Rollercoaster Season Leads to Madison

Based on the commotion around Whitefish Bay this week, you’d think Bay’s boys high school basketball team were the Miami Heat.

“I’m not here (at the high school) during the day, but there’s certainly a buzz at the elementary schools as well,” Whitefish Bay head coach and grade school teacher Kevin Lazovik said.

Obviously a trip to Madison for the WIAA State Basketball Tournament is a big deal, but the Blue Dukes’ season hasn’t always been the talk of the town this year. The team started the season off 1-5 as they struggled early to find their rhythm.

“We played some very, very good teams in the area and that certainly played a factor in (the slow start),” Lazovik said. “We also lost our three starting guards from last year…and that’s not easy to replace, especially at the high school level. We really had to grow together as a team and we were able to do that.”

John Johnston, Jevonte Merriwether and Alex Jamerson formed a three-headed monster last year at the guard position for Bay and helped lead the Dukes to the regional finals before bowing out to eventual state champion Catholic Memorial.

All three moved on to college this year, most notably with Johnston heading to Division III powerhouse UW-Stevens Point, leaving some early questions for the this year’s squad.

“When we lost those five games, I don’t think we knew how to play with each other,” Bay senior Ron Patten said. “We were still feeling each other out; how we play, how we shoot. Once we got that going we went on a run.”

A run might be a bit of an understatement.

The Dukes rattled off 10 wins in a row with their average margin of victory being 16.7 points. Included in that stretch of games were big wins over Milwaukee Marquette, every conference opponent except Division I juggernaut Germantown, and cross-town rival Dominican.

“It was definitely a rollercoaster season,” Bay senior Jamie Schneck said. “We started the season off rough and then we had that big 10-game winning streak, then we kind of dipped back down, and now I think we’re just on the up slope again right now so we’re peaking at the right time.”

Despite arguably having a less talented group of individuals this season, the Dukes did what last year’s team could not by winning a regional title, earning Bay a trip to Madison for the first time since going three years in a row from 1996-1998.

It’s not lost on anyone from this team how important the experience from last year’s playoff run was. In both regional games, the Dukes held off late runs by Wauwatosa West and Wisconsin Lutheran to still find a way to win.

Bay will look to continue their run on Friday as the Dukes head to the Kohl Center to take on the Seymour Thunder (23-3). Game time is set for approximately 3:15 p.m.