C-FC qualifies for state tournament, favored to win it

The best boys’ basketball team in the Dairyland Conference has not only qualified for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association State Tournament but it’s favored to bring the gold ball home.

Cochrane-Fountain City went undefeated in Dairyland Conference play, winning the Small Division with a 20-0 record. While most of the other teams in the conference struggled in the WIAA tournament, C-FC continued to roll in the playoffs.

That included last week when the Pirates defeated Columbus Catholic, 60-51, in the sectional semifinal game on Thursday. While C-FC may have been favored in that contest, there’s no question they were underdogs on Saturday when they tipped off against undefeated and top-ranked Royall.

The Pirates shut the Panthers down for most of the game. C-FC handed Royall its first loss of the season, 53-41, at La Crosse Logan High School to qualify for the state tournament. 

On Sunday, C-FC was awarded the top seed in the tournament. The Pirates (26-2) will play (4) Turtle Lake (21-5) at 9:05 a.m. on Friday. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the game between (2) Sheboygan Lutheran (24-4) and (3) Abundant Life Christian (23-6).

C-FC’s only losses this season came to Trempealeau County teams, though neither were in the Dairyland Conference. The Pirates fell to Arcadia, 66-54, on Jan. 16 and lost to Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, 61-52, on Feb. 17. Both Arcadia and G-E-T play in the Coulee Conference and were in Division Three of this year’s WIAA tournament. 

The Pirates are the first Dairyland Conference team to qualify for the state tournament since Whitehall accomplished the feat in 2023. C-FC last made the state tournament in 2014, which was also the last time a team from the Dairyland Conference won a game at the Kohl Center as Blair-Taylor defeated Unity, 47-32, in the semifinal round. The Wildcats lost to Dominican in the championship. 

The last DC team to win a state championship was Eleva-Strum, which beat Suring, 62-58, in the 2008 title game. 

The Coulee Conference also had a team playing in the sectional final round on Saturday, but West Salem was defeated by Wausau East, 82-45, at Wisconsin Rapids. The Panthers, coached by G-E-T graduate and former boys basketball coach Mark Wagner, qualified for the state tournament the last three seasons. 

Dairyland Conference boys basketball state tournament history:

Alma (1) – 1966 (2-1)

Augusta (1) – 1935 (3-1)

Blair-Taylor (including Blair and Taylor) (12) – Blair (3): 1931 (0-2), 1947 (0-2), 1973 (0-1); Taylor (1) – 1941 (1-2); Blair-Taylor (8): 1994 (0-1), 1998 (0-1), 2004 (0-1), 2005 (0-1), 2009 (0-1), 2010 (0-1), 2011 (0-1), 2014 (1-1)

Cochrane-Fountain City (1) – 2014 (0-1)

Eleva-Strum (5) – 1982 (0-1), 1990 (1-1), 2006 (0-1), 2007 (1-1), 2008 (2-0)

Independence (1) – 1939 (1-1)

Melrose-Mindoro (1) – 1979 (1-1) 

Osseo-Fairchild (5) – 1956 (0-2), 1957 (0-2), 1985 (0-1), 1992 (0-1), 2019 (0-1) 

Whitehall (3) – 1928 (0-2), 1986 (1-1), 2023 (0-1)