Don’t tell the Golden Eagles that Friday night’s game didn’t mean anything. Wisconsin Dells may not have had anything to play for with the South Central Conference title already theirs, and the seeding for the tournaments already done, but for Mauston it was still a big game. Not only was it senior night at the Mauston High School, but it was also possibly the last home game of the season for the Golden Eagles. Mauston’s only chance to have another home game is if they were to make it to the sectional semi-final, where Mauston has been chosen to be the host site for that game this year. Besides it being senior night and possibly the last home game of the season, Mauston had a .500 regular season  and conference record staring them in the eye with a loss. On top of all that, Wisconsin Dells has become a good rivalry, and Mauston was out to avenge their 62-49 loss at Wisconsin Dells earlier this season, and try to stop a long losing streak to the Chiefs. Mauston’s last win over Wisconsin Dells came back in 2004.

It was a close battle all the way through as the score was knotted up at 11 a piece after 1, with the Dells leading by 4 at the half 24-20. Then in the second half it would be much of the same with the Chiefs still leading by 3 at the end of the third quarter 37-34. Then in the fourth quarter with about 6 seconds on the clock, Joel Heesch scored what would be the game-winning basket as the Golden Eagles took the lead. Then Mauston stole away the following inbounds pass from the Chiefs to seal away the victory. After getting beat earlier in the week by a buzzer-beater to the hands of Baraboo, the Golden Eagles came up with a version of their own to end a long losing streak to Wisconsin Dells.

The Chiefs were led in scoring as usual by their two stars Justin Ward, who led all scorers with 17 points, and Nate Gibson, who finished with 15. The Chiefs finish the regular season on a two game losing streak with a 16-6 overall record, and 8-2 in the South Central Conference. They will host Reedsburg in the first round of tournament action on Tuesday night.

Mauston was led by their seniors Dustin Manthe, who had 13 points, Trever Reichhoff, finished with 11, and Jeff Erickson, who added 10 points. Also scoring was Brady Nelson with 7, Josh Wrezinski had 6 points, and Joel Heesch ended the night with just 2 points, but the biggest 2 points of the game. Mauston ends the regular season with a winning record at 12-10, and a winning conference record at 6-4. The Golden Eagles will travel to Sauk Prairie for the first round of tournament action Tuesday night with a tip-off at 7pm.