Posted: Feb. 2, 2010 |(0) Comments

Germantown sophomore guards Josh Mongan and Zak Showalter were walking back to their bus through the bowels of Whitefish Bay High School Tuesday night laughing and celebrating their impressive 65-49 road win over the Blue Dukes.

A few minutes earlier, Showalter's father, Warhawk coach Steve Showalter, was talking about the momentum of winning eight of nine and pondering the fact that with the outcome, the worst Germantown would be was a game back of the North Shore lead or at best, in a tie at the top.

"We'll take it," he said, not knowing the outcome of any other league games yet.

And he no doubt did in spades, for as Zak was heading back to the rapidly-warming bus to make the trip home, he and Mongan heard other adults talking about the fact that Nicolet did upset league-leader Port Washington, 62-58 in overtime, throwing the league into total chaos.

It was news that no doubt caused the bus to explode in riotous joy and also probably warmed the soul of Showalter's 10-year coaching veteran father.

"We started 0-2 in conference," Coach Showalter said before he learned the news, "...and now to be here shows me the kids' character and their willingness to learn and to work. We were all dejected a few weeks ago after Homestead beat us up (to end a six-game Warhawk winning streak), but here we come out afterwards and beat the top two teams in the conference (Port last Friday included)."

Germantown improved to 6-3 in conference and 12-5 overall while the Blue Dukes, who have lost three of their last five, are now 5-4 and 11-5. Port is now 6-3 and 12-3, respectively. There is a four-way logjam for third as Nicolet Homestead, and Milwaukee Lutheran (which just beat Homestead), all join Bay at 5-4. 

"We've got to get back to fundamentals," said Blue Duke coach Kevin Lazovik. "We've got to get back to getting it done on the defensive end of the court. That got us to where we were a few weeks ago. That's where we need to go and what we need to do."

Because the Blue Dukes, who had drilled Germantown in the teams' first meeting back in December, had the tables turned on them this night. Coach Showalter emphasized getting back on defense and getting good shots. The plan worked to perfection.

Mongan (game-high 18 points) hit three, three-pointers in the first quarter as the Warhawks almost never trailed. It was 20-15 at period's end.

Bay got to within three on a John Johnston (11 points) three-pointer, but then the Warhawks exercised their defensive muscle, holding the Blue Dukes to just two points over a seven-minute span in the second session as Germantown expanded the lead to 35-22.

"I looked at the tape of the first game (with Bay) until my eyes hurt," said Coach Showalter. "It was like boulders rolling down hill (the Bay transition game). They just kept getting bigger and bigger and we couldn't get out of their way. I just knew that if we were to have a hope tonight, that we had to get back on defense, sprint back if we had to."

Bay did finally get two buckets in the last minute of the second quarter to cut the margin to 35-26. The Blue Dukes were not helped by the fact that 6-7 post Jamie Schneck (six points) spent most of the quarter on the bench with three fouls.

Schneck was back on the floor in the third, but Bay could scarsely make a dent. A three-point play by Johnston with 2:04 left cut it to 48-43, but then Germantown's Jake Keefe got a hustle basket on an assist from Mongan and Mongan had the favor returned by Keefe with just 26 seconds remaining to make it 52-43 going into the fourth quarter.

After a Mongan three-pointer early in the final period, the lead would never drop below 10 again.

"We're playing with real confidence right now," said the sophomore point guard Mongan. "After the Homestead game we knew that we couldn't lose games like that again. That we had to build on it and get stronger."

Zak Showalter had 17 and Malcolm Bowers had 10 for the Warhawks, while Alex Jamerson added 10 for the Blue Dukes.

"We'd cut it down and then they'd build back up again," said Lazovik. "We really didn't have an answer defensively."

"It was a little like last Friday's game (against Port)," Coach Showalter said. "If they hit jump shots, then so be it. We were just going to do the best job that we could defensively. We don't have the guy to clog the lane anymore (like graduated two-time NOW Newspapers Player of the Year Ben Averkamp), so we have to find a way of protecting the basket."

"Everything is by committee now because we finally found some rotations. We can finally keep everyone fresh."

"It only took me 16 or 17 games to figure that out (laughs)."