Wauwatosa West boys basketball team hopes to learn from last year's struggles

Wauwatosa West coach Chad Stelse is hoping his still young team has learned something from a 2-21 record, which including a 2-16 record in the old Woodland Conference divisional setup.

"Last year I was impressed how well our guys stuck together and worked hard the entire season despite being inexperienced and not experiencing any success in the win/loss column," Stelse said. "It is my hope that they learned from their experience last season.

"We competed and we were right there with a lot of our opponents. But we just broke down physically down the stretch in many of our games."

Stelse started a young team again in the opener Nov. 27 at New Berlin Eisenhower.

In the starting lineup are: sophomores Steffan Brown at guard, Andre Carroll at forward and center Jack Krenzien as well as junior forward Blake Harvey and senior guard Austin Jones.

Nakeem Evans, a senior guard who was cut last year but battled back and made the team this season, is one of three newcomers to watch.

The other two are Reggie Cason, a junior guard who transferred in, and Jack Coleman, a 6-foot-1 inch junior forward up from the JV, should also help out.

Seniors JJ Belknapp, Leon Moore and Adam Polivka, juniors Cole Harvey and Ricky Landers and sophomore Will Watkins fill out the deep roster.

"We will still be a young team this season, but I believe we have the ability to compete with anyone in the conference if our guys understand that we need to focus on all aspects of the game to be successful," Stelse said. "We need to work better as a team at both ends of the court for all four quarters.

"We did not put together four great quarters in a single game last year. I am confident that this year our guys will put together 32 solid minutes and in return, they will see more success in the win/loss column."

When the season began this week, the Trojans were looking to break a 16-game overall losing streak and a 13-game conference skid. A 69-64 overtime win over South Milwaukee on Feb. 23, 2011 was their last home victory.