Koehnke is fifth in the Southern Lakes Newspapers area (15 teams) with 18 points per game and adds 9 rebounds per tilt. The Toppers (3-14, 2-11 MCC) travel to state-ranked Greendale Martin Luther tonight before hosting Eastbrook Academy Saturday and Racine Lutheran Tuesday. (John Fisher/SLN)
By Mike Ramczyk
Maybe Scott muttered, “Welcome to the Club, kid,” as he congratulated Koehnke.
Koehnke joins Scott, Ryan Gehring, Wes Warren, Joe Milroy and Ben Heiligenthal as the only players in Topper history to score 1,000 career points.
The last guy to do it, Heiligenthal in 2015, led the underdog Toppers all the way to the Division 5 state championship game at the Kohl Center in Madison.
Despite a 3-14 record, Koehnke’s ability to take over a game could mean a repeat this postseason. And this is a historically difficult Metro Classic Conference, with Prairie, Martin Luther, Dominican and Racine St. Cat’s all contenders for the state tournament.
The stiff competition has only made the Toppers better, with Koehnke playing the role of team leader and offensive weapon, along with the recent emergence of Chas Miles to complement the young nucleus of Bennett Wright, Brandon and brother John Pum.
Scott hinted that the Toppers finally put together a complete game recently, and the defense is becoming lock-down, just in time for the season’s stretch run.
Catholic Central begins its playoff run Feb. 27.
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