Eagles eek out win for Regional Championship

The Almond-Bancroft Eagles kicked off their postseason on March 7th as they hosted the Rosholt Hornets for the WIAA Regional Semifinals.
The Eagles defeated Rosholt handily in their two conference matches during the regular season and this game proved to be no different. The Eagles quickly jumped out in front with a dominating performance from senior forward Ayden Phillips and breezed their way through the first playoff game with a 66-34 victory. Phillips talleyed 35 points and 20 rebounds on the night, Brody Dernbach added 10 more points for the team and Emmitt Stiles tacked on 9. Dylan Delaet led Rosholt’s scoring efforts with 15 points and Marcus Kohl added 13.
The following night the Eagles played host to the Regional Finals where they played the Laona/Wabeno Rebels for the second time this year. In their first match of the season the Eagles dominated the game, winning 77-36. On their second visit to Almond, the Rebels were determined to play a different, more physical game - it showed.
Ayden Phillips easily nabbed the tipoff to start the game and after just a few passes Cohen Preissner drained a three pointer to get the game going in the Eagle’s favor, but that wide open shot would prove to be an exception rather than a trend. The Rebels got off to their own hot shooting streak directly afterwards and began hounding the Almond-Bancroft boys on defense, blocking passing lanes and making sure to interrupt every attempt to reach the basket. By midway through the first half things were starting to look dire for the Eagles as they struggled to score and fell behind as far as 13 points. Eventually they managed to battle their way back and with just minutes to go in the half Brody Dernbach found a rare opening as Rebels freshman Carson Lemerande stumbled on defense, just long enough to fire off a three pointer and retake the lead for the first time since the opening seconds of the game. At halftime the score was tied at 28.
The second half played out every bit as intensely as the first; with players frequently finding themselves on the floor or in the bleachers and punctuated by frequent lead changes and corresponding cheers from opposite sides of the gym. With less than two minutes remaining in the game the Eagles had managed to scrape their way to a 6 point lead, prompting a Rebels timeout. Try as they might, the Rebels couldn’t make up the difference on either end of the court and the game ended with the Almond-Bancroft Eagles as 2025 Regional Champs, winning 56-50.

Ayden Phillips turned in his second consecutive Double-Double of the postseason with 29 points and 14 rebounds and Brody Dernbach added 16 points of his own to push the team to victory. The Rebels were led by Canton Chrisman with 20 points, followed by Cooper Albrecht with 15 and Walker Winkelman with 11.
This win advances Almond-Bancroft to the WIAA Sectional Semifinals, they’ll play at Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids at 7pm on March 13th where they’ll face their conference rivals the Pacelli Cardinals for the third time this season. The Eagles swept Pacelli during the regular season and will be looking to pull off the hat trick for the right to play for the Sectional Championship on Saturday, March 15.