Division 5 Semifinal Recap: 2026 WIAA State Tournament

In a classic game that went down to the final seconds, top-seeded Reedsville of the Big East North came from behind to nip fourth-seeded Sheboygan Lutheran of the Big East South 75-72 in a Division 5 state semifinal Friday morning at the WIAA State Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison. Trailing by nine points with 5 minutes and 41 seconds left at 65-56, Reedsville used a closing scoring flurry for the ages to record the win in its first trip to state since winning the one-class format way back in 1946. The star of the game for Reedsville was senior point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1561897' first='Ben' last='Prochnow'], who gave Reedsville a 71-70 lead with 36 seconds left on a three-point play in the lane, and then came back with a transition basket where he banked in a highly contested shot that gave the Panthers the lead for good at 73-72 with 13 seconds left. He added two more foul shots after a Sheboygan Lutheran turnover to account for the final score and send a very large throng of Reedsville fans into a frenzy. Trailing by a 72-71 margin with just 20 seconds left after two free throws by [player_tooltip player_id='2224503' first='Brennen' last='Hackbarth'], who finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds for Sheboygan Lutheran, Prochnow zoomed down the court and made his seemingly impossible shot over several defenders. "I was a little surprised at the difficulty of the shot," Prochnow, the son of Reedsville coach Ron Prochnow, said in the media room following the game. "I wanted to get downhill and either finish or get to the free throw line." Prochnow finished with 26 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. The 5-foot-10 jet was all over the court from the opening tip until the final horn and, ultimately, proved to be the difference in the game. "He's a special player," Sheboygan Lutheran coach Nick Verhagen said. "I think Mccoy (Michael) was excellent guarding him tonight, but there's a reason why he leads the state in assists and was Player of the Year in our league. That kid works his tail off." Prochnow got plenty of help from his teammates as younger brother, Zach, tossed in 15 points and made three crucial three-point shots while [player_tooltip player_id='2617712' first='Arden' last='Strenn'] finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and [player_tooltip player_id='2920534' first='Jack' last='Schwahn'] contributed 15 points and six rebounds. "That was a heck of an opponent and a heck of a game," Ron Prochnow said. "You paid your $12.50 to a ticket and definitely got your money's worth. It was a great game." In addition to Hackbarth's impressive output, junior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2509476' first='Oliver' last='Leibham'] had 23 points and senior [player_tooltip player_id='2641634' first='Zach' last='Leonhard'] came off the bench to score eight points and snare five rebounds. Sheboygan Lutheran led 38-35 at intermission, but was hit with a 16-4 run to start the second half as Reedsville was scoring at a very high rate, particularly in transition and with quick hitters. The Crusaders responded with a 17-2 run of its own to take a 59-53 lead with 7:08 left. The flurry was capped by a rebound basket by Leonhard in the lane. From that point, Reedsville was able to make one big play after another while also staying undeterred as Sheboygan Lutheran also made big plays. "I think Reedsville is awesome," Verhagen said. "I was very happy we got five days to prepare for them rather than 12 hours. But I think you just watched the state championship game. No disrespect to the other two teams in Division 5. I'm sure that will be a great game as well. But it's unfortunate one of us from our league won't be playing tomorrow." Reedsville (27-3) moves on to play Southwestern (24-6) in the Division 5 title game Saturday at 11:05 a.m. at the Kohl Center. BOXSCORE Sheboygan Lutheran (38-34 = 72) Hackbarth 32, Michael 4, Schulze 2, Leibham 23, Verhagen 3, Leonhard 8, Seefeldt 0. Three-point field goals: Hackbarth 1, Verhagen 1. FT: 12-13. Fouled out: None. Record: 23-7. Reedsville (35-40 = 75) Taddy 5, Strenn 10, B. Prochnow 26, Z. Prochnow 15, Schwahn 15, McDonald 2, Christensen 2. Three-point field goals: Schwahn 3, Z. Prochnow 3, Strenn 2. FT: 11-12. Fouled out: Taddy. Record: 27-3. Southwestern 69, Prentice 65 Southwestern held off a late charge from Prentice, which played the second half without second-leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id='2629213' first='Aidan' last='Hause'] after he was knocked in the head and suffered a concussion in the first half on a loose ball, to advance to Saturday's title game against Reedsville. The Wildcats (24-6) led the entire game and made just enough foul shots down the stretch to pull out the win. After shooting just 20 percent from the field in the first half, Prentice made 43 percent of its shots in the second half and closed within 67-65 with :19.7 seconds left on a four-point play from senior [player_tooltip player_id='2412829' first='Evan' last='Lord'], who finished with 33 points and six rebounds for the Buccaneers. Southwestern and Prentice then dove for a loose ball on the sidelines, but it went off Prentice. [player_tooltip player_id='2822992' first='Carsen' last='Splinter'] was then fouled and he calmly sank two free throws to give Southwestern just its second victory in state-tournament history and first since 1988. Splinter had 11 points and nine rebounds for Prentice, who shot 48 percent for the game to help offset a 16-for-26 shoting from the foul stripe. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='2551616' first='Aiden' last='Keleher'] also had a strong game for coach Clint Nemitz's squad as the 6-foot-0 guard finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='3021816' first='Hardy' last='Hueckman'] had 22 points for Prentice before fouling out late in the contest. Southwestern posted a 38-20 edge in points in the paint in part because of the absence of the 6-foot-4 Hause, who played just 9 minutes and 45 seconds and scored just one point before suffering his injury. Hause, who averaged 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds, sat in street clothes on the Prentice bench during the second half. BOXSCORE Southwestern (26-43 = 69) Lawrence 8, A. Keleher 22, Splinter 11, DeMuth 16, D. Martin 0, S. Martin 4, Reuter 0, Foley 8, C. Keleher 0. Three-point field goals; Lawrence 2, DeMuth 2, Splinter 1. FT: 16-26. Fouled out: Lawrence. Record: 24-6. Prentice (19-46 = 65) Heikkinen 0, He. Hueckman 3, Isaacson 2, Hause 1, Lord 33, Ha. Hueckman 22, L. Jones 4, R. Jones 0, Harding 0. Three-point field goals: Lord 3, Ha. Hueckman 1, He. Hueckman 1. FT: 22-24. Fouled out: He. Hueckman, Ha. Hueckman. Record: 25-4.

