Barneveld boys win Regional Championship 73-50 over St. Ambrose Academy

By John Dalton

With the Barneveld girls’ team winning the Sectional Championship earlier in the day, it was only fitting that the host Barneveld boys’ team won the Regional Championship that evening, which they did, with an impressive team effort 73-50 over St. Ambrose Academy.  

Four Golden Eagle players scored in double figures in front of a large crowd at Barneveld.  It was close early as St. Ambrose’s Adam Sturm hit a corner 3-point shot leaving the Eagles with a one-point lead, 10-9.  But Barneveld made it 19-9 in a jiffy, Ty Thousand cashed in on a 3-point shot, which was followed by Hunter Larson and Cooper Shipman connecting on buckets.  Thousand hit another leaning shot in the lane for the 10-point lead.  

Barneveld increased their lead later in the half after Thousand and Larson each connected on corner 3-point shots.  After a bucket by St. Ambrose’s Michael Schmiesing, Judson Poad knocked down a 3-point shot and Barneveld cruised to a 42-19 halftime lead.  

The Eagles connected on eleven 3-point shots on the night and were never threatened.  The 23-point first half margin is the same margin as the game ended.  Larson hit four treys and led his team with 18 points.  Mason Durst and Thousand were next with 15 points each, and Poad tossed in 13 points.  Sturm led St. Ambrose with 14 points. He also hit four treys.  

“We’ve been in this spot a couple different times and I’m so proud of our boys. They put in so much work this summer. It’s a hungry group, this has been there goal to win a regional championship and hopefully there’s more to go, but this was one of their goals and I was really happy with the way they played tonight,” said Barneveld Head Coach Tyler Sullivan after the game.  

“We had a shoot around this morning, then we went to the girls game, a similar situation as last year, and last year I’m not quite sure how their focus was, but they were locked in the moment we left for the girls game this morning. I think the girls game gave us some big momentum this afternoon, This group was locked in,” he said.  

With both the girls and boys winning their respective championships, Sullivan said it says a lot about the community.  “Obviously we have a bunch of kids that get after it and love basketball, but we have an awesome town that loves to support people.  It’s pretty awesome.  It’s the loudest I’ve heard at this gym since I’ve been here, it’s pretty cool.  It was a great game and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do next week” he said.  

Barneveld, who won the Six Rivers-East conference title outright with a 17-1 record (22-5 overall), now adds a Regional Championship to their 2025-26 season.  They advance and will play Abundant Life Christian (21-6) in a sectional semi-final game Thursday night.  The game will be played at Sun Prairie East High School.  Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. 

For video highlights of Barneveld’s victory over St. Ambrose, check out The Dodgeville Chronicle Facebook page.  

Box Score

Barneveld                 42 – 31 – 73

St. Ambrose Academy 19 – 31 – 50

Barneveld (fg-ft-tp); Hunter Larson 6-2-18, Mason Durst 6-2-15, Ty Thousand 6-1-15, Judson Poad 5-0-13, Cooper Shipman 2-0-4, Konnor Jasinski 1-1-4, Brigham Shauff 1-0-2, Liam Genrich 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Larson 4, Poad 3, Thousand 2, Jasinski 1, Durst 1.

St. Ambrose Academy (fg-ft-tp); Adam Sturm 5-0-14, Michael Schmiesing 5-2-12, Nathan Pietrzykowski 4-0-8, Damien Hebert 1-4-6, Isaac Moreland 2-0-5, Efram Carvajel 1-0-3, Grayson Sabbarese 0-2-2.

3-pointers; Sturm 4, Moreland 1 Carvajel 1.