By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
During the past three seasons, the Burlington boys basketball team has been the gold standard in the Southern Lakes Conference.
Three straight conference titles. Only three conference losses. Three straight players of the year.
That supremacy is already being challenged.
Burlington lost its conference opener Tuesday night at home, 49-44, and it never led in the second half.
It was the first time Westosha Central beat Burlington since the Demons re-joined the SLC in 2009.
“It will be a building process for us,” said Burlington coach Steve Berezowitz Tuesday before the game. “It’s been a long time since we have lost this many to graduation. We’re not used to that.”
The entire starting five from last year’s 18-6 squad, including SLC player of the year Carson Biedrzycki, Ty Dennis, Jimmy Penzel, Jake Reetz and Jay Essman, are gone, and Burlington only welcomes back four players.
In total, there are four seniors and one, Ben Geiger, with extensive varsity experience.
But these inexperienced Demons showed fight Tuesday, almost pulling off a comeback victory and getting within three points late in the game. Some costly turnovers and ill-advised shots hurt, especially when Central sophomore Ron Hall came out of nowhere with a career-high 17 points.
Burlington isn’t that far off. They hung tough with defending Division 1 state runner-up Mukwonago in a 68-55 loss Friday.
Despite an 0-2 start, the talent is there with Geiger (18.5 ppg), last year’s second-leading scorer, junior Frankie Hozeska, and senior Nate Klug, a combination guard who can shoot outside and go to the hoop. Klug scored 12 points Tuesday.
Geiger led Burlington with 16 points Tuesday, but his two late triples weren’t enough to pull off the comeback.
James Tully, a 6-foot-3 physical presence, is the team’s only other returner.
Newcomers that will fight for minutes include senior Luke Dahl, juniors Brad Burling and Nate Sibley and sophomores Ty Wiemer and Mitch Klug.
“We aren’t big,” Berezowitz said. “We will look to push the ball up the court. We are trying to find consistency across the board and work on the little things.”
And don’t ask coach about a fourth consecutive SLC title. It’s too early for that.
“It’s always possible to win the SLC, but we don’t talk about it at all,” he said.
On Saturday night, Burlington travels to the Fort Atkinson tournament to take on Jefferson.
“We just want to play hard, intelligent basketball,” Berezowitz said.
Other team members this season are Eric Behnke, Trent Cramer, Greg Vogt and Eric Johnson.
-
-
-
-
-
Thank god basketball season is here! The issue you have with Burlington Basketball this year and a few years to come is mostly a culmination of small town parental politics, parents coaching there kids and a private school PR machine that would rival any political party of modern era. First you have a 4-6 yr stretch of Junior Demon basketball, that stressed offense and starting 5-7 seven players instead of developing all of the players and actually teaching them to box out and how to play actual defense. We have way too many parents that coach their kids in our programs, which assures play time for their kids and ironically weakening their own kids development. Burlington is filled with favoritism and nepotism which has weakened the program and ruined the futures of potentially good basketball players by our determination to bring up younger kids that have not fully developed. This condemns players that have paid their dues at the freshmen JV level. I understand that you need to field the best team. Unfortunately these experiments usually don’t yield the anticipated results. This situation is helped by the PR machine that especially applies to kids coming from the smaller private feeder schools. We have parents/coaches pushing for kids to be bumped entire years before the season, or even worse yet,, coaches calling parents and offering a bump to a higher level if their kid would come out for a sport. This most definitely wouldn’t happen to every kid. Just the well connected. Unfortunately this type of small town politics also permeates thru other programs in our great school. We will never be powerhouses unless we put effort in early development of players, along with keeping in mind that kids mature at different levels and speeds both physically and mentally. Unfortunately a lot of talent is discarded, not nurtured or put on the back of the sports bus because of continual pressure to bring up certain special kids or not having a voice to speak for them. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when individuals are at a higher level of play at a younger age but not at the level that is assumed in Burlington. We suffer from lack of development and small town politics. We have a fantastic coach that has his hands full but should stop listening to the buzz.
You nailed it on the head Demon Dude. The parental politics in this town are very unfortunate for the sports programs and our children. I’m seeing it firsthand. I’m about ready to check into other district’s youth programs to see if we can get into those.
John,
Guess what? You will find the same dynamic at all of the surrounding schools/programs. Based on my experience the only place where these issues are neutralized are in school districts like Brookfield, Arrowhead, Mequon etc. where you typically have a higher turnover of families due to job transfers etc.
Jerry, Some yes, not all. It will be worth the search. It is worth while they are still young to not put up with the B.S.
Some have rules in effect for equal playing time up to a certain age. I myself can’t imagine being a coach and benching a kid say less than 12 yrs old for most of a game. At these ages its about learning the game and getting better. Not watching from the sidelines, heck may as well watch the Badgers on TV it’d be cheaper.
