The River Falls Wildcats begin their first practices this week, and they are looking to get back in the winner circle after a three-year hiatus.

The Wildcats boys’ basketball program has been amongst the cream of the crop for a long time. This will be Zac Campbell’s 11^th season as head coach, and he has built the program into a perennial contender. Over the last six seasons, the Wildcats have finished third, first, second, first and second in the conference before dropping back to third last year, their worst finish since 2017.

“Our program prides itself on our consistency over time while promoting our athletes to enjoy their full high school experience through other sports while committing the time necessary to uphold the standards of our program,” Campbell said. “We have found success in this both through our athletes' enjoyment of the full high school experience as well as our performance on the court in finishing in the top three in our conference for seven consecutive years.”

Campbell said he fully expects the Wildcats to finish as good or better than they did a season ago. 

“Our goal, as always, is to commit to each other and grow throughout the year. We are fortunate to bring back four starters this year who have done a great job of leading our culture. We hope this gives us a chance to compete with the teams at the top of our league despite being in the smaller half of the schools in our conference in terms of enrollment,” Campbell said.

The Wildcats squad is fortunate to return some key pieces from last year’s team that took third place in a difficult conference. Joey Butz, who is a 6'1” senior, was the only underclassman to make first team all-conference in the Big Rivers last year. Campbell said his leadership and work ethic are amongst some of the best they've ever had in the program and look to him to continue to develop as a leader and a player. 

Eli Johnson, who is a 6'6” junior, and Preston Johnson, who is a 6'2” junior, were both honorable mention all-conference players last year and will be vital pieces for River Falls this season as well. Coach Campbell said Eli Johnson's physical presence will be amongst the top in their league while they will look to Preston Johnson to control tempo for them on both the offensive and defensive ends.

Campbell said their expectation is to win every day and allow their commitment to the process and each other to ultimately determine their wins and losses at the end of the season. 

“I've loved the leadership and purpose the boys have had in our open gyms the past couple of weeks,” Campbell said. “We have a lot of development that needs to take place in the first month of the season to allow us to be at our best come mid-January. Having so little time to gel together as a team and with so many of our role players lacking any varsity experience, the process will take some time for us to be at our best.”

The season begins for the Wildcats on Friday, Nov. 30 when they will travel to La Crosse to play the Riverhawks.

Wildcat girls basketball

The River Falls girls’ basketball team will play their first official game this week as the preseason practices and scrimmages come to an end.

Head Coach Ian Sticht, who is entering his 11^th season with the team, likes what he’s seen so far.

“We have had a really good first week of practice. Players are buying into some changes we made to bring more energy to practices and games,” Sticht said. “We are a team that brings back five seniors who have all been on varsity for two or three years and they are focused on being more competitive in the Big Rivers. We feel that we can finish in the top three this year.” 

That top three finish has eluded the Wildcats since their remarkable 2019 season when they went 20-4 overall, 11-1 in the conference and took home the Big Rivers championship. Since then, they’ve finished sixth three consecutive years. Sticht is confident in River Falls’ veteran talent they’re bringing back this year though, and he hopes they can recreate some of that 2019 magic.

“Keyah Strop has been a varsity starter since she was a freshman and is really looking to take another step forward before she heads to UW-Oshkosh to continue her basketball career. She has always been a defensive-minded player and a great leader. Keyah has put in a ton of work in the gym to be a more consistent outside threat,” Sticht said. “Hayley Quinn, a sophomore, is another player who has put in so much work. She was a lockdown defender last year, and we are looking for her to be a more consistent offensive threat this year.”

A return to form could be in the cards for the Wildcats this year, and the wait to find out is just about over. The season begins this week when River Falls will host the Ellsworth Panthers on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.