Battle-tested Brillion breaks through for another state appearance

DE PERE, Wis. (NBC 26) — Ten years ago this March, Brillion won its only state boys basketball championship in school history.

A decade later, the Lions are headed back to state in hopes of adding another gold ball to their trophy case.

Just about everyone on this year's Brillion team has a tie to the championship squad from 10 years ago.

"I was at that game," junior guard Caeden Holly said. "I was a lot younger but I remember parts of it.

"Growing up in Brillion everybody has wanted to get back to that point," Holly said. "I've been dreaming of it since I was a little kid."

Current coach Chad Shimek was an assistant on the 2012 team and two other Brillion teams that went to state.

"Those were great experiences," Shimek said Tuesday. "I was spoiled early on to go as many times as we did.

"Now obviously being a head coach and 10 years later it really makes you appreciate the opportunity to go again," he added.

After a loss in the sectional final round last year, this year's squad got over the hump and got back to Madison.

"We knew we had the team that we would be able to compete," Shimek said of this year's squad. "You never really think you're going get there because there's so many things that have to fall into place for you to be able to get to the state tournament.

"And to be honest with you we played some good basketball this postseason but we also had some things go our way," he added.

Brillion has had to come from behind in three of its first four tournament games. In Saturday's sectional final, they overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Freedom 39-38. They clinched the game with a defensive stop in the closing seconds.

"It was wild," Brillion's leading scorer, junior forward Jeremy Lorenz, said. "It's hard to not think about it but you don't know if maybe that will be your last game so obviously it's exciting to pull out those close games... but it was definitely a wild ride of emotions."

The battle-tested Brillion team was seeded last out of the four Division 3 teams at state. They will take on the top-seed West Salem in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon.

"Being the four seed it's probably the first time this year that all the pressure of winning isn't on us," Lorenz said. "But I think that we're pretty focused and we know what's coming and we're ready to get to work."

Lorenz, who has drawn interest from several Division I colleges, made it clear: Brillion is not just happy to be there. They are hunting another gold ball.

"We're determined," he said. "No one wants to go down there just because it's cool to be there.

"Everyone wants to go down there and play and hopefully put ourselves in position to get some wins and hopefully come away with the trophy," he said.

The Division 3 semifinal between the Lions and Panthers is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The winner advances to the state title game Saturday afternoon around 3:00 p.m.