Demons look to bounce back after challenging season
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
In high school basketball, guard play is the name of the game.
Westosha Central features one of the state’s best in Jaeden Zackery, and Elkhorn has a pair of quick, dynamic two-way ball hawks in Vince and Luke Umnus.
Burlington had that luxury about one year ago.
With point guard Nick Klug, the school’s all-time leading scorer, and super athlete Grant Tully, the Demons had a talented tandem that was sure to help Burlington vie for another Southern Lakes Conference crown.
But everything changed when Klug, who now plays collegiately at Division 2 Winona State (Minn.) University, went down with multiple injuries in mid December and had to miss the final three months of the season.
The Demons fought their way to mediocrity, finishing with a 7-7 SLC mark and an 11-13 overall record.
While the guard play may not be as potent in 2018-19, Burlington will make up for it in the post, where it has the luxury of having two players standing 6-foot-6.
Klug, Tully, and 6-foot-7 center Brock Halbach, along with multi-faceted wing Sean Safar, led a solid class of eight graduated seniors, but head coach Steve Berezowitz, now in his 20th season, says his young squad has potential to grow.
The top returning scorer is senior Trey Krause, who mustered 7.8 points per game after being moved up to varsity midway through the season.
Twin towers Trent Turzenski (6.5 ppg) and Dylan Runkel (5.9) are also back, and seniors Tucker Strommen, Matt Ohm and Jacob Weithaus look to provide depth.
Key newcomers will include juniors Jake Klug, Ryan Koeppen and Logan Swantz.
To read the entire season preview see the Nov. 22 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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