Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Gresham senior Neal Cerveny hands the ball to a teammate during a scrimmage Wednesday with the WBCA Division 5 North Team. After spending the last two days in Gresham, the squad will go to Wisconsin Dells on Thursday and play in an all-star game Saturday at JustAGame Fieldhouse.
For 10 of the best basketball players in Division 5, spending two days together in Gresham showed head coach Jeff Zobeck one thing for sure.
“I wanted to try to incorporate some time off the court, fun stuff, so we went bowling,” Zobeck said. “No great bowlers out here, I’ll tell you that.”
The players came to Gresham to prepare for Saturday’s Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association’s All-Star Game in Wisconsin Dells. They held four practices, including a scrimmage Wednesday night.
The players, who have gotten to know each other through both the high school and AAU circuits, needed the time to jell as a team.
“It’s been really fun actually getting to know them,” Gresham all-star Neal Cerveny said. “I was a little skeptical. I mean, the egos would come together and people would be trying to compete to see who’s best, but we are coming together, playing like a team.”
Other team members are Alex Ohde (McDonell Central), Cameron Brussow (Loyal), Connor Heise (Lena), Davin Stricker (Mellen), Drew Rohde (Prentice), Dylan Bunders (Almond-Bancroft), Grayson Knowlton (McDonell Central), Hunter Borchert (Lena) and Tyler Fuerlinger (Columbus Catholic).
Zobeck, who was an assistant coach for the squad three seasons ago, is assisted by Port Edwards’ Dave Gibbs and Lena’s Jeff Heimke.
Many of the players have competed against each other in the past. Cerveny and the Wildcats put an end to Heise and Borchert’s final season in Lena in a sectional semifinal, but then Fuerlinger’s team advanced to state by defeating Gresham in the sectional final.
Zobeck said the guys were also going back and forth over soccer and football competitions against each other throughout their careers.
“They’re all just really great guys and a lot of different personalities out there,” Zobeck said. “It’s been a fun bunch to work with.”
The team heads to Wisconsin Dells on Thursday. There is a banquet Friday to raise money for Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer. The squad will face the South team at 9 a.m. Saturday.
“We’d like to go down there and win. That’s going to be our goal, but at the same time, years from now, they’re probably not going to remember winning or losing,” Zobeck said. “But the time they got to spend together, the experience down there playing in a big event like this, it’ll be the memory that will stick with them, I hope.”
Cerveny, who leaves for a mission in Utah on June 28, can put a cap on his successful four seasons as a Wildcat.
“I think during the game, we’ll have a lot of fun,” Cerveny said. “But I think it’ll kick in that my high school career is finally over. It will be a pretty sad moment.”