Noble effort recognized
Sherburne named to All-Suburban team; Shaw coach of the year
It was a sign of respect, and it went a long ways toward validating the job the Whitefish Bay boys basketball team, coach Dave Shaw and star guard Jimmy Sherburne did this year.
The Blue Dukes had just defeated two-time defending North Shore Conference champ Germantown, 67-57, before a packed fieldhouse crowd Feb. 3, breaking the Warhawks' 30-game regular season winning streak and paving the way for a league title of Bay's own.
Shaw had conceived, and Sherburne and his teammates had executed to perfection, a game plan that took the Warhawks and especially all-state center Ben Averkamp, as much out of their comfort zone as anyone had in the last three years.
The plan involved pulling the shot-blocking Averkamp away from the basket to open up lanes to the hoop and so impressed Warhawks coach Steve Showalter that he made a special trip to the Bay locker room after the game.
"The home and visiting lockers are right next to each other and he came in to personally congratulate us for our effort," Sherburne said. "He said that he was so happy that we (the majority of the Dukes starters) were seniors so he didn't have to play us again.
"That was very cool. No one had ever done that for us before."
It showed how much respect, hard work, sacrifice, skill and brains will earn a person. The Blue Dukes went 21-2, and for their efforts, Shaw was named the 2009 CNI/NOW All-Suburban Boys Basketball Team's coach of the year and Sherburne earned a spot on the newspaper's first team.
Willing to adapt
The effort against Germantown emphasized Shaw's trademark flexibility. His 2006 team ran and jumped and flew up and down the court to the North Shore title. This season's version was patient, deliberate and played ferocious defense to win its league crown.
Shaw's adaptability comes from being the product of a coaching family. His father, Brian, spent more than 24 years coaching, primarily near the family home of Manitowoc, and his brother, Jesse, won the Wisconsin Valley Conference title this season as the coach at Antigo.
"Needless to say, dad is a really happy man this winter," Dave Shaw said. "He (Brian) gave us a little bit of everything, but he also reminded us that it is a privilege to be a coach. You have to be a good role model."
Making a point
A point guard at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Dave Shaw learned early the value of good guards and the trust coaches have to have in them. And so he viewed with some trepidation early on the idea of rotating multi-year starter Sherburne with talented junior John Johnston this winter at the point.
"I wasn't sure how it would work," Shaw said. "But I had confidence in both players."
It was a detailed and strict plan, but with some malleability to it, according to Shaw, who became the second Bay coach to win the CNI award. Jeff Thielke was the first in 1996.
"You need to demonstrate flexibility," Shaw said. "We're not recruiting our kids, but developing them to be better players, and you have to be able to deviate for the betterment of the team. Any team that does that will be successful."
As well as earn respect.
"I thought it was incredible what they were able to do," said Showalter, CNI's coach of the year in 2007. "(Shaw) had some pieces to the puzzle, but the way they came out against us both times was amazing. Their consistency and defensive effort told you how well-coached they were.
"He figured out a way to win with who he had and that's a sign of a great coach."
Steven L. Tietz can be reached at (262) 446-6619.
WORKING TOGETHER FOR SUCCESS
DAVE SHAW
HISTORY: head coach since 2000; previously coached at Kewaskum and Winneconne
WORK ETHIC: "I'm a basketball junkie," Shaw said. "There's not a clinic or a tape that gets by me."
FAMILY: wife Amy (Wentworth) Shaw was a member of the 1994 state champion Kettle Moraine/Mukwonago girls gymnastics team; couple has two sons and are
expecting a third child
JIMMY SHERBURNE
ACCOLADES: tri-player of the year in North Shore Conference along with Germantown's Ben Averkamp and Port Washington's Josh Gasser; Associated Press third-team all-state selection; Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Division 2 all-state selection
ACADEMICS: impressive 33 on the ACT; considering a major in finance or economics at Princeton
University
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Mehryn Kraker of West Allis Central reached a personal milestone Jan. 24 against Wauwatosa East when she cleared 1,000 points for her career, leading her squad with 25 points. She was the leading scorer again Jan. 27 with 16, while teammate Claire Hankins played the hero by hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs an upset win over Sussex Hamilton. Central has played a brutal schedule this year, and it's paying off to the tune of four straight wins.
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