Cross Promoted from Wisconsin News/Capital Newspapers

January 08, 2014 4:45 am  •  Kevin Massoth Capital Newspapers

Germantown coach and Baraboo native Steve Showalter applauds his team's first half effort during Saturday night's 87-44 win over Madison La Follette at the #swingfam Showcase at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells.

WISCONSIN DELLS — It’s starting to become the stuff of myth and legend, the feats that coach Steve Showalter’s Germantown High School boys basketball team have accomplished the past two-and-a-half years.

On Saturday, Showalter brought the fairy tale a bit closer to home.

Showalter — a Baraboo native and former University of Wisconsin-Platteville star — has coached his suburban Milwaukee-area team to a state record-extending 68th consecutive victory. It’s the longest current winning streak in the nation.

The latest victory came at the expense of Madison La Follette, which suffered an 87-44 drubbing Saturday during the #swingfam Showcase at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells.

Germantown — led by three Division 1 recruits, including Steve’s son, Jake — has not felt the sting of defeat since March 15, 2011. The Warhawks are coming off back-to-back WIAA Division 1 state championships with consecutive 28-0 seasons.

And then there’s this year, in which Germantown has flat-out obliterated high-level opponents nearly every step of the way. Saturday’s merciless rout of a good La Follette team (6-4 overall, 4-3 in the Big Eight Conference) upped the Warhawks’ record to 12-0.

Victories like that have done nothing to dissuade the buzz that Germantown’s program belongs in the mix when discussing the best high school teams in state history.

The Warhawks have averaged 80.7 points per game and allowed 44.5 per game. Their season highlight so far has been a jaw-dropping, 75-29 rout of blue-chip recruit Diamond Stone and Whitefish Bay Dominican on Dec. 14.

Showalter, in his 14th season as Germantown’s head coach, was happy for the chance to share one of his team’s many, many victories with hometown-area friends and family in attendance at JustAGame Fieldhouse on Saturday. For several fans, it was their first chance to see firsthand what everybody in high school basketball is talking about.

“It’s always kind of nice to return to your home area,” said Showalter, who graduated from Baraboo High School in 1984 and played at Platteville the following four years under current University of Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan.

“I always get nice emails, calls and texts whenever something big happens for us in Germantown. Playing in Baraboo shaped the things that I do as a coach, so it’s nice to be back in the area.”

Germantown became just the second team in state history to win consecutive state championships with undefeated records. Since the dawn of the modern era of WIAA basketball in 1938, only 16 teams have gone undefeated in the state’s largest enrollment division. It has happened only six times since 1980, including Germantown’s two in a row.

Throughout all of his program’s notable accomplishments, Showalter credits his small-town roots for some of the success.

“Baraboo shaped and molded me,” said Showalter, whose wife, Jill, also graduated from BHS. “I try to bring that small-town feel here. It’s not always the same, being here in the Milwaukee area. But I try to bring that family atmosphere, the student and fan part of it. I think we’ve been able to do that.”

Germantown’s run has been a family affair for the Showalters, as Jake has played on varsity his sophomore, junior and now senior years — and Steve’s oldest son, Zak, played all four years for his father’s team before graduating last year. Zak now plays for his father’s college coach, Ryan, at Wisconsin.

“It’s funny because they grew up sitting at the end of the bench when they were 3 and 4 years old, and they’ve been to pretty much every practice that I’ve ever been to,” said Steve, who is part of both the Baraboo High School and UW-Platteville athletic halls of fame.

“Now, this is the second half of the last year for Jake, and it’s sad for me that it’s going to be almost over. I can’t think of any better way to spend time with my kids.”

Steve already has jumped over the fence from coach to father for Zak, watching him play for the Badgers.

Ryan, who watched Showalter post UW-Platteville records for most points scored in a game (47) and a season (614), said his former player had to pass some hurdles in college that may have helped him in the long run.

“Steve struggled his freshman year,” Ryan said. “In life, when you have to figure out some things the hard way, you end up being a lot smarter. So Steve struggled, but then his next three years for me, he was one of the best players I’ve ever coached. He was smart, heady, a good leader and tough. We could always count on him.”

Germantown has been able to count on Showalter since he took over the school’s mediocre boys basketball program in 2000. The Warhawks broke down barriers by winning their first North Shore Conference title in 2006-07, qualifying for the WIAA state tournament for the first time in 2008 and winning the program’s first two state championships the past two seasons.

Jake literally does not know what it feels like to lose a high school varsity game. The 6-foot, 4-inch senior started his varsity career with the first victory of Germantown’s current 68-game winning streak, the opener of his sophomore season.

“We had a couple (junior varsity) losses my freshman year,” said Jake, who scored 31 points against La Follette on Saturday. He’s one of two Germantown seniors who will play at North Dakota State next season, and one of four Warhawks seniors who have earned college basketball scholarships.

“Everyone back in Germantown — even the young kids — are working hard, though,” Jake said. “Everyone has seen what we’ve gone through and they want to be there. They want to be in our shoes.”

JustAGame Fieldhouse, plastered from floor to ceiling with mementos of state high school basketball history, already has a separate section detailing Germantown’s magical run.

Steve, though, is focused only on getting the next victory. It could come Tuesday night, as Germantown is scheduled to entertain Nicolet for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

But even he knows a loss is always a possibility, too.

“It could happen tomorrow; it could happen in five years,” Steve said.

After Saturday’s showing, the smart money is on the long game.

Read more: http://www.wiscnews.com/tncms/asset/editorial/629d1faa-26e7-548e-819b-ac622d41a29d/#ixzz2q1prXxX8