The Waunakee boys basketball team closed its strange but successful regular season by winning two of three games last week.

The Warriors had their nine-game win streak came to an end on Feb. 8 with a heartbreaking 79-77 loss to host Fond du Lac at the buzzer.

Waunakee had another game come down to the final seconds on Feb. 11 against host Oconomowoc. This time the Warriors came away with the win, 64-62.

The Warriors closed out the regular season last Friday with a non-conference game against Belleville at the Just A Game Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. Waunakee cruised to a 63-44 victory.

Waunakee finished the regular season with a record of 14-5.

The Warriors will kick off the WIAA Division 1 postseason this Friday. Top-seeded Waunakee will face the first-round winner between fourth-seeded Middleton and fifth-seeded Verona at 5:30 p.m. at Baraboo High School. The regional final will take place the following day.

Fond du Lac 79

Waunakee 77

With the game tied a just a few seconds remaining, Fond du Lac’s Jamariea Dalton put up an off-balance jump shot. The shot fell well short of the rim, but teammate Alex Rusch was there to grab the ball and put it in at the buzzer.

The game started with both teams catching fire on offense. They combined for 85 points in the first half.

Fond du Lac held a 45-40 lead at halftime.

The Warriors rallied in the second half, but came up short despite outscoring the Cardinals 37-34.

Caden Nelson poured in 26 points to lead Waunakee’s offense, while Jaxson Zibell came away with 22. Andrew Keller (13) also scored in double figures for the Warriors.

Rusch paced Fond du Lac with 24 points, while Dalton and Stephen Schreiter added 15 and 12, respectively.

Waunakee 64

Oconomowoc 62

The Warriors’ Joey Fuhremann blocked a three-point shot at the buzzer to preserve the win.

Offense was hard to come by in the first half, but Waunakee led by four points, 23-19, at halftime.

The teams picked up the pace in a big way in the second half and combined for 84 points.

Oconomowoc outscored Waunakee 43-41 in the second half.

Casey Fischer led Waunakee with 16 points, while Nelson chipped in nine. Zibell and Jack Dotzler both scored eight points.

Oconomowoc’s Jake Fisher led all scorers with 23 points.

Waunakee 63

Belleville 44

The Warriors got the job done on both ends of the court in the regular-season finale against Belleville.

Waunakee held a comfortable 13-point lead, 37-24, at halftime.

The Warriors added to their lead in the second half with a 26-20 surge.

Trey Kenas paced Waunakee with 13 points, while Devin Johnson and Quinn Whalen contributed 12 and 11, respectively.

Trevor Syse and Carson Syse finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, to lead Belleville.

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