Norskies fall 62-53 to Waunakee in regular season finale

In the blink of an eye, the 2025-26 regular season has come to a close, as the Waunakee Warriors boys’ basketball team held off the DeForest Norskies 62-53 on Thursday, Feb. 26, at Waunakee High School.

With Waunakee’s win Thursday night, the Warriors earned a share of the Badger-Large Conference with Beaver Dam, finishing with a 10-4 record against conference foes.

For Waunakee, there were plenty of unknowns entering the season, considering they lost a substantial chunk of last year’s team that reached the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) State Semifinals.

Despite this, Waunakee head coach Tyler Selk was proud of how his team withstood the rollercoaster of a four-month season, enduring the ups and downs, the adversity, and the triumphs that came along with it.

“I’m really proud of the kids, our seniors were unbelievable tonight, big play after big play,” Selk said. “They played fearlessly. That’s what we asked them to do: to be fearless competitors. Tonight was a great example of that.”

But DeForest was certainly no pushover, having beaten Waunakee by 25 points last month, and having taken their last three opponents — Oregon, Monona Grove and Waunakee — down to the wire each time.

And the same theme transpired Thursday night, as DeForest took an 11-1 lead early, fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from senior Brooks Ohmen and a tenacious defensive effort in the half-court.

Despite a pair of three-pointers from Waunakee senior guard RT Thompson, DeForest would continue to hold onto its lead, 18-9, before the Warriors responded with a 15-0 run.

In that run, it was junior Wes DuCharme who had the hot hand from deep, scoring three consecutive triples to help Waunakee take a 23-18 lead with under four minutes to go.

But DeForest’s defense would settle back in, holding the Warriors to just two more points the rest of the half to trail 25-23, when Norski sophomore Michael Allen scored on a layup as the final seconds of the half ticked away.

The Norskies’ fight at the end of the first half earned high praise from head coach Eric Stewart.

“I thought the way that we responded at the end of the first half showed our ability to not back down for anything,” Stewart said.

As second-half action unfolded, the Warriors opened up with a quartet of timely three pointers, one coming from Wes DuCharme, two coming from senior guard Benton Cralam and the other coming from RT Thompson in transition to take a 13-point lead over the Norskies, 45-32.

Coach Tyler Selk felt that the Warriors’ balance was the difference maker in the second half — from their starters to their bench — en route to 13 made three pointers on the evening.

“Everybody had a job to do, everybody executed the plan,” Selk said.

But DeForest would respond, trimming the deficit to just seven points, 47-40, after a triple at the top of the key from junior guard Knox Wood.

While Waunakee would stretch the lead back to double digits, DeForest responded once again, this time, getting within two possessions after a pair of free throws from Brooks Ohmen to trail 52-46 with under four minutes to go.

One minute later, the Norskies would again see themselves down double digits before scoring a flurry of points — including a triple from senior guard Collin Paskey and a fastbreak steal from junior forward Aidan Nolan — to trail 57-53.

While DeForest continued to get good looks down the stretch, the couldn’t connect to pull within one possession as the Warriors took advantage of their free-throw opportunities down the stretch, closing the regular season with a nine-point victory over DeForest.

“Those are shots that we like our guys taking and have confidence in our guys taking, but just couldn’t get it to fall,” Eric Stewart said. “But we absolutely battled to the end and put ourselves in position to still flip the switch of the game late in the second half.”

For Waunakee, junior Wes DuCharme led the Warriors in scoring with 25 points, while RT Thompson also landed in double figures with 12 points, all coming from three. Senior Benton Cralam chipped in with nine points, scoring all nine points in the second half from behind the arc.

For DeForest, Brooks Ohmen paced the Norskies offensively with a team-high 20 points, while Michael Allen had eight points. Junior center Liam Schloemer and Collin Paskey each had six points apiece.

Playoffs up next

Now, it’s officially playoff time for both squads.

DeForest enters the postseason looking to build momentum. Despite a sub-.500 record, the Norskies boast a positive point differential of +1.5, according to Bound Wisconsin.

DeForest received the No. 7 seed in Sectional No. 3 of the Division 2 bracket. They will host No. 10 seed Watertown in the regional quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 3. If DeForest wins, they will play No. 2 seed Beaver Dam in the regional semifinals on Friday, March 7.

Meanwhile, Waunakee, now 18-6 overall on the season, received the No. 4 seed in Sectional No. 3 of the Division 1 bracket.

The Warriors will host No. 13 seed Mukwonago on Friday, March 6, in the regional quarterfinals. If Waunakee wins, they will await the winner of No. 5 seed Middleton or No. 12 seed Janesville Craig. Because Waunakee is the higher-seeded team, they will host that matchup on Saturday, March 7.

Note: All games are listed for 7 p.m.

Editors note: This article will appear in both the Tribune Entperise and The Star.