Heiligenthal, Wilker leading Toppers offensively
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
First-year head coach Kyle Scott isn’t in the most enviable position for the Catholic Central boys basketball team.
Try replacing a Division 1 college coach, Eric Henderson, who led the Toppers to an 18-4 record and a Division 4 sectional appearance last season.
And oh yeah, your leading scorer and rebounder are gone, and it’s the first time you’ve ever been a head coach in your life.
Based on last year’s success, the cat’s out of the bag – the Toppers have talent.
Despite all of these challenges, Scott, a former state champion with the 2001 Toppers, is doing his best to take it in stride.
“The biggest challenge will be repeating last year’s success,” Scott said Tuesday. “We won’t sneak up on anybody this year. I’m not sure if any conference in the state is tougher than ours.”
Though Scott and the Toppers are 1-2 in the early season, the defeats came against Division 2 Waterford and Division 4 Lake Country Lutheran.
The Toppers fell, 58-52, in overtime to the Lightning, a school that’s usually a playoff rival in other sports.
“We showed good resiliency and had our chances,” Scott said. “We’ve showed in flashes that we can play with anyone in our area.”
Like most new coaches, Scott brings a new style, which emphasizes getting up and down the floor as quickly as possible.
“We want to rebound and off we go,” he said. “We want to get into our offensive sets as quickly as possible.”
Sophomore point guard Aaron Reuber, a newcomer to varsity, has been manning the offense, and returning players Ben Heiligenthal (junior) and Spencer Wilker (senior) have led the charge in scoring.
Heiligenthal leads the team with 15 points per game, and Wilker is right behind him at 14.7. Heiligenthal’s 24 points paced the squad in a 69-30 thrashing of Faith Christian, and Wilker tallied 24 against Lake Country Lutheran.
Reuber, Heiligenthal, Wilker, Gavin Foote, Shan Gill and Karan Singh figure to be “heavy-minutes guys,” Scott said.
Scott was Henderson’s assistant last season, and he said the transition to head man has gone smoothly.
“They’re a hard-working group,” he said. “I’m a demanding coach, and they’ve responded well. I am enjoying the game-planning, and I’m getting to know the kids on another level.”
Other key newcomers for the Toppers this season will include juniors Andy Kempken, Jack Horner, Brandon Vandehei and Trevor Meinholz, along with sophomore Cole Pankau.
“Our team defense and guard play are pretty solid,” Scott said. “We must improve offensively and with our rebounding.”
On Thursday, the grind of the Metro Classic Conference begins with a trip to Kenosha St. Joe’s. On Friday, Catholic Central faces Racine St. Cat’s.
Whitefish Bay Dominican, which features top-10 national recruit Diamon Stone, is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division 4, and St. Cat’s is No. 4 in the same division. St. Joe’s is always a strong team as well.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Scott said of the conference season. “We want to win as many games as possible and improve every day. We want to be the best team we can be and take our chances in the tournament.”
Schedule
(HOME GAMES ALL CAPS)
December – 12: at Racine St. Cat’s. 16: WESTOSHA CENTRAL. 19: SHORELAND LUTHERAN. January – 8: at Martin Luther. 10: at Racine Lutheran. 13: at The Prairie School. 17: UNION GROVE. 20: KENOSHA ST. JOE’S. 22: at Dominican. 24: THOMAS MORE. 30: ST. CAT’S. February: 5: at Shoreland Lutheran. 6: MARTIN LUTHER. 10: RACINE LUTHERAN. 13: PRAIRIE SCHOOL. 21: DOMINICAN. 26: at Thomas More.
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