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Levi Ewan tops All-North list; four seniors earn awards

It ended abruptly and it will never feel like it ended fairly, but the run for Rib Lake senior basketball players Levi Ewan, Nick Gerstberger, Steven Petkau and Devyn Vlach ended memorably with a second Marawood North conference championship in three years, a second WIAA Division 5 regional championship in three years and a sectional win that’s eluded the program for so many years.

It also ends with high praise for the foursome, who all earned All-Marawood North honors following their 2019-20 championship season. Ewan took it one step further, earning All-State honorable mention from the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association.

Ewan was named the Marawood North’s Player of the Year for the second time in his prep career, Gerstberger landed second-team All-North honors for the second time and Petkau made the second-team for his first All-North basketball award. Vlach got honorable mention for the first time in recognition of his contributions to the team’s 12-4 season in Marawood Conference play and 22-4 mark overall. To top it off, second-year head coach Carrie Ewan was named the Marawood North’s Coach of the Year. A coach for this group of seniors long before it got to high school, Ewan guided the Redmen to within a game of reaching the WIAA Division 5 state tournament, only to be stopped not by another basketball opponent but by the coronavirus outbreak and the social shutdown it created in mid-March. She potentially could’ve been the first female head coach in Wisconsin history to lead a boys team to a state appearance.

While each of the four seniors had their moments during the season where they carried the team to victory, it was Levi Ewan who most often had the ball in his hands and drove the offensive machine that averaged 64.9 points per game this season. Ewan averaged 16.5 points and 5.6 assists per game, both team highs. He ranked second on the team by averaging 1.9 steals per game and he pulled down 3.2 rebounds per game. He shot 44.3% from the field (139 of 314), including a solid 37.6% from 3-point range (56 of 149) and 73.6% from the free throw line (95 of 129).

He finished his career with nearly 1,600 points.

Ewan also was the North’s Player of the Year as a sophomore and this is his third straight appearance on the six-member first team. He joins senior center Cameron Ford of Athens as a repeat first-teamer and Prentice senior Peyton Enders as a unanimous pick for this year’s team. Juniors Cade Faber and Taber Fawley of Phillips and sophomore Cooper Diedrich of Athens round out this year’s team.

In 10 games against Marawood North teams, Ewan averaged 20.3 points per game, including 32 points and nine assists while hitting 10 of 14 shots, including five of six 3s in an 84-57 rout of Phillips on Dec. 17; a 23-point, nine-rebound, sixassist game in a 70-53 win in the rematch at Phillips Feb. 4 and a 30-point, sevenassist game in a 70-44 win over Abotsford on Feb. 10. He finished the regular season with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 65-56 win at Chequamegon.

Ewan nearly started the year with a triple-double, which is an extreme rarity in high school ball. He had 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in an 84-40 non-conference win over Northland Lutheran and also was masterful in Rib Lake’s final win of the season, a 61-45 WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal win over Pittsville on March 12, with 15 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Gerstberger, in a bit of a surprise, dropped to the four-man second team after being a first-team pick a year ago.

Overall, the 6-3 forward boosted his scoring average to 15.4 points per game and added 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He shot 56.7% from the field (156 of 275), including a solid 42% from behind the 3-point arc (29 of 69) and he made 62.5% of his free throws (60 of 96).

Gerstberger surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career on Jan. 6 and finished with 1,262.

He started the season with three straight double-doubles and had seven during the season, highlighted by 18 points and 19 rebounds in a 59-51 nonconference win at Colby on Feb. 18. He had an 18-point, 11-rebound effort in a 73-50 North win over Chequamegon on Dec. 3, a 17-point, 10-rebound game in a hard-fought 53-51 win at Edgar Dec. 6, 10 points and 12 rebounds in a 48-32 win at Abbotsford Jan. 14 and a big 14-point, 12-rebound double-double in a 55-47 win over Prentice on Jan. 28.

Gerstberger was a big presence for Rib Lake in the post-season, averaging 21.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in those four wins. He had 31 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 73-50 regional semifinal win over Newman Catholic on March 6.

Petkau, a three-year full-time varsity contributor, had his best season, giving teams problems on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court. Using his length and 6-4 and his athleticism, Petkau averaged 11.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.2 steals and a team-high 1.7 blocked shots per game. He also brought Rib Lake crowds to its feet with a fair share of slam dunks during the year. He shot 42% from the field and made 71 of 96 free throws (74%).

He had several solid all-around showings in conference play. He started with a near double-double, collecting 11 points and nine rebounds against Chequamegon Dec.

3. He had eight points, eight rebounds and five assists in the Dec. 17 win over Phillips and nine points, five rebounds in a big 53-50 win at Athens Jan. 3. He had 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks in the Jan. 14 win at Abbotsford and a huge all-around game against Prentice Jan. 28 with 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two assists and a season-high eight blocked shots.

He had 20 points while making 10 of 11 free throws, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks in a 66-55 win at Newman Catholic Feb. 7 and a season-high 23 points and five steals in an 82-30 nonconference win at Flambeau Jan. 20.

The 6-3 Vlach, in his second full-time varsity season, added to Rib Lake’s defensive and rebounding prowess with his length and became one of the Marawood’s most feared 3-point shooters.

Vlach averaged 11.3 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals and one blocked shot per game this season. He was a 44.3% shooter from the field (108 of 244) overall and shot 35.6% from 3-point range with the most makes on the team (58 of 163). He led the team in free throw percentage by making 19 of 25 (76%).

Two of Vlach’s biggest games came around North foes. He scored a careerhigh 28 points while making six of nine 3s in the Dec. 17 rout of Phillips. Four nights earlier, he was the only team member to have a hot hand, making nine of 19 shots, including five of 14 3-pointers in the team’s 64-54 upset loss at Prentice. He had 17 points and seven rebounds in the early-season win over Chequamegon and finished strong with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and two steals at Chequamegon on Feb. 24. He had a near double-double with 19 points and eight rebounds in the season opener against Northland Lutheran.

He too had a strong playoff run, averaging 15.5 points per game in Rib Lake’s four wins, including 20 in the 71-58 regional- final win at Wild Rose March 7.

WBCA All-State

Levi Ewan was one of 16 players to get honorable mention in the WBCA’s Division 5 All-State selection process. Ford and Enders were on that list as well.

The 10-member first team included two players Rib Lake faced in the postseason, Wild Rose’s Caleb Williams and Pittsville’s Matthew Kissner. Williams had 20 points against the Redmen and Kissner had 25.

Sheboygan Lutheran, who was the Division 5 favorite to win the state title among the eight remaining squads when the season ended had two All-State representatives, senior Jacob Ognacevic and sophomore Casey Verhagen. Ognacevic was averaging 39.7 points and 16.1 rebounds heading into sectional play and was the third player in state history to score 1,000 points in a single season.

The rest of the first team included Hilbert senior Adam Diedrich, Monticello junior Peter Gustafson, Hustisford junior Dylan Kuehl, Wauzeka-Steuben senior Carter Lomas, Bangor senior Grant Manke and Birchwood senior Matthew Marcinske, who surpassed the 2,000-point mark for his career.