Tosa West surges to early conference lead
The high school basketball season is long and December wins often are forgotten by the time the madness of March begins.
That said, Wauwatosa West has accomplished a lot during the first few weeks of season.
* At 7-2, the Trojans already have surpassed their win total of last season (five), and their overall record equals their second-best start in the previous 10 seasons.
* The team sits atop the area's toughest conference, the Greater Metro, with a 4-1 record. We're only about one-third of the way through the conference schedule, but for a team that didn't win a conference game last season, it's a significant step.
"A lot of people think team chemistry is overrated. It's not,” Tosa West coach Christopher Newbauer said. “There's a lot of teams I've seen with a lot of talent that don't win a lot of games or don't go far. I think our guys truly like each other and I think that is going to help us.”
This is a far cry from the team that went 5-20 last season.
Colin Hardrick, a 6-foot-4 left-handed senior guard, has offers from Grambling State and UW-Green Bay. Kai Rogers, a 6-10 center, is one of state's top freshman. The rotation goes about nine players deep and has six players in the rotation at least 6-3 or taller. Three of the four players with at least 25 three-point attempts - Hardrick, sophomore Cole Hansen and freshman Jake Hansen are shooting at least 40% from beyond the arc.
And, as they showed Tuesday in handing Brookfield Central its first loss of the season, the Trojans can play with a poise that could serve them well as they competes in the area's deepest conference and in one of the state's toughest sectionals.
Tosa West, which is ranked 13th in the Journal Sentinel area rankings, gave up a 12-point second-half lead and survived an onslaught by Central senior Andrew Rohde before beating the No. 3 Lancers (5-1) in overtime. In the extra 4 minutes, Tosa West quickly stopped the momentum shift, protected the ball and scored on every possession on the way to a 67-64 victory on the road.
“We locked in on defense. We got the stops we needed,” Hardrick said. “We held the ball. We were patient. We didn't let them pressuring us and getting into us get to us. We just stayed the same.”
Hardrick leads new-look team
Hardrick scored all seven of Tosa West's points in overtime, sinking a three-pointer on the first possession, tipping in his miss on the second and going 1 for 2 from the free throw line on each of the team's final two possessions.
That he seized the momentum was no accident. He led the team in scoring (22.4 points per game) and rebounding (5.6) last season. He is again leading in those categories with averages of 24 points and 7.9 rebounds, while raising his shooting percentage from .457 to .588 overall and .382 to .415 from three-point range.
Senior Terrance McClendon Jr., whose last-second jumper lifted the team to a 65-63 win over Sussex Hamilton on Friday, was also a double-digit scorers last season (12.2).
Most of the team's other top players, however, are either new to the school or new to their roles. Rogers, already possessing a strong build, obviously fits that category. He had 22 points and 11 boards against Brookfield Central and is averaging 10.5 points and 5 rebounds.
“What can you say about 6-10, 265,” Newbauer said of Rogers. “He's got the softest hands, finishes around the rim, grabs anything when he gets his hands on it.”
Hansen, who attended Sun Prairie as a freshman, is averaging 13.4 points and shooting 45.7% (16 for 35) from three-point range. His brother Jake, a freshman guard, is scoring 6.6 points per contest. Sophomore guard/forward Moses Long adds 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds, and Owen Smith, a 6-8 junior forward, adds 3.8 and 2.4.
Hardrick, McClendon and guard Coman Young Jr. are the only seniors playing heavy minutes.
Tosa West's only losses came to undefeated Kettle Moraine Lutheran in the season opener Nov. 27 after it led by four at the half, and to Wauwatosa East, 67-64, on Dec. 10 after losing a six-point lead in the final couple of minutes.
A rugged schedule awaits
The next challenge for Tosa West will be maintaining this momentum against a schedule that won't let up.
Next week it plays De Pere, the top-ranked Division 1 team in the wissports.net coach poll, and DeForest, which is ranked fourth in Division 2, at the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook Shootout at Concordia University.
Then it's back to the Greater Metro, where is it will face Menomonee Falls and Brookfield East during the first half of January.
“Staying together is going to be big, not letting this get to our heads, just moving to the next game,” Hardrick said. “It's one down and getting ready for the next one.”