Posted: June 23, 2009 |(0) Comments

The coach and his former player shook hands briefly, exchanged well wishes and then went their separate ways after the 32nd annual Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Game in Madison on Saturday.

And that's how the successful partnership of Germantown coach Steve Showalter and the best player in Warhawks history, Ben Averkamp, came to a close after an exciting 92-87 loss for Showalter's and Averkamp's South team to the North squad in the benefit for the MACC Fund.

Showalter was the head coach of the South team and Averkamp one of that side's leading lights.

Now, each moves forward into a brand new world. At the start of next week, the 6-foot-8-inch Averkamp will start a six-week summer school session at Loyola of Chicago, where he has committed to play Division 1 basketball and starts the path toward eventually becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

The Germantown High School co-valedictorian hopes to test out of at least 10 credits before he starts official classes in the fall. In this last go-round as a prep player, he found it fun and relaxing to deal with Showalter in this context of a low-key, "just for fun" all-star game.

"He was definitely more laid-back (during the game)," Averkamp said with a laugh. "I think he sat down a record number of times. I think he was enjoying who he was working with and realized that there were some really good players out there."

'Going back to work'

But in the practice sessions beforehand?

"It was more like going back to work," Averkamp said. "At least I knew what to expect and he did treat everyone the same."

The veteran coach, who is in the midst of summer open gyms and leagues with a brand new batch of Warhawks, is facing a vast rebuilding project next winter after he and Averkamp led Germantown to two North Shore Conference titles and two WIAA State Tournament berths in the last three years.

But he wasn't thinking about that last week as he acknowledged what Averkamp said: That the all-star game was supposed to be fun.

"We practiced every Sunday in May and then in early June I arranged a scrimmage for them with some of my buddies that I play with, and that was an eye-opener for everyone," Showalter said. "We were as ready to go as we could be and I definitely didn't want to make this a chore for the kids.

"I, for the most part, sat back and let them figure out a way to play and they made it easy on me because there was good leadership out on the floor."

The game, played at the old University of Wisconsin-Madison Fieldhouse, was an entertaining affair, featuring an estimated 15 lead changes. The state's reigning Mr. Basketball, Jeronne Maymon of state champion Madison Memorial, which defeated Averkamp's Warhawks in an entertaining state quarterfinal back in March, led the North with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Still leading the way

Averkamp, who earned Gatorade State Player of the Year honors (that honor includes more academic and civic criteria as well as hoops success), led the South with 20 points.

"It was memorable and a lot of fun," he said. "It was awfully intense for an all-star game. Guys really went after it. You're never sure in a situation like that because you're playing with guys like yourself, the best players on their team. But when you made that extra pass here, you could be pretty sure it wound up being a basket."

Showalter was pleased with the effort, even though his team went in with certain disadvantages.

"They were bigger and stronger than we were and they killed us on the boards," he said. "They also had a bunch of little guys who could shoot the lights out . . . But it was still fun. The guys put on a dunk show before the game, but then when we started, it was clear that both teams wanted it badly.

And Showalter was not at all surprised that Averkamp was the one to lead the way for the South. Averkamp raised a couple of thousand dollars for the MACC Fund and Showalter a touch more (a total of more than $139,000 was collected at the end of the day), and that kind of leadership and generosity are just a couple of the myriad reasons that Showalter is going to miss Averkamp for so much more than just his superior hoops skills.

"He was the one guy I knew would listen to everything I said, and as usual, he did everything he could to try and find a way for us to win," Showalter said. "He was the best player on the court at times and that in a situation where the center is not always going to get as many touches as he normally does.

"Watching him, I fully realized what an honor and privilege it was to have coached him. I hope in the not too distant future he can look back and enjoy it as much as I did."