the half, but with Ryder Fitzsimons, Zeke Zuberbuhler, and Broker Buschor maintained their team’s advantage for the most part to the tune of a 25-14 lead at the half. Uppena would’ve liked to see his team shoot better, however.

“We didn’t shoot it great in the first half against Cuba City, so we made a couple minor adjustments in the second half, and put an emphasis on getting to the rim,” he said.

The Redbirds improved their shooting percentage in the second half — up from 26% (10-for-38) to 54% (14-for-26).

The Cubans surged early in the second to a 29-23 split favoring Darlington with 12:52 to play, but the Redbirds wouldn’t be denied. Zuberbuhler and Buschor hit consecutive three’s to put the lead to 10 points. By 5:20, Darlington’s lead was 17 points, and with two minutes to play, the bench saw playing time following a 20-plus point advantage.

On top of double figure performances from Zuberbuhler (18 pts), Buschor (13 pts) and Fitzsimons (12 pts), the Redbirds were relatively mistake-free as they committed just five turnovers on the night.

Seventh-seeded Belleville was the opponent two nights prior in a WIAA Division 4 Regional quarterfinal for Darlington, where the hosting squad cruised to a 72-50 win.

The Wildcats (10-16) earned the first points off a shooting foul from the Redbirds. Buschor and Dante Glendenning played a reverse card, scoring four points in 22 seconds to flip the lead for good with 34:58 of total time to play.

Zuberbuhler (25 pts) and Buschor (22 pts) led Darlington’s offensive, with the former one rebound shy of a double-double.

“Defense was the main thing in both wins,” Uppena said. “We were able to limit Belleville’s two leading scorers to five total points, and in the Cuba City game, we kept [Gavin] Vaassen to one made field goal. Just incredible effort by our guys defensively. Offensively, we shot the ball pretty well, which always helps, but we did a good job for the most part getting good looks and being a little more patient at times whenever we would have a scoring drought.”

As with last year, the regional round wasn’t the final stop for the Redbirds. Though the Sectional semifinals was in 2024 versus the same opponent, on the same court. Next up is a trip to Lancaster on Mar. 13 for a showdown with top-seeded and top-ranked Mineral Point (25-1).

“For the Mineral Point game, we obviously need to be much better than the last time we played them,” Uppena said. “They are the best team in the state, so we don’t have much room for error. We have to take care of the ball and shoot well, while being on top of our game defensively. I know our guys will give it everything they have. At the end of the day, we are playing with house money. No one expects us to win this game, which takes a ton of pressure off. We’ll play hard and give it our best effort and see what happens.”

Darlington suffered a season sweep to the SWAL-champion Pointers, first in a buzzer-beater at home on Dec. 13, 64-61, then in a less-competitive road game on Jan. 31, 66-37. The Redbirds are currently on a 9-game win streak that started immediately following their latter loss to Mineral Point.

“Consecutive Regional titles is a great accomplishment for the guys,” Uppena said. “I’m happy for the two seniors to be able to win their last game at home. Of course it means we get to play another game and spend another week together at practice. I love this team, and want it to last as long as possible.”