Former St. Charles starting five still winning four years later

By Mike Ramczyk

Sports Editor

In 2012, the St. Charles Elementary School boys basketball team wrapped up an illustrious four-year career with a shocking loss at the Padre Serra tournament, the most prestigious private school tournament in the Milwaukee area.

Seeded No. 1 and boasting a four-year record of 86-11, the starting five of Brandon Vandehei, Cal Tully, Ty Wiemer, Ben Heiligenthal and Jake Weidert was a well-oiled machine.

Since Tully was the tallest player at 5-foot-11, the Chargers couldn’t match most teams’ height, so they utilized their speed, athleticism and chemistry to beat opponents.

Though several St. Charles teams had advanced to the Padre Serra in the past, the 2012 squad was the first to receive a No. 1 seed. The tournament features much larger private schools from inner-city and metro Milwaukee.

Fast forward four years.

On Tuesday night, the five seniors gathered in person outside of school for the first time since last summer to talk about their new teams – the Burlington and Catholic Central varsity boys basketball squads.

Both the Demons and Hilltoppers are playing in sectionals Thursday night, and Vandehei, Heiligenthal, Tully, Weidert and Wiemer have key roles for their respective teams – Weidert, Tully and Wiemer for Burlington and Heiligenthal and Vandehei for Catholic Central.

“It’s cool to see everyone having so much success,” Vandehei said. “We’re all going to college. It feels pretty cool, and we’re all still close friends.”

The former Chargers all live in Burlington, so they said it’s nice to know they can see each other whenever they please. But the rigors of high school limit encounters to group chats via text message or a congratulatory shout out on Twitter or Facebook.

“We’re always rooting for each other, whether it’s basketball, football or baseball,” Wiemer said.

On Friday night, Heiligenthal made a game-winning basket to propel Catholic Central to victory. In doing so, he became the school’s all-time leading scorer. The next night, Heiligenthal’s 37 points and nine rebounds led to an upset of higher-seeded and state-ranked Milwaukee Academy of Science.

Heiligenthal said his St. Charles friends “blew up” his phone with congratulations.

“We still text each other after games, like ‘congrats,’ and ‘good luck’ before games, especially this past week with regionals or during football. After games, I’m always looking on Twitter to see how BHS did. I got a lot of congrats last weekend, that was cool, but I was happy to see BHS won.”

Weidert said playing for a chance to go to state is what the five friends have talked about for years.

Both BHS and CCHS are two wins away from a trip to the WIAA state basketball tournament in Madison. It’s something the Toppers haven’t experienced since 2006 and the Demons haven’t tasted since 1979.

Catholic Central was the first private school to win a WIAA state championship in 2001, the first year that WISAA and WIAA combined to allow public and private schools to play in one large tournament. Burlington has never won a state championship.

“We’ve all dreamed about this since grade school,” Weidert said. “We still talk a lot, we have group chats, I’m always looking in the box scores in the papers to see if my friends are scoring.”

“The biggest thing that we use is text messaging, but we really haven’t seen each other in person since summer,” Tully added. “Usually, we have practices or school activities at the same time.”

Start slow, finish strong

A month ago, both Burlington and Catholic Central were hovering around the .500 mark.

Players on both sides were struggling to develop their roles, according to Wiemer and Vandehei, and it led to inconsistent play.

After a loss in late January, Catholic Central sat at 6-7. Burlington dropped to 5-8 after a three-game skid culminated with a 20-point loss to Slinger Jan. 23.

Seemingly at the same time, the Toppers and Demons flipped a switch. Burlington has won 10 of 11 games since Jan. 23, and Catholic Central has virtually mirrored the Demons’ surge with 10 wins in 12 games.

What’s been the biggest difference?

“Halfway through the season, the seniors came together and talked about how we need to finish our last year strong,” Wiemer said. “Guys found their roles instead of worrying about themselves. As Coach Chris Weidert (Jake’s dad and the quintet’s coach at St. Charles) says, ‘defense wins games.’”

Jake Weidert, who describes his role as the “garbage guy,” said the Demons are playing loose and having fun.

“I don’t play much, but I love being around the guys and I love practicing,” he said. “I’m a guy that does anything to help the team win.”

Vandehei said knowing roles is key. The Toppers realize Heiligenthal is the leading scorer, and they sacrifice opportunities to get the ball to him.

In Saturday’s regional final in Milwaukee, Vandehei said coach Kyle Scott told the team to get the ball to Heiligenthal, who drew fouls at an alarming rate.

Heiligenthal, at 6-foot-4, can score at the rim and outside. He finished the game with 15 free throws in 19 attempts, partly because his teammates dished him the ball in advantageous positions on the court.

“Our team chemistry has been great this year,” Vandehei said. “Everybody knows their role. Ben’s the big scorer. Milwaukee was so undisciplined and kept fouling Ben. Everyone knew to get him the ball.”

“We don’t care who does the scoring, as long as we keep winning and rolling,” he added. “We’ve all accepted our roles.”

Wiemer said his role is to lock down the opponent’s best scorer, regardless of height. At 6-foot-2, Wiemer uses his body and often out-muscles taller players.

Tully, a 6-foot-2 wing, said he guards the wing mostly but helps down low on the weak side. His biggest strength may be his outside shooting. Tully drained five 3-pointers in Friday’s victory and finished with 22 points.

“I love going to get rebounds,” Tully said. “Nick (Klug), Mitch (Klug) and sometimes Grant (Tully) are great at penetrating and kicking out to find shooters. Once they see someone’s hot, they’re great at getting us the ball.”

Chemistry is key

While both games are winnable Thursday night, both Sheboygan County Christian and Fort Atkinson are riding momentum and feature big-time scorers.

Tristan Shoup, a 6-foot-5 senior for Fort, scored 27 points in a playoff victory over Delavan-Darien and 25 the next night at Westosha, accounting for more than half of his team’s points.

SCC has two players averaging more than 15 points per game.

“We’ve grown up as a group,” Tully said. “We know our roles, and our confidence level is so high.”

Added Vandehei, “We have a game plan set up. We have momentum and know it’s a great opportunity. It’s going to give us a lot of motivation.”

When asked about the St. Charles days, all five boys agreed they cherished seeing each other every day and building such a great bond.

Their graduating class of 22, which only had nine boys, forced everyone to play basketball.

“We all played basketball,” Heiligenthal said. “It felt like playing in the backyard almost, because you’re playing with your friends.”

Added Cal Tully, “My favorite part was us always being around each other 24/7,” Cal Tully said. “We grew on each other, and we always knew we needed great chemistry to succeed.”

Could this “dream team” be successful in today’s high school basketball?

Wiemer said the chemistry would carry over, and Vandehei said a game plan would come together if the five reunited on a basketball court.

“It would be read and react offense. We would pass and cut non-stop,” he said.