In a classic game that went down to the final seconds, top-seeded Reedsville of the Big East North came from behind to nip fourth-seeded Sheboygan Lutheran of the Big East South 75-72 in a Division 5 state semifinal Friday morning at the WIAA State Tournament at the Kohl Center in Madison.

Trailing by nine points with 5 minutes and 41 seconds left at 65-56, Reedsville used a closing scoring flurry for the ages to record the win in its first trip to state since winning the one-class format way back in 1946.

The star of the game for Reedsville was senior point guard Ben Prochnow Ben Prochnow 5'10" | PG Reedsville | 2026 State WI , who gave Reedsville a 71-70 lead with 36 seconds left on a three-point play in the lane, and then came back with a transition basket where he banked in a highly contested shot that gave the Panthers the lead for good at 73-72 with 13 seconds left. He added two more foul shots after a Sheboygan Lutheran turnover to account for the final score and send a very large throng of Reedsville fans into a frenzy.

Trailing by a 72-71 margin with just 20 seconds left after two free throws by Brennen Hackbarth Brennen Hackbarth 6'5" | SF Sheboygan Lutheran | 2026 State WI , who finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds for Sheboygan Lutheran, Prochnow zoomed down the court and made his seemingly impossible shot over several defenders.

"I was a little surprised at the difficulty of the shot," Prochnow, the son of Reedsville coach Ron Prochnow, said in the media room following the game. "I wanted to get downhill and either finish or get to the free throw line."

Prochnow finished with 26 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals. The 5-foot-10 jet was all over the court from the opening tip until the final horn and, ultimately, proved to be the difference in the game.

"He's a special player," Sheboygan Lutheran coach Nick Verhagen said. "I think Mccoy (Michael) was excellent guarding him tonight, but there's a reason why he leads the state in assists and was Player of the Year in our league. That kid works his tail off."

Prochnow got plenty of help from his teammates as younger brother, Zach, tossed in 15 points and made three crucial three-point shots while Arden Strenn Arden Strenn 6'3" | SF Reedsville | 2026 WI finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and Jack Schwahn Jack Schwahn 6'0" | SF Reedsville | 2026 WI contributed 15 points and six rebounds.

"That was a heck of an opponent and a heck of a game," Ron Prochnow said. "You paid your $12.50 to a ticket and definitely got your money's worth. It was a great game."

