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Without Showalter, Germantown boys rally for win over Whitefish Bay
By Steven L. Tietz
Jan. 23, 2015 10:36 p.m.



After his team rallied from an eight-point first quarter deficit to pull out a 67-53 North Shore Conference boys basketball decision over a feisty host Whitefish Bay squad, interim Germantown coach Mark Adams first words out of his mouth were:

"I was just glad I could call him and give him the right message (about a victory)," he chuckled.

"Him" being veteran Warhawk coach Steve Showalter, who was laid up all this week while fighting some setbacks in his recovery from some recent arthroscopic knee surgery.

Showalter has fought this same battle against blood clots before and so carefully took the week off as Adams and other assistants ran practice and prepared the Warhawks for the Blue Dukes.

"The same system, the same offense, the same defense," said senior tri-captain and shooting guard Brian Studer. "The same results expected too."

With the win, the second-ranked in state Warhawks improved to 8-0 in North Shore Conference play and 13-0 overall, while Bay fell to 5-3 and 8-6, respectively.

Adams, less than a season removed from his retirement after a long and successful run at Brookfield Central, stepped back into the lead chair with Showalter's blessings.

"He wasn't here all week," said Adams, "so I asked the three tri-captains (Studer, Dwayne Lawhorn, Jr., and Kyle Theis) to help out (with leadership and organization) and they did great. There were no slip-ups. It felt like the same intensity."

"By the end of the week, it didn't feel like any difference whatsoever," said Studer.

Only it didn't feel quite like that at the beginning. The Blue Dukes threw a testy 2-3 halfcourt zone defense at the Warhawks and they had a hard time adjusting, never leading in the first half, and trailing 12-9 at the first quarter break.

After Blue Duke guard Elijah Moore 3-pointer at the 6:46 mark of the second period, Bay had its largest lead of the game.

A late 3 by the Blue Dukes' Zach Casey helped keep Bay up 27-23 at the half. Bay's zone forced Germantown into two of 13 shooting from 3-point range in the first half which led to many run-outs and easy lay-ups.

"We went backwards a lot instead of penetrating the gaps (in the zone)," said Adams. "We had to make an adjustment in the third quarter."

It involved Adams yelling "short corner, short corner" a great deal, as Lawhorn shifted to the baseline and Max Keefe went out on the perimeter. Along with Studer, who would hit five 3-pointers this night en route to 15 points, that gave the Warhawks three strong shooters on the perimeter, said Adams.

The Bay lead could have been larger, but the Blue Dukes hurt themselves by missing all five of their first half free throw attempts. All told, they were only four of 12 on the night.

"Those were some of the opportunities we missed," said Bay coach Kevin Lazovik.

The tone of the third quarter was set early as Germantown forward Kyle Theis took a charge wiping out a basket by Bay's Miles Sigh on the first possession. Bay still clung to the lead for most of the period, but the Warhawks turned up the defensive intensity.

When Studer hit a 3 from the wing with 49 seconds left in the third, Germantown had its first lead of the night at 38-36. Sigh hit a driving lay-up to tie the score with just nine seconds left in the period, but Lawhorn Jr. was fouled with just 1.7 seconds left on the clock.

It put the Warhawks in the bonus for the rest of the way and when Lawhorn Jr. hit the two throws, Germantown went into the fourth with a 40-38 lead.

The Warhawks would never relinquish it.

Germantown's offense finally shifted into gear early in the fourth as it rattled off a 7-0 run to make it 47-38 with 6:07 left. Studer punctuated the effort with his last 3 of the night.

Bay pulled to within five twice, the last time on a Casey floater with 3:46 left, but Germantown would get a big three-point play from point guard Juwan McCloud and that would effectively be the game.

Germantown, which also battled foul trouble to center Thomas Schnoor and Theis, would hit an impressive 21 of 24 free throws in the second half including 16 of 18 in the fourth quarter.

The Warhawks would finish 24 of 29 for the game from the line, as Keefe hit 10 of 12 attempts.

Lazovik was understandably frustrated by the finish.

"We had some good looks and decent opportunities but we couldn't make a shot when we really needed one," he said. "Juwan (McCloud) also did a better job of penetrating the lane for them in the second half and he made some very good passes too.

"We just need to get over the hump (against good teams)," he added. "Sometimes we repond well when we're challenged and sometimes we don't"

Sigh led the way for Bay with 14 points while Casey and Moore had 11 apiece and Jaren Walker nine.

Showalter must have been pleased. Earlier in the day he sent encouraging texts to all the players telling them he loved them and that they could succeed.

Aside from Studer, Germantown was led by by Keefe with 17, McCloud with 14 and Theis with nine. Balance remains the key for Germantown.

"Every night the coaches say 'you never know where the ball is going to land (who will step up),'" said Studer. "...Even without coach, we felt confident."

Adams was glad for that trait.

"The guys were all super coachable this week," he said. "No one wanted this (Showalter being out). We all wanted him out there. ...We were just very pleased with this. At this level you have to be able to make adjustments and these guys could make one in the space of a one-minute time-out.

"That says a lot about them."