Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 19, 2015
Germantown: 2008, 2009, 2012-present
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
All Steve Showalter could remember after Germantown defeated
Milwaukee Vincent in a sectional final in 2008 at the Al McGuire Center in
Milwaukee was he dropped to his knees and maybe cried.
That part is sketchy in Showalter’s memory. However, he
wouldn’t be surprised if he did.
The victory propelled the Warhawks to the program’s first
appearance in the WIAA boys basketball state tournament.
“Just the fact we were finally able to knock off mighty
Vincent,” Showalter said. “We had good teams before that, but we just couldn’t
get past them. In 2008, we were finally able to win a game and that was huge.”
Vincent was one of the powers of southeastern Wisconsin
under the direction of coach Tom Diener at that time. After all, the Vikings
won state titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and again in 2000 and 2001.
If a Division 1 team from southeastern Wisconsin wanted to
go to state, more often than not, it had to beat Vincent.
“It was such a monumental task to knock them off,” Showalter
said.
“We’ve had some big wins,” Showalter said when asked if
beating Vincent in the 2008 sectional final is biggest of his career. “That
would be one of the top because we finally got over the hump.”
Germantown won that game in 2008 with some luck, as Vincent
was on the free-throw line, trailing by two points. Vincent made the first
free-throw, but missed the second.
From there, Germantown boys basketball was for real. Germantown
wasn’t known as solely a football school.
“I remember after the team came out of the locker room and
they laid in the middle of the court and looked up at the ceiling,” said Jake
Showalter, Steve Showalter’s son and was in sixth grade at the time.
❑
2008: The Warhawks finally do it
After losing to Milwaukee Vincent in the 2007 sectional
final, Steve Showalter liked what he had back in 2008, attempting to get the
Warhawks to the state tournament for the first time.
“We had pretty much depth at every position,” Showalter
said. “We had veterans, kids that had been on varsity for two or three years.
“We had an incredible point guard and Ben Averkamp. He was
the best big man in Wisconsin at that time.”
Showalter was confident in the 2008 team from the beginning
because most of the players who were on the 2007 team were coming back.
“We had a chance to be really good,” Showalter said.
Peter Studer was one of the players on the 2008 team after
spending the previous season on junior varsity.
“It was an efficient team,” he said. “It was the first time
that Germantown was able to put it together all across the board. We were able
to beat teams a lot of ways.”
Like Showalter, Studer and his teammates felt good about the
2007-08 team.
“We were just building blocks from one year to the next,”
Studer said.
Averkamp, who went on to play basketball at Loyola in
Chicago and left Germantown as the school’s all-time leading scorer, was the
team’s leading scorer that season as a junior. He averaged 15.9 points and 8.3
rebounds per game going into the tournament.
Rick Bowers, a senior guard, was second on the team in
scoring (14.9 points per game), and Nick Doedens, a senior guard, was third
(12.7).
At state, the Warhawks lost to Oshkosh West, 66-63, in
overtime.
❑
2009: A change of attitude
Studer admitted expectations changed after the Warhawks’
first trip to state.
“There was high expectations,” he said. “We lost in the
first round (at state). It was one of the building blocks. The next year, we’d
take it a step further.”
For Studer, this season had a new meaning. He was a senior
and a captain. Plus, his younger brother, Jack, a junior, was also on the team.
“For me that year, it was the complete team experience,”
Peter Studer said. “My younger brother was on the team. I was good friends with
all of them. A lot of great memories.”
While new to the team, Jack Studer knew what the goal was.
“We expected to get back to state,” he said. “We wanted to
do better than we did the previous year.”
And it looked as if the Warhawks were going to cruise back
to the Kohl Center in Madison. That was until they played Port Washington in
the third-tolast regular season game before the regional.
The Warhawks lost to the Pirates, who were led by current
University of Wisconsin star Josh Gasser, 47-46.
It was the Warhawks’ second loss of the season, having lost
to Whitefish Bay three games earlier. Those two losses cost Germantown the
North Shore Conference championship.
“We were a little complacent and it caught up to us that
night,” Studer said.
The 2008-09 team wasn’t as talented, Showalter said.
“There were question marks,” he said. “We lost four seniors;
we had to replace four really good seniors. There were concerns, but we knew we
were good and big inside.”
Averkamp was back for his senior year, and Michael
Laubenheimer, a senior, was another post presence for the Warhawks at 6-foot-9.
“He just had a great senior year,” Showalter said of
Averkamp. “He dominated, especially on defense. We could do so many things with
him.”
Germantown started the 2008-09 season 13-0 before it lost to
Whitefish Bay, 67-57. The Warhawks won their next three before losing to Port
Washington by one point.
“We’ve won eight conference championships in nine years.
That game was the reason we don’t have nine in a row,” Showalter said. “I still
remember where we had a chance to win it at the freethrow line. “We learned you
can’t ever let up. It taught me a big lesson; that you have to be prepared as
well.” Germantown won the final two games of the regular season over Homestead
and Grafton, then beat Hamilton, Hartford Union and Menomonee Falls to get back
to state.
