DE PERE (NBC 26) — The (20-3, 15-2) De Pere Redbirds boys basketball has been the cream of the crop of the FRCC and this might be the first year without a Kinziger taking the court since the 2016-2017 season but on Thursday they can lock up their 5th straight FRCC title.
"We're really, really proud of this group of guys," said head coach Brian Winchester, who is in his 19th season at the helm of the Redbirds. "They've done all that we've asked of them and more."
As kids, the De Pere players imagined themselves stepping onto the varsity court and making an impact.
"I've been looking forward to this since 2nd grade when I started playing basketball," said Redbirds junior guard Will Krueger, who is averaging 16.3 points per game.
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"I know other guys and little kids, it's always their dream to play in varsity, and I think it's really cool just playing for Coach Winchester and just being part of this program, because historically we've been pretty good and, you know, being able to fill out that goal is just really cool and really fun," said senior guard Jack Bookter, who is third on the team averaging 13.8 points.
After losing all 5 starters from last year's squad, this year's team felt slept on coming into the season.
"Coming into the year, you know, we try not to care about rankings, but we took it a little personally that we weren't in the top 10 again, so think that just motivated us a little bit," Krueger said.
"There's probably a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, but there are also kids who have waited and worked very hard and became good basketball players," said Winchester. "They just had to wait a little bit."
But they've more than enjoyed forging their own path and making a name for themselves. De Pere, sitting at 20-3, recently earned a 1 seed in the Division 1 state tournament and could win yet another FRCC title.
"That's just been super fun this year finding a new identity within our core group of guys and seniors that just had to find a way to step up," Bookter said.
The Redbirds are outscoring their opponents on average by 16 points per game this season and players say Coach Winchester's emphasis on defense is a large reason for the program's sustained success.
"That's what makes a lot of his teams really good is he pushes us really hard to play good defense, pushes us hard to play together, and I think that we've done a great job of that this year, and that's why we've been successful," said Krueger.
And they're driven by a sense of pride in upholding the program's legacy.
"Just, you know, continuing the legacy that has been brought before us in the years before, I think we just take a lot of pride in that because, you know, no one wants to be the team to lose that legacy, so I think that taking pride in that has helped us," Krueger said.
The Redbirds will battle it out with Notre Dame on Thursday. Winner takes the conference title.