John,
I totally agree with you. I know for a fact that the Catholic schools in Burlington have an equal play time policy through 6th grade. After that it is 1/4 for 7th and 8th. Good luck in finding the right fit for your student/athlete. On the other hand I have also found the opposite true where kids that do not put in the time (i.e. extra practice, camps etc.) to improve their skills “expect” to walk in and start etc. while really not being that good, which in turn lessens the interest level of the better, more committed players.
Burlington’s been a backwater of incestuous petty politics ever since the Scottish Romanians settled here.
To say that certain kids are favored because of their parent’s involvement is ridiculous. There are kids sitting in the stands that may be better athletes, but have chosen on their own not to make the commitment and put forth the effort to participate. Maybe it’s a lack of parent involvement.
Interesting posts here. My son who is 12 attends one of the Catholic schools in Burlington. I am already witnessing the nepotism and cronyism that exists. Last night, practice time was reduced from 2 hrs to 1 1/2 hours because five of the kids on the team were practicing with the Demons youth team. I have found out that 4 of these kids are the coaches players. So these kids get to practice 4 times a week, where the rest of the kids only get to practice 2 times a week. Now with the policy setting in that some kids will only be able to play 6 min. out of 24 min. and next year that get squeezed more, where they will only play 3 min out of 24. The opportunity to play on a Demons team was not offered to the whole team, only a select few in the know. It seems that already there has been put in motion by the coaches a “thin out the heard” mentality. My son attends every practice and goes to every game. But it appears he is slowly being squeezed out, how can he compete with others that are getting 8hours of practice time and instruction and then get the bulk of the game playing time. Another concern I have is dang it, I pay full tuition for my son to go to Catholic school, why should he not be afforded the same opportunity for a team sport as everyone else. I get it when they get into high school that you have try-outs, etc. But when they are only 12 they are still maturing and in my experience I have seen some kids that started out slow and become skillful players later on.
That is true. There is an advantage to the kids who have coaches as parents. People think they are good because their parents are the coach but they also have a lot of extra access to the gym. Whereas other kids would have to play basketball in the snow. Most kids on these teams would love to shoot around but just don’t have the gym access. While the others are commended for “putting in the time”.
Russ,
Just an FYI that the Jr. Demons basketball program is no secret. It is open to all boys and girls by grade level who live within the boundaries of the Burlington Area School District. My son also goes to one of the two Catholic Schools in town and he has been playing Jr. Demons since 4th grade. I also know for a fact that information is sent home with each and every student in the fall for the sign up weekend in October. I believe info is also in the Community Ed. flyer and if you attend one of the summer camps at BHS you can be put on the email list etc. The fee is $240 and now at the 7/8th grade level there are tryouts to form an A and B team. Also, you might want to check your facts as practices were missed last week because of Jr. Demon games not practices and 2 of 4 kids you are referring to are not the sons of coaches.
Mr. Freeze,
Okay, you duly spanked me for sticking up for the kids that are not part of the “inner clique”. But, lets get down to some facts: I was not aware of any Burlington Demon Baseketball program that kids from the Catholic schools could be part of. How do you know that my son recieved a flyer in the fall? Did you hand him one?
My son has attended clinics held at Burlington H.S. Did you hand him one? Also, I do know for a fact that without naming names, 3 of the kids on the Demons team are coaches kids. You mention “open gyms” where is that information disseminated? Not once have I heard any of the coaches inform the kids they coach about open gym time. Since I am a member of the wellness center, my son does come down and practice basketball on the limited times they have reserved for your children. Also, just because rules or policies are put into place doesn’t mean they can’t be changed or shouldn’t be changed. Let’s give all the kids a fair chance, not just those kids that have parents in the “inner circle”.
Russ,
Guess what, some of the boys that you are referencing are putting in a heck of a lot more than 8 hours per week on basketball. Try 10-15 hrs./week year around with summer camps, working out at the wellness center, open gyms at Catholic Central/BHS/Karcher , summer AAU leagues etc. Also, I read your post again and I just wanted to point out that the play time rules for 7/8th grade have been in place for some time at both St. Mary’s and St. Charles and are pretty much common knowledge as far as I know.
Russ,
Most of the issues/information you mention have nothing to do with St. Charles/St. Marys, but are the domain of the Jr. Demon basketball club and/or the Community Ed./BASD. The volunteer coaches at these schools may not necessarily know the details of what the Jr. Demons are doing or not doing. Anyway, I would encourage you to register your son for next year’s 7th or 8th grade Jr. Demons, have him play summer league, attend as many camps as possible etc. in order to improve his skills in preparation for high school. Also, I am sure that either school would gladly have you volunteer your time to coach, help with practices etc. As far as the play time rules I guess we can agree to disagree(for 7th and 8th grade), but you are correct in that rules can always be changed so give Sr. Margaret or Mrs. Jackson a call to express your opinion. You are also correct that three of the 7th Grade Jr. Demon players are the sons of coaches(2 on St. Marys and 1 on St. Charles). As for 6th grade I believe there are 2 St. Marys and 2 St. Charles.