By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Union Grove boys basketball coach Dave Pettit perfected his improvisation skills this season.
Plagued by injuries and an undersized frontline, Pettit had to adjust lineups, rotations and defenses on the fly to keep the Broncos afloat.
The Broncos responded well to the improvisation, finishing 14-10 overall, including winning six of their last eight games to finish fourth in the Southern Lakes Conference.
The Grove then won an exciting 51-47 WIAA Division 2 Regional Semifinal contest at Elkhorn before falling to 73-39 to Lakes champion Westosha Central in the regional finals.
“We tried to hunt and peck for what defense is going to work best for us in a given situation and the kids have responded well to changing it up,” Pettit said.
The Broncos did some of their best improve work after losing senior starting forward Matt Nelson to a season-ending shoulder injury in early December.
“Matt is just a good kid a good leader,” said Pettit after losing Nelson to injury. “He was poised to have a great year because his shooting stroke improved and he had a quick first step, and he is also one of the strongest kids in our school that helped him player bigger than his 6’3 height.”
Then to make matters worse later in the season, starting guard Jacob Ross missed a couple games with a back injury and point guard Jack Pettit broke his nose.
With potentially having three starters out for the Broncos’ playoff game at Elkhorn, Pettit installed a brand new offense just a handful of days before the game. The Broncos once again picked up on the new offense and changes immediately.
“That Monday prior to the Elkhorn game, Jake broke his nose and Jacob was pretty much out of practice all week and with our offense revolving around Jacob and Jack, we weren’t sure if we had enough ball handlers,” Pettit said. “So we put in a new offense, and that offense actually helped control tempo and we got a few layups off of it. Who puts in an offense four days before the end of the season and who picks it up so fast the way that our kids did?”
Ross and Pettit shook off the injuries and played in the Elkhorn game, scoring 31 of their team’s 51 points. Pettit’s turnaround jumper in the lane followed by a steal at midcourt and pass up court to Riley Hale for a three-point play in the final minute helped seal the victory that night.
Pettit, who was arguably the most improved player in the Lakes this season, averaged 18 points per game in the Grove’s final eight games, including a triple double against Wilmot.
“Jack has been pretty good all year,” Pettit said. “Late in the game against Elkhorn, we went into a 1-4 set and let him do his thing and he hit a big shot for us.”
Pettit’s improvement, along with the development of Ross, and Hale gave the Broncos a formidable guard trio that figures to be even better next season.
The Broncos return a majority of their roster, but will need to replace forwards Nelson, Jake Hansen, and Sam Blaszcynski. Up-and-coming 6-4 freshman Sam Rampulla figures to anchor the frontcourt next year while coach Pettit looks for more depth up front.
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