Port’s Loose leads history-making Pirates

The Port Washington High School boys’ basketball team had a historic season, and some high postseason accolades came with it.

The Pirates won 22 games in a row and finished 25-2, both school records, won the inaugural Glacier Trails Conference title with a 12-0 record and had four players honored by opposing conference coaches.

Senior Cal Loose, who eclipsed 1,000 career points and moved into second place in scoring in program history, was named to the Division 2 all-state first team by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association and to the first GTC team.

“I couldn’t be happier for him. He definitely deserves it,” coach Garrett Hoffmann said.

Loose, a 6 feet, 2-inch guard, was second in the league in scoring, averaging 17.3 points per game, and led the league in steals with 2.4 per game. He was tied for seventh in assists with 2.9 per game and was 15th in rebounds with 4.9 per game. He can shoot from the outside, making nearly 42% of his three-pointers, or drive to the basket for points. He shot 49.8% from the field.

“He can do it all. He really takes pride in being a good defender too,” Hoffmann said. “He understands he had a great year and it’s a product of all the work he put in the last four years.”

Loose was one of the team’s captains who set the tone for the Pirates.

“He’s very much a lead-by-example guy. He goes about his work. He gets on other guys too to get them motivated,” Hoffmann said.

Loose has committed to play basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which competes in Division III, next season.

Senior Grady Karrels was Port’s other player unanimously named to the GTC first team.

Karrels also eclipsed 1,000 career points this season, but has a different style than Loose.

“He’s a go-with-the-flow kind of dude, where Cal is intense. Not that Grady’s not a competitor,” Hoffmann said.

“Grady’s much more that level-headed calm presence in the locker room. You’re not going to rattle him, which is essential.”

Karrels, a 6-4 forward/guard, was sixth in the GTC in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per game while shooting 47.1%. He was third in assists with 3.3 per game, fourth in blocks with 0.9 per game, ninth in steals with 1.7 per game and 14th in rebounds with five per game. He led the GTC in free throw efficiency among those with at least one attempt per game, making 57 of 68 shots (83.8%). 

“He’s a longer and more athletic forward/guard. He could bring the ball up and facilitate too. Being on the wing is where he thrived,” Hoffmann said.

On defense, “He could guard (positions) 1 through 5. That makes it easy to coach too,” he said.

Karrels has committed to play Division III basketball for Carroll University in Waukesha.

Senior Izaiah Scheftgen was named to the second team in his other sport. The linebacker will play Division 1 football for the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., but he took care of business on the court first.

The 6-3 muscular forward was third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.9 points per game and led the Pirates in shooting by making 106 of 172 baskets (61.6%). He grabbed 4.3 rebounds per game and made 1.4 steals per game.

Scheftgen excelled inside despite being shorter than most other centers and forwards. 

“He owned the middle and we could switch him onto a guard and feel comfortable with him out there,” Hoffmann said.

Scheftgen could lead by example and be vocal.

“He’s a good mix of Cal and Grady,” Hoffmann said.

Senior Aiden Mitchell, a 6-2 forward, averaged 6.9 points per game, making 52.7% of his shots, and 4.5 rebounds per game, 18th in the league. He was 12th in the GTC with 1.6 steals per game and averaged 2.2 assists per game.

Hoffmann thought Mitchell deserved to be named to the second team.

“Aiden is more of a stretch 3-4 dude who can step out and hit some shots. He was very smart with the shot. I like Aiden’s game a lot,” Hoffmann said.

Scheftgen and Mitchell, he said, “were super efficient from the floor. They did everything we asked them to and more. We don’t have the team success we have this year without guys like Aiden and Izaiah.”

Both worked hard in the offseason lifting weights.

“They really took ownership in the weight room,” Hoffmann said.

He remembers taking over the program when the four seniors were sophomores. It was his first time as varsity coach. The team started 0-13.

“Just the turnaround these guys have had,” Hoffmann said. “To see those guys step up and mature and develop into the leaders that they were, you can only hope for a group like that.”

Hoffmann grasped the gravity of the moment with the nine-member senior class — including team manager and cross country star Jameson Koebel, who never missed a shoot around — that led the team on its 22-game winning streak.

“We took some time to appreciate what’s going on and where we were,” he said. “I will remember this for the rest of my career.”

The Pirates’ success has already started to trickle down. Hoffmann said freshmen and sophomores wanted to come to school early to practice shooting after Port lost to Slinger in a Division 2 sectional semifinal.