GALENA — The Cuban girls continue rolling in the accolades as their head coach, Jason Derby, got his 100th win with the program in his fifth season with a 41–23 win at Galena on Dec. 22.
The speedy advance to the triple-figure win total shouldn’t come as any surprise, however. Following a first year record at 18–9 that saw a postseason exit in a regional final in 2021, Derby’s squads had 25-win seasons in each of the next three seasons that included a progressively better finish each year. In 2022, Cuba City enjoyed a sectional final, followed by a state runner-up a year later, before finally winning a state championship in 2025. The Cubans also won or co-titled the SWAL in each of the latter three seasons while taking runner up in his freshman campaign at the helm.
"100 wins is a reminder of what a great job the girls have done in those years," said Derby. "They should be proud of what they accomplished and how they accomplished it in those seasons."
Win 100 was well in hand by the break for Cuba City (7–3), who threatened to hold the hosting Pirates to under double figures over the opening 16 minutes. A Galena bucket on an offensive rebound ensured it earned 10 points going into the half, but an Ali Morovits three beat the buzzer to mark a 25–10 lead for the Cubans as both teams grabbed a breather.
Cuba City came out of the break slowly, letting the Pirates climb to a 10-point gap. A pair of Aly Ingersoll free throws tailed by a Savannah Kreger steal-and-score in the span of 16 seconds in the third period had other plans. Any thoughts of a loss were released as the Cubans closed the game on a 12–8 run.
Morovits led scoring with 13 points ahead of Ingersoll (10 points) and Ashley Rowe (6 points), though Rowe led the team in both assists (6) and steals (5). Kreger paced all Cuba City ballplayers with seven on the night.
"Galena is a strong program that is just really young right now," said Derby. "We were able to win on a poor shooting night, and some of that was due to offensive rebounding. We had 23 more shot attempts and 6 more free throw attempts, which can fix a lot of things. Savannah Kreger had seven rebounds for us, five of those offensive."
