The cool ’Cats
University School pushes tempo, shows poise
The Wildcats would not beat themselves.
Sylvester Cutler spent the past two seasons molding the University School boys basketball team into a squad that pushes the pace when it has the ball and then further stresses the opponent with defensive pressure aimed at making it play faster than it would like.
The recipe made the Wildcats an up-and-coming squad in the Midwest Classic to start the season, but in order to go from contender to champion, they displayed an intangible quality that only experience can provide. Poise. “They’ve grown to a point where they don’t get rattled,” Messmer coach Ken Klatkiewicz said. “Even if you go on a 4-, 5-, 6-0 run, Coach does a great job of calling a timeout, settling them down, and these kids come out (and) you can truly see that they’ve bought into that system and bought into their roles.”
University School won its first conference title since 2001 with the help of a seven-man senior class that has led the team to victory in 12 of 13 games since mid-January. That included its
final nine Midwest Classic games, a run that helped the team go from two games out of in the race to winning the title by one game.
Tuesday the Wildcats (18-5) opened the postseason with a 102-14 victory over Tenor/Veritas in a WIAA Division 3 regional quarterfinal at home. Up next is Kettle Moraine Lutheran at home Friday.
“Our mantra has been survive and advance,” Cutler said. “We take it one step at a time. A big mantra of our program is to focus on the process, so we’re looking at it as another step.”
The victory provided a break from the month-long stretch of must-win games the team needed to capture the Midwest Classic title, a run that featured a handful of close games. It edged Heritage Christian, 59-56, on Jan. 27 and nipped St. John’s Northwestern, 83-81, on Feb. 7 on sophomore Keegan Kubicki’s jumper in the final seconds.
And in what amounted to a conference championship game, University School beat Brookfield Academy, 73-60, on Feb. 16 after trailing by eight at the break.
“The biggest thing that keeps us going is our big pull horse, the big speech that (assistant) coach (Bob) Heun gave us,” senior forward Walter Taylor. “It goes that one pull horse can pull 2,000 pounds of cement, but two of them can pull 23,000, so we think of each of us as a pull horse. We just try to push the team to victory and do it together.”
Tuesday, all the Wildcats got a taste of the action. Twelve players scored, with junior guard David Hutton finishing with 18 points and junior forward/center Grant Booth adding 16.
The team’s balance was a function of the game Tuesday — the entire second half was played with a running clock — but it has been a trademark throughout the season.
“They had like nine guys who scored against us,” HOPE Christian coach Christian Arvold said. “To be honest when you look at their stats, it’s not like it’s three or four guys.”
Six players entered play averaging at least six points per game. Five — Taylor, Kubicki, junior forward Sencere Powell, senior forward Will Koch, and senior guard Shannon Jones — have season scoring highs of at least 15 points. Sophomore guard Mike Wilson just missed that mark with a season-high 13.
Taylor, however, has been one of the team’s anchors.
The 6-foot-4 forward who entered play leading the team in scoring (16.6 points per game) and rebounds (approximately 7.5) probably played his way to a second straight first team all-conference selection this season.
He reached his season high of 25 points in non-conference victories over Ozaukee and Port Washington. His best against league competition was a 23-point night in a loss to Brookfield Academy.
The Benedictine University recruit hasn’t cracked 20 points since then but has continued to steadily produce. He has reached double digits in all but one game.
On the other end of the floor, senior guard Tim Schwieters has filled that role, taking on the opponent’s top threat each night.
The combination of that play on both ends of the floor has worn out teams and been the catalyst for what has been a season to remember. Friday night the run continues against a Kettle Moraine Lutheran squad that beat University School, 57-51, on Nov. 29.
But that was three months ago and the Wildcats have done a good job of handing out payback lately. They came back to beat Brookfield Academy and Lake Country Lutheran after losses to each in early January.
If they take care of business Friday, they’ll likely face Metro Classic champion Martin Luther on the road Saturday night.
“I thought they did a good job down the stretch,” Lake Country Lutheran coach Mark Newman said. “Most of the year the schools that were mostly on my radar were Brookfield Academy and HOPE School, but USM just kept winning games. I thought they improved all year long.”