When it comes to Pewaukee basketball, you have the Iowa State-bound skilled big man Milan Momcilovic and the recruited junior Nick Janowski in a walking boot.
"Junior year is definitely a big year, especially because we lost a bunch last year," Janowski says. "And with the goal of trying to 3-peat, it's a big year. But I just have faith in God that he's got me."
And you have the head coach, David Burkemper, who played under Dick Bennett at Wisconsin and still shares his lessons.
"We have our three pillars, and the second one is be a great teammate," Burkemper says. "I think coach when we played, it was, what could you do for the other guy, and could you enjoy the others' success."
And once Janowski returns with Milan, Batman and Robin will be back.
"It's like good cop bad cop," Janowski says. "He's the nice guy. I try to be the, I have to be the tough guy because somebody has to do it. But I'm fine with that. I accepted that role at the start of the year and I know it's only going to help us come down the stretch."
Now the Pirates' goal? Plunder a third straight title.
"That's such a reasonable goal," Momcilovic says. "I mean, it's the goal I want. It's my senior year. Three-peat sounds so good right now. Just getting there, we know it's going to be a grind every day. But we can definitely do it. We got a tough enough schedule. We're gonna be ready in March."
"All the confidence in the world in our team," Janowski says. "And I know that when I come back, we're going to be even better. I'm going to do whatever it takes to win because, in the end, that's all I care about. I care about winning and I wanna 3-peat more than anybody else. So I know what's going to happen. We're gonna win it."
Lance Allan asks, "So I'm hoping you don't go into coach speak, but there is that little thing out there about the 3-peat. And you could etch your name into history with some of the greatest teams of all-time in state history. How do you view that?"
"Oh, I think it's a blessing," Burkemper says. "You know, everybody talks about expectations are a blessing. And I think we'd be silly not to embrace the talk about a 3-peat. Just in our conference, I just looked today, there were four of the top ten teams in Division 2. And then, you know Wisco doing what they've been doing at the beginning of the season. It's not going to be easy. But we wouldn't want it easy. And I think, again watching, we have two banners up and we'd love to add a third one there."
The Pirates' quest for a 3-peat is rare. But this team has the skills and unselfishness to be in the mix for it.
