Tosa West's Youth on Display in Loss to New Berlin West

There were two Tosa West Trojans boys varsity basketball teams on display Friday night.

One team pushed the basketball up the court, passed crisply and decisively in transition and converted easy layups that made it seem like the young team had everything figured out. They trapped with aggression, pressuring their opponent until the ball came loose like the paste oozing out of a squeezed tube of toothpaste.

Unfortunately, that team wasn’t on the court very often in Tosa West’s (2-6) 58-46 loss to the New Berlin West Vikings (3-3).

It was the other version of the Trojans that spent the majority of the night on the hardwood. The version that more accurately represented a Tosa West team that has just two seniors and regularly plays lineups primarily featuring freshmen and sophomores. 

Those Trojans made youthful mistakes. They allowed offensive rebounds, forced passes and allowed their aggression to get them into foul trouble.

“We’re going through growing pains right now,” Coach Chad Stelse said after the game. “We’re working hard on the defensive end, but we’re not finishing the possession by boxing out. We’re standing for a split second, and that’s what kills us. As a young team we need to learn quickly that you find your man and go get the basketball.”

Tosa West allowed just one Viking field goal in the first quarter on their way to 13-7 lead, but did themselves no favors by allowing the Vikings to take 12 free throws in the quarter.

The fouls piled up for the Trojans, as New Berlin West made 14 of 25 free throws on the evening, led by senior Dan Sidesky’s 10-15 performance.  

“Growing pains,” Stelse reiterated. “I can’t say enough about our guys effort and that’s what I told them, how proud I am about how hard they worked each and every possession.” 

The Trojans saw their lead slip away in the second quarter thanks to a 10-3 New Berlin West run to end the quarter that left the Vikings up 23-20 going into halftime. After a back and forth beginning to the third quarter, the Vikings began to take control as Sidesky scored the team’s final nine points of the quarter to give the team a 38-30 lead after three quarters. 

The 6-foot-4 guard/forward, averaging better than 23 points per game coming into Friday's game, hurt the Trojans inside and out, alternately slashing into the paint for layups and bombing away from outside. Sidesky finished with 32 points on the evening, hitting eight field goals and two threes to go with his free throws.

“I think we contained him better in the first half by closing out with high hands quicker,” Stelse said. “Our rotations in the second half got a little sloppy. Our guys wanted it so bad they were trapping spots they probably shouldn’t have.”

“And he caught fire. He’s a great player and he showed it down the stretch.”

Freshman Andre Carroll led Tosa West in scoring with 12 points, regularly showing off his athleticism. Carroll seemed to regularly find a trampoline inside of the paint, rising above opponents in traffic and finishing.

“I never want to take away his aggressiveness,” Stelse said. “We have to control it somewhat to keep him on the court, but I’m never going to take that part of his game away. That’s the strongest part of his game, he’s tenacious on both ends of the court.”