A group effort carried Pewaukee
Seven players keyed team’s run to state
Lake Mills coach Steve Hicklin looked at Pewaukee's stat sheet and essentially said, "You've got to be kidding me."
”Just looking at their numbers you're like some of these have to be typos,” he said, “But then you watch the game and you're like these are legit numbers.”
Wisconsin Lutheran coach Ryan Walz, whose team lost to the Pirates three times this season, came up with a new word to describe the Woodland West rival: spurtability.
“They've got a nice combination of different types of players, players who can shoot it and go inside, guards who can shoot it and attack the rim,” he said. “To (coach Dave Burkemper's) credit they play unselfishly and that's not easy for kids of that caliber who can put the ball in the hole like they can.”
There you have two takes on Pewaukee's
boys basketball team that help sum up the school's first state qualifier in 20 years. Put the thoughts together and you've got a selfless, versatile team that sometimes does things that are seemingly too good to be true.
Two more wins and the Pirates will be able to punctuate the season perfectly.
Saturday, No. 2 seed Pewaukee (25-3) faces No. 3 Lake Mills (23-5) in the Division 2 semifinals of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse. The winner advances to the final at 6:35 p.m. against the winner of the OnalaskaAppleton Xavier semifinal.
This is the path Burkemper hoped the program would follow.
“When we took this job three years ago we predicted that this year would be a year that we started knocking on the door,” Burkemper said. “I thought
maybe we were a year away, but we had a great schedule, we got to play 28 games, so I think we improved tremendously from the first practice of the year until now.”
The Pirates, who were ranked No. 2 in the final Associated Press Division 2 state poll, are a year ahead of schedule if you believe in the power of seniors. Just one, guard AJ Hintz, is in the rotation. Instead the Pirates are anchored by three juniors — Josh Terrian, Ashton Janowski and Logan Dobberstein — who are in their third season of varsity ball. They're joined by super sophomore Milan Momcilovic and promising freshman Nick Janowski.
“We have a lot of kids who can shoot,” Burkemper said. “We have a lot of kids who are confident and they all believe in each other, so they make the right pass to get the right guy the right shot. Guys who are already good shooters, it makes them great shooters.”
Pewaukee has a lot of players who fit that category. Here is a quick look at the team's top seven scorers and their impact:
Momcilovic, 6-foot-8, wing: The Woodland West player of the year leads the team in scoring (17.3 points per game) and rebounding (6.9). He is averaging just 10.6 shots per game but makes up for it with 61% shooting that includes 50.4% (60 for 119) from three-point range.
Terrian, 6-4 wing: The team's No. 2 scorer with an average of 14.6 points takes just 9.5 shot per game and like Momcilovic is capable of scoring inside and out. He is a 54% shooter this season and is one of four players with at least 50 three-point attempts who shoots better than 40% beyond the arc.
Ashton Janowski, 6-2 guard: A sure ball-handler with a 45.5% three-point shooting percentage, he ranks second on the team in assists (2.7) and third in scoring (13.1).
Hintz, 6-1 guard: His two best games of the season came in the sectional when he scored 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting in the semifinals against Brown Deer and had 19 points on 5-for-6 shooting in the final against Wisconsin Lutheran.
Dobberstein 6-6 forward: Considering the combination of his height and weight, he is the biggest player in the rotation, but don't leave him alone beyond the arc because he is a respectable 35% from long range in 43 attempts. He averages 6.1 points and 4.9 rebounds.
Nick Janowski, 6-2 guard: Ashton's younger brother has played with no fear this season, averaging 10.9 points while shooting 59.7% overall and 58.3% (49 of 84) from three-point range.
Emmett Lowe, 6-0 junior guard: He averages 3.8 points but provides a defensive presence and, of course, can hit from long range when the opportunity presents itself. He has made 14 of his 33 attempts (42.4%).
Those players have helped the team shoot 53.5% overall, 44.5% from threepoint range and 73.5% from the freethrow line. Those numbers came against a schedule that included state qualifiers Kimberly and Wauwatosa East, stateranked Neenah, St. John's Northwestern and Brookfield East and sectional finalist Arrowhead. The Neenah and St. John's game were won in overtime and four overtimes, respectively.
It is an impressive slate that has helped the Pirates get ready for their biggest game in 20 years.
“I think it prepares your kids to know that whatever happens if they keep playing," Burkepmper said. "They keep believing if they keep doing the things we've been doing in practice, they have a good chance of coming out ahead and they're not scared of the moment."