The WIAA’s newly released 2026-27 Division 5 boys basketball sectional assignments close out OnFocus’s five-part look at statewide realignment, and Division 5 provides a tidy finish: all four 2025-26 sectional champions — Prentice, Reedsville, Southwestern and Sheboygan Lutheran — stay in the same sectional number for 2026-27.
Five Division 5 teams jump to Division 4
The flip side, already reported in the Division 4 coverage, sends five 2025-26 Division 5 programs up a level. Webster left Division 5 Sectional 1 for Division 4 Sectional 1. Washburn and Thorp, also out of Division 5 Sectional 1, landed in Division 4 Sectional 2. Cashton and Boscobel both moved from Division 5 Sectional 3 into Division 4 Sectional 3.
Sectional champions: the one division where nothing moved
Division 5 is the only one of the five divisions where all four sectional champions return to the same sectional in back-to-back years. Prentice, Reedsville, Southwestern and Sheboygan Lutheran each won a sectional title in 2025-26 and each stays put for 2026-27 — a contrast to Division 1’s De Pere-Appleton North swap, Division 2’s West Salem relegation, Division 3’s clean sweep of stability, and Division 4’s Bonduel promotion.
| Sectional | 2025-26 Champion | Sectional Final | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sectional 1 | Prentice | 60–58 sectional final | Sectional 1 |
| Sectional 2 | Reedsville | 56–45 sectional final | Sectional 2 |
| Sectional 3 | Southwestern | 64–43 sectional final | Sectional 3 |
| Sectional 4 | Sheboygan Lutheran | 64–57 sectional final | Sectional 4 |
Five teams move up to Division 4
| School | 2025-26 D5 Sectional | 2026-27 Home |
|---|---|---|
| Webster | Sectional 1 | D4 Sectional 1 |
| Washburn | Sectional 1 | D4 Sectional 2 |
| Thorp | Sectional 1 | D4 Sectional 2 |
| Cashton | Sectional 3 | D4 Sectional 3 |
| Boscobel | Sectional 3 | D4 Sectional 3 |
Three teams arrive from Division 4
| School | 2025-26 Home | 2026-27 D5 Sectional |
|---|---|---|
| Clear Lake | D4 Sectional 1 | Sectional 1 |
| Mishicot | D4 Sectional 4 | Sectional 2 |
| Valley Christian (Oshkosh) | D4 Sectional 4 | Sectional 4 |
A note on scope
Division 5 is by far the WIAA’s largest classification, with 128 schools split across four 32-team sectionals for 2026-27 — more than the size of Division 1, 2 and 3 combined. It’s also the division where co-op programs shift most often: Birchwood fields a co-op with Winter for 2026-27, Monticello and Albany have combined into a single program, and La Farge’s roster reference has been simplified from last year’s “La Farge/Youth Initiative.” Given the scale and the pace of these co-op changes, OnFocus verified the cross-division movement to and from Division 4 directly against both years’ brackets, along with all four sectional champions, but did not attempt to trace all 128 programs’ sectional-to-sectional movement with the same team-by-team precision used in the smaller divisions. Readers curious about a specific school’s path are welcome to reach out.
Regionals for the 2026-27 season are set for March 2, 5 and 6, with sectional semifinals on March 11 and sectional finals on March 13. The state tournament follows March 18-19-20, 2027.
