Hyllberg leads success at Westosha Central
James Hyllberg has a simple philosophy when it comes to his captains.
“We want our captains to get on guys,” he said, “so if my captains on varsity (allow) poor play and lazy play, they’re not my captains.”
That is just part of the mentality that has allowed Hyllberg to turn a program with a modest history of success into the Southern Lakes’ biggest winner the past two-plus seasons. In 2016 and ’17, the Falcons won back-to-back league titles. This year they fell short of the crown, but with a 20-4 record have equaled their single-season record for victories and advanced to the state tournament for the first time.
The turnaround was quick but no short cuts were taken.
“No. 1 is work ethic,” Hyllberg said, explaining the key to the turnaround. “We have a lot of kids these days they might have talent, but it won’t do you any good if you don’t work hard. The main thing coming in was getting after it playing defense, stressing the fundamentals.”
Hyllberg is a no-nonsense coach who had one year as an assistant at Kenosha Christian Life and 13 as a middle school coach in Kenosha before coming to Central.
Juniors Jaeden Zackery and Dylan Anderson are the team’s leading scorers and rebounders. They also share captain duties with senior Nic Frederick. The three lead a versatile group that Hyllberg has challenged mentally by mixing in various schemes depending on the opponent.
The result has been a coming-out season for a team that is junior-laden.
“We don’t have the big, star names that other big-time teams have, but our guys are hungry, they play together,” Hyllberg said. “They’ve taken on that underdog role. The thing about my team is they don’t play scared.”