Lions win conference title; Reedsville guarantees at least a share

By David Nordby

The Brillion News

BRILLION – The Brillion Lions are conference champions.

It wasn’t easy on Friday night, but the Lions (19-3, 13-0) fought through a physical grind-it-out defensive struggle against rival Roncalli (17-5, 11-2) to win 45-33 and clinch the conference.

“It’s surreal,” senior Heath Cousin said. “It’s obviously a goal that we set out to achieve at the beginning of the year and to do it is just incredible. Words don’t do a good job to describe it.”

Brillion and Roncalli entered the game as the top teams in the conference. They also lead the conference in offensive points per game and defensive points allowed per game.

Colton Larsen scored 12 points to lead Brillion. Heath Cousin and Connor Holly each scored 10. Joe Shimek added nine and Hayden Cousin scored four.

Heath Cousin gave the Lions their first lead with 5:18 left in the first half when the score was only 10-9. Brillion entered halftime ahead 17-14.

The game was tight late into the second half with Brillion holding onto a 32-31 lead before Cousin made a 3-point basket with 4:31 left. A minute later, he converted a 3-point play to give the Lions a seven-point advantage which was enough to hold the Jets off for good.

“It was all my teammates who got me open there. On my three, everyone else was covered so it left me open. Any one of our guys would have knocked that down,” Cousin said.

Brillion closes the regular season with games at Shiocton (Tuesday, Feb. 24) and at Sheboygan Falls (Thursday, Feb. 26). With a win against Sheboygan Falls, the Lions would complete an undefeated season in the conference.

The conference title is the first since the 2022-23 group that eventually won a state championship.

Complete coverage will be featured in the Feb. 26 print edition of The Brillion News.

Reedsville clinches at least a share of title

Less than 10 miles away from Brillion, there was another celebration on Friday.

Reedsville (19-3, 9-2) clinched at least a share of the Big East-North Conference title for the first time since 2022 with a 75-66 win against St. Mary Catholic (16-7, 9-3).

The program’s all-time leading scorer Ben Prochnow scored a career-high 37 points with 12 assists to lead the Panthers. Arden Strenn scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Panthers close the regular season with a non-conference game at Chilton on Monday, Feb. 23 and a home conference game against Manitowoc Lutheran on Thursday, Feb. 26.