A new era in Luxemburg-Casco basketball

Three wins two years ago. Five wins last season.

Given time, new head coach Mitch Jandrin would love to see Luxemburg-Casco get back to a place where they can compete for the North Eastern Wisconsin Conference championship, something the Spartans tied for his junior year (17-1, 21-3 overall) and won outright his senior year in 2017. That season, team captain Jandrin was a unanimous first-team all-conference player who helped L-C to a 17-1 record, 20-4 overall.

“There are a lot of new things I’d like to install, both offensively and defensively,” Jandrin said. “We have had our growing pains within the first week on the offensive end, as the players are learning a new offense. The energy in our practices has been really good.”

Jandrin said the players are still getting on the same page, working on building more chemistry on the court and finding out what each player’s strengths and tendencies are. He said rebounding and defensive abilities are strengths he’s seeing so far.

“We have a very athletic team with a lot of speed, which will help us try pushing the tempo in most of our matchups this season,” Jandrin said. “With having a little more depth, it will help play to our advantage to want to play faster.”

The Spartans lost a combined 19 points a game from graduates Josh Parins and James (JD) Glampe, but return several starters and key reserves.

Jacob Coisman, a 6’4” junior committed to the University of Cincinnati for baseball, averaged 9.2 points, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game last season.

“With his height, we will look for him to be one of our primary rebounders,” Jandrin said. “While a big playmaker for us, he is expected to be one of our top facilitators of the basketball this year.”

Eli Derenne, a five-foot-11 junior who quarterbacks the football team, averaged 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game last season.

“He brings a physical piece to our team, and is one of our strongest defenders and one of our best rebounders,” Jandrin said.

Brayden Duescher, a six-foot-six junior forward, had 45 offensive rebounds last season.

“He provides crucial rim protection on the defensive end, and expects to contribute a lot of rebounding for us this season,” Jandrin said.

Other returning players are six-foot-one junior guard Bryce Piesler, who averaged 5.1 points and shot 45 percent from three-point range last season, and 5-foot-eight junior guard Tatem Klaubauf, who averaged 4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. Seniors Mason Burmeister and Mason Trimberger both averaged six points per game as sophomores, but only played the first three games last season. The six-foot-three Trimberger was a two-way (receiver and defensive back) player of the year in football this fall.

“He’s extremely athletic and will be tasked with guarding the opposition’s best players a lot,” Jandrin said. “He has a very quick burst, and can get to the rim at the blink of an eye. Burmeister will be our do-it-all-type player. He’s good at scoring, facilitating and physicality defensively.”

Piesler is expected to be a big contributor from deep, while Klaubauf’s speed at the point, defense, nose for the ball on the boards and leadership are all key qualities.

Junior Ethan Ropson’s first varsity season is expected to provide a major scoring punch, good passing and physical defense, while junior Marcis Doell is a very intelligent player who will be expected to help L-C on the defensive end, especially.

Norm Hippert is the varsity assistant. JV1 coach is Jim Mrotek, and JV2 coach is Ryan Scanlan.

Jandrin said the NEC is expected to be very competitive, with Freedom and Little Chute the two teams to beat. The middle of the pack is made up of most of the conference, and matchups could go either way on any given night.

Midway through his senior year at L-C, Jandrin committed to playing college basketball at Ripon, but decided to not play. He graduated with a communication degree with an emphasis in marketing in May of 2021, and works full-time at KI (Krueger International) in Green Bay in their Inside Sales Department.

Jandrin said one of his strengths within coaching is relationship building, and being so fresh out of school makes that a little easier.

“I have been in their shoes and experienced a lot of the things they are currently experiencing a short time ago,” Jandrin said.

If he could travel back in time, what would Coach Jandrin tell his younger self?
“To remember to feel gratitude when playing the game, and be present in the moment” he said. “It goes by so fast, but some of the best memories I carry to this day are playing high school sports. Make sure to cherish those moments, and don’t take it for granted. Never take a rep, set, drill, play or whatever is off and always give it your all because not only will it help you on the court, but it will also help you grow as a person in life outside of basketball.”

A good quote to live by?

“The journey is the reward,” Jandrin said.