As the Xavier boys’ and girls’ basketball team’s regular season comes to an end, the postseason begins. Both teams have been preparing for this all season. They have worked hard and built team chemistry and now is when they get to see it all pay off. Both teams have high hopes of making it to the state tournament.

The boys’ team finished their regular season with a 10-11 record. On Tuesday, February 14, the Saints beat Dubuque Wahlert Catholic on senior night, with a score of 71-52. The team’s five seniors: Bryce Schulte, Max Johnson, Nolan Butkowski, Max Techau and Spencer Dempewolf, were recognized before the start of the game. Their post season began Monday, February 20, as they played against Dewitt Central, at Mount Vernon, in the district semifinal.

“We’ve worked hard throughout the season knowing that the postseason is the most important time,” Butkowski said. “We’ve always had our sights set on that. I feel good as we have started clicking as a team on the court. We have always been close, but recently we’ve been able to start playing more as a team and trusting in each other.”

The girls’ team finished their regular season with a 15-6 record. The girls are on a nine game winning streak, including their first Regional semi-final game. They have been working on new plays that no one has seen before, in order to prepare for their postseason games.

“We’ve been practicing harder and learning new plays that other teams haven’t seen yet. We feel confident and we are really excited to see how far the team can go,” sophomore post Emily Jasper said. “We have gotten a lot closer as a team since the beginning of the season and that really helps us on the court.”

The girls won their first Regional semi-final game on  Saturday, February 18 against Clear Creek-Amana, with a score of 55-33. They played in the Regional final game on Tuesday, February 21 against Waverly-Shell Rock in the Ron Thillen Gymnasium at 7:00 p.m.

Hannah Williams 

Sports Writer