At state, the Warhawks lost to Madison Memorial, 86-73, in
the state quarterfinal.
❑
2011: Controversy
The class of 2012 for Germantown believed it was good enough
to get back to state after failing to qualify at the end of the 2009-10.
Then there was controversy at the end of the Super Tuesday
game against Appleton East at the Kolf Sports Center at the University of
Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Late in the game, Appleton East was shooting a free-throw,
but missed. Showalter thought his player had possession of the rebound and
called a timeout. No timeout was awarded and the game ended with Germantown
losing by two points in overtime.
It was devastating. It was also motivating for the next
season’s seniors, which included Showalter’s oldest son, Zak.
“That motivated my team pretty much until now,” Steve
Showalter said. “We don’t let refs or other teams dictate what happens.”
“It left a sour taste in our mouth for every kid in the
program from fifth grade on up,” Jake Showalter said.
Since then, Germantown has lost only two games.
❑
2012: The run starts
After that gut-wrenching loss, the eight seniors on the
2010-11 team were on a mission and didn’t lose a game.
Germantown went 28-0 on its way to the program’s first boys
basketball state championship. Along the way, the Warhawks pummeled one of the
premier programs in the state, Madison Memorial, in the state semifinal.
“They got what they felt was theirs,” Steve Showalter said
of the team winning the state title in 2012.
“This was the season we had to do it,” said Evan Wesenberg,
who was a sophomore. “We worked harder than imaginable.”
Jake Showalter was a sophomore.
“The first year with 2012 and with my brother, Zak, (the
seniors) pushed us every day so hard,” Jake Showalter said. “We practiced
harder than anyone in the state.”
Jake Showalter had a record-breaking tournament that season.
He finished the tournament with a two-game state-record for total 3-pointers
(nine) and 3-point fieldgoal percentage (75 percent).
After beating Madison Memorial, 81-43, in the state
semifinal, Germantown beat Milwaukee Rufus King, 72-69, in the state final.
Against Madison Memorial, a crowd of more than 14,000 people
were in the Kohl Center, most of whom were cheering for the Warhawks.
“That was a great atmosphere,” said Luke Fischer, who was a
sophomore at the time.
The opening tip was highlighted by Zak Showalter posterizing
a Madison Memorial player with a dunk.
“That moment will be one of the best memories I’ll ever have
with how loud that place got,” Fischer said.
After the title game, Steve Showalter said it was an
exhausting game to watch.
“They really put the pressure on us,” he said. “It was
almost like every possession was a different day. It was so draining to get the
ball down the court each time.
“But we were able to get enough looks inside and do just
enough to win.”
❑
2013: Perfection again
The eight seniors were gone. The 2012-13 team now belonged
to guys like Luke Fischer, who emerged as one of the top post players in the
country.
He was named the state’s Player of the Year that season and
accepted a scholarship offer from Indiana University.
Fischer has since transferred from Indiana to Marquette
University and returned to the court this season after sitting out because of
NCAA transfer rules.
“The ‘13 team was just Luke Fischer dominating, especially
the whole second half of the year,” Steve Showalter said. “Luke was not going
to be beat that senior year.”
Fischer was one of only three seniors on that team — Kendall
Miller and Jordan Kuczynski.
Germantown, which averaged 82.6 points per game, beat
Oshkosh North and Mukwonago en route to its second straight state championship.
Fischer and the class of 2013 finished its high school career, 56-0.
“Being a senior and winning it is something special,”
Fischer said. “It’s the only way you want to go out.”
❑
2014: Adversity challenges Germantown
The Warhawks entered the 2013-14 season with a long winning
streak. It was halted at 69 games with a loss to Brookfield Central in
mid-January. It was the longest streak in the nation.
A few weeks later, four players from the team were suspended
for their involvement in a traffic stop where marijuana was found.
Then the Warhawks lost again. This time it was to Wisconsin
Lutheran at home. “It’s all about how you deal with adversity,” said Jake
Showalter, who was a senior. “Last year, myself, Evan and Jon Averkamp, the
seniors, really stepped up.”
While it wasn’t the way Steve Showalter envisioned the
season to go, it was almost a good thing the team lost. The pressure of winning
and going undefeated was growing, especially as the Warhawks broke a state
record for consecutive victories. Some wondered if they’d ever lose.
“Everybody made such a big deal about the streak, including
myself as a coach,” Steve Showalter said. “We all got to the point where we
were afraid to lose.”
“I think anytime you lose, it’s easier to motivate kids to
work hard the next day in practice,” he added. “It’s definitely tough everyday
when the kids know how good you are. Once we got a loss, I was able to get
their attention again.”
Germantown responded with dominating performances the rest
of the season on its way to a third-straight state championship. It beat King
in the state semifinal and Neenah in the championship.
“I have a lot of pride,” Peter Studer said. “I know the work
they put into it.”
