Team travels to Stevens Point Saturday to face defending state champs
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The last time the East Troy High School boys basketball team was together, the Trojans fell just one point short of advancing to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 state title game.
And while the Trojans have some talent to replace, the cupboard is far from bare.
East Troy enters 2015-16 with a team deep in talent and hungry for a return to Madison, coach Darryl Rayfield said.
“I’m extremely excited about this year’s team,” he said. “When we get on the same page, this group is going to make some people take notice.
“We have experienced seniors that have all played in big games. This group has really filled out physically and are practicing with such passion.”
The Trojans were 18-8 overall last year and 13-3 in the Rock Valley Conference, good for second place behind 16-0 McFarland.
Headlining the list of returning senior is Joe Ciriacks, who was an honorable mention, All-RVC selection as a junior when he averaged 11.4 points per game.
Ciriacks is joined by fellow seniors Justin Growel, Jake Nixon, Jake Remsza, Logan Parsons, Evan Clintsman and Johnathon Brehm.
Juniors on the roster are Jonathan Ciriacks, Noah Nyffeler, Dawson Kruse and Nicholas Pallanich. Sophomores are Jared Brehm, Logan Mitchell and Nick Bourdo, while freshmen listed on the roster are Daniel Clintsman and Brendan Sullivan.
While the team has only had a bit more than a week in the gym and one scrimmage, Rayfield already sees several players who can help at any given time.
“We are a much deeper team than ever,” he said.
Huge challenge right away
East Troy will jump right into the fire later this week when the Trojans travel to Stevens Point Saturday to face the defending Division 1 state champions.
Stevens Point, which dismantled perennial powerhouse Germantown in last year’s title contest, features a number of NCAA Division I recruits, including 6-foot-6 senior Sam Hauser.
Hauser, regarded by many as the best player in the state, already has inked a full scholarship to Marquette for next year.
Rayfield never has shied away from playing big-name teams, like Stevens Point, and he’s not about to start now.
“We have another extremely tough schedule (that) hopefully gets us ready for March,” he said. “Playing in gams like that exposes weaknesses at times that you can address moving forward.”
Rayfield added his team is excited for the chance to matchup with Stevens Point Saturday.
“SPASH is a great opportunity to play another elite team loaded with D1 recruits and arguably one of the best teams in state history,” he said.
“Teams like to play us because we don’t gimmick it up. We go play up tempo and play how we play.”
Following Saturday’s trip to Stevens Point, the Trojans travel to Racine Case Tuesday, Dec. 1, before they open RVC play Dec. 3 against visiting McFarland at 7:15 p.m.
