In girls basketball, the Badger Challenge wrapped up with six games at Edgewood High School, while in boys basketball, there was a full slate of Big 8 action on Saturday across the Madison area.
The Badger Challenge at Edgewood provides an opportunity to see all 16 Badger North and Badger South teams in action in a crossover event.
On Friday, Baraboo edged Fort Atkinson 48-36, while host Edgewood had little trouble with Sauk Prairie, 70-52.
Saturday's Badger Challenge started off with Milton blowing past Mount Horeb 68-48. Oregon dominated Portage to the tune of 74-49 in the next contest.
Monroe got 23 points from Wisconsin Badgers commit Sydney Hilliard to pick up a key win over Reedsburg, 81-70. Both teams play in the same sectional. Watertown knocked out Waunakee 63-51 in a match-up of Division 1 teams, and Monona Grove clipped DeForest 62-55 in another big regional match-up. Top-ranked and nationally-ranked Beaver Dam blew out Stoughton 79-42 to cap off the day's events.
Baraboo was the only Badger North team to get a win in the event, as the Badger South won seven games to one, and only one game in the entire Challenge was won by single digits as the South dominated nearly every game.
Saturday night provided a full slate of Big 8 boys basketball action as well. Sun Prairie won the biggest match-up of the evening, taking down Madison Memorial 44-29 to move into fourth place. Madison Memorial drops into a tie for second place with Madison La Follette, as the Lancers blew out Madison West 82-52. Memorial and La Follette meet on Friday night in our Big 1070 Madison Taxi Game of the Week to battle for second place in the Big 8 behind Madison East, who pulled away from Middleton 64-47.
Verona topped Janesville Parker 48-37, and Janesville Craig held off a rally by Beloit Memorial to win 73-66 (recap below).
Black Hawk rallied from down 16 to tie the game late, but Darlington escaped with a 59-56 win... Lake Mills topped Sauk Prairie 54-43... Kimberly averted an upset bid by Beaver Dam, winning 71-67... Prairie du Chien topped Stoughton 46-32... Wisconsin Dells lost at the Just A Game Fieldhouse to North Scott of Iowa, 48-23.
Black Hawk defeated Eastland in their host tournament in Lanark, Illinois 60-32... Platteville took down Wisconsin Dells at the Just A Game Fieldhouse 44-33.
RECAP: Janesville Craig outlasts Beloit Memorial 73-66
Janesville Craig dominated the November meeting with Beloit Memorial 65-42, and Saturday's game at Janesville Craig High School looked to be on the same track after the Cougars jumped out to a double-digit lead early in the first half.
Led by Seve Bertagnoli's 10 points in the first half, Craig took a 37-26 lead into the locker room, having led by as many as 17 points in the first half.
The second half began with more of the same. Every time Beloit Memorial cut the lead back to single digits, the Cougars would rain in a three or go on mini-runs to push the lead back into the double digits, up by as many as 14 with just five minutes to play.
Beloit Memorial went on the offensive late in the game. Terrell Ringer scored all of his ten points in the second half, and Jaden Bell also had 10 second-half points on a game-high 18 to pull Beloit Memorial within three with just 20 seconds remaining. A potential game-tying three with eight seconds remaining rimmed out, and the Cougars hit a few free throws to close out a 73-66 win on Bob Suter Court at Janesville Craig High School on Saturday night. Four Janesville Craig players scored a dozen points in the win.
Janesville Craig will host Badger North-leading Mount Horeb on Tuesday night before their cross-town showdown at Janesville Parker on Friday. Beloit Memorial will host Sun Prairie on Friday evening.
JANESVILLE CRAIG: 37|36=73
BELOIT MEMORIAL: 26|40=66
Janesville Craig Scoring: Jack Huml 12, Seve Bertagnoli 12, Angel Rizzo 12, Jacob Lynch 12, Aaron Leverson 10, Caleb Scoville 8, Brandon Ronde 6, Jake Fieiras 1.
Beloit Memorial Scoring: Jaden Bell 18, Amariah Cook 13, Terrell Ringer 10, Markai Payne 8, Cordell France 5, Kamryn Bach 4, Kobe Chandler 4, Azeez Ganiyu 3, Cam Boyd 1.
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