In addition to Hackbarth's impressive output, junior guard Oliver Leibham Oliver Leibham 5'11" | SG Sheboygan Lutheran | 2027 State WI had 23 points and senior Zach Leonhard Zach Leonhard 6'2" | CG Sheboygan Lutheran | 2026 State WI came off the bench to score eight points and snare five rebounds.

Sheboygan Lutheran led 38-35 at intermission, but was hit with a 16-4 run to start the second half as Reedsville was scoring at a very high rate, particularly in transition and with quick hitters.

The Crusaders responded with a 17-2 run of its own to take a 59-53 lead with 7:08 left. The flurry was capped by a rebound basket by Leonhard in the lane.

From that point, Reedsville was able to make one big play after another while also staying undeterred as Sheboygan Lutheran also made big plays.

"I think Reedsville is awesome," Verhagen said. "I was very happy we got five days to prepare for them rather than 12 hours. But I think you just watched the state championship game. No disrespect to the other two teams in Division 5. I'm sure that will be a great game as well. But it's unfortunate one of us from our league won't be playing tomorrow."

Reedsville (27-3) moves on to play Southwestern (24-6) in the Division 5 title game Saturday at 11:05 a.m. at the Kohl Center.

BOXSCORE

Sheboygan Lutheran (38-34 = 72)
Hackbarth 32, Michael 4, Schulze 2, Leibham 23, Verhagen 3, Leonhard 8, Seefeldt 0. Three-point field goals: Hackbarth 1, Verhagen 1. FT: 12-13. Fouled out: None. Record: 23-7.
Reedsville (35-40 = 75)
Taddy 5, Strenn 10, B. Prochnow 26, Z. Prochnow 15, Schwahn 15, McDonald 2, Christensen 2. Three-point field goals: Schwahn 3, Z. Prochnow 3, Strenn 2. FT: 11-12. Fouled out: Taddy. Record: 27-3.

Southwestern 69, Prentice 65

Southwestern held off a late charge from Prentice, which played the second half without second-leading scorer Aidan Hause Aidan Hause 6'4" | C Prentice | 2026 State WI after he was knocked in the head and suffered a concussion in the first half on a loose ball, to advance to Saturday's title game against Reedsville.

The Wildcats (24-6) led the entire game and made just enough foul shots down the stretch to pull out the win.

After shooting just 20 percent from the field in the first half, Prentice made 43 percent of its shots in the second half and closed within 67-65 with :19.7 seconds left on a four-point play from senior Evan Lord Evan Lord 6'2" | SG Prentice | 2026 State WI , who finished with 33 points and six rebounds for the Buccaneers.

Southwestern and Prentice then dove for a loose ball on the sidelines, but it went off Prentice. Carsen Splinter Carsen Splinter 6'0" | PG/SG Southwestern | 2027 State WI was then fouled and he calmly sank two free throws to give Southwestern just its second victory in state-tournament history and first since 1988.

Splinter had 11 points and nine rebounds for Prentice, who shot 48 percent for the game to help offset a 16-for-26 shoting from the foul stripe.

Senior Aiden Keleher Aiden Keleher 6'1" | CG Southwestern | 2026 State WI also had a strong game for coach Clint Nemitz's squad as the 6-foot-0 guard finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Junior Hardy Hueckman Hardy Hueckman Prentice | 2027 WI had 22 points for Prentice before fouling out late in the contest.

Southwestern posted a 38-20 edge in points in the paint in part because of the absence of the 6-foot-4 Hause, who played just 9 minutes and 45 seconds and scored just one point before suffering his injury. Hause, who averaged 16.7 points and 7.1 rebounds, sat in street clothes on the Prentice bench during the second half.

BOXSCORE

Southwestern (26-43 = 69)
Lawrence 8, A. Keleher 22, Splinter 11, DeMuth 16, D. Martin 0, S. Martin 4, Reuter 0, Foley 8, C. Keleher 0. Three-point field goals; Lawrence 2, DeMuth 2, Splinter 1. FT: 16-26. Fouled out: Lawrence. Record: 24-6.
Prentice (19-46 = 65)
Heikkinen 0, He. Hueckman 3, Isaacson 2, Hause 1, Lord 33, Ha. Hueckman 22, L. Jones 4, R. Jones 0, Harding 0. Three-point field goals: Lord 3, Ha. Hueckman 1, He. Hueckman 1. FT: 22-24. Fouled out: He. Hueckman, Ha. Hueckman. Record: 25-4.