Sun Prairie East bows out of girls basketball state tournament

The Sun Prairie East girls basketball program rode quite the rollercoaster over its two-game stay in the 2026 Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state tournament.

Sun Prairie East senior Brooke Kavanugh scored a team-high nine points in a WIAA state tournament loss at Brookfield East on Friday, Feb. 27.

The Cardinals picked up the No. 14 seed in Sectional 3 of Division 1. This earned them a home game against No. 19 seed Madison West to begin regional play on Tuesday, Feb. 24. East dominated, scoring its highest point total of the season in an 87-20 blowout.

Things were far tougher in the next round as the Cardinals headed off to No. 3 seed Brookfield East on Friday, Feb. 27. Sun Prairie East swung back to the other end of the spectrum, offering up its lowest point total of the season in a 55-25 loss to bring the season to a close.

Any thought of exiting the tournament seemed far away in Tuesday’s thrashing of the Regents of Madison West. Six Cardinals scored in the double digits, headlined by junior Ava Vogler. She knocked down four three pointers to outscore Madison West herself with 22 points.

Fellow junior Kate Dwyer knocked down a pair of three pointers of her own to finish next in scoring with 13. The Cardinals got 11 each from junior Cam Dwyer and freshman Imani Wilson as well as 10 each from seniors Kiera Place and Brooke Kavanaugh. Defensively, Sun Prairie East allowed just seven makes from the field. The Cardinals outperformed that metric from the three point line alone with nine makes from deep.

Sun Prairie East senior Kiera Place scored 10 points in a WIAA state tournament win over Madison West on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

The tables certainly turned in Friday’s challenging trip east. Sun Prairie East managed 10 makes from the field, four of which came from Kavanaugh. She made a trio from two point range and another from three to score a team-high nine points. On top of its suffocating defensive effort, Brookfield East made almost as many three pointers (nine) as it did two point baskets (10) to cruise to the comfortable victory.

Sun Prairie East caps the 2025-26 season with an even 13-13 record. This included a 10-8 mark in Big Eight conference play to place sixth in the final standings. While this was the same spot the Cardinals ended in last year’s standings, they improved from an 8-10 conference record in head coach Crystal Brandl’s second season.

Friday’s loss also brought an end to the high school playing career of Sun Prairie East’s accomplished senior class. Kiera Place, Brooke Kavanaugh, and Keira Martin had all been on the varsity since their freshman season.

Sun Prairie East will still be in good position going forward thanks to a talented junior class. Ava Vogler and the Dwyer twins have also contributed to the varsity since they were freshmen. The Cardinals also got solid minutes from underclassmen like sophomore Ella Camp and freshman Imani Wilson this winter with room for a larger role next season.

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Final regular season Big Eight conference girls basketball standings

T1. Madison La Follette, 15-3 (20-4)

T1. Madison Memorial, 15-3 (19-5)

3. Verona, 14-4 (19-5)

4. Janesville Craig, 13-5 (16-8)

5. Middleton, 11-7 (14-10)

6. Sun Prairie East, 10-8 (12-12)

7. Sun Prairie West, 6-12 (7-17)

8. Janesville Parker, 4-14 (4-18)

9. Madison East, 2-16 (2-18)

10. Madison West, 0-18 (2-22)