Cade Dirkse, Jamison Zavatchin give Oostburg boys basketball a dynamic duo
OOSTBURG — When watching the Oostburg Flying Dutchmen boys basketball team, its evident sophomores Cade Dirkse and Jamison Zavatchin are a dynamic duo.
Just like peanut butter and jelly, the two are good on their own but together are a terrific combination.
Both players are averaging over 20 points per game and are the Nos. 1 and 2 scorers in the Big East-South.
After each being named first team all-conference as freshmen, the duo have continued to improve.
“We’ve kind of had a year of experience on varsity and now that we’ve got a feel for it the game has slowed down,” Dirkse said. “That building of confidence has led to us playing solid.”
Dirkse, the point guard, has increased his scoring by nine points per game this season to just over 20 ppg while also getting five assists a contest.
Zavatchin hasn’t taken as large of a leap in terms of scoring after averaging 20.2 ppg as a freshman and now is at 21.9 but he’s improved his rebounding as well to over eight per game.
The forward says his talents are a product of his faith and family.
“I have to thank Jesus first and foremost but I have a lot of friends and family who have instilled a love of basketball into me,” Zavatchin said.
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The tandem’s talents were on display Friday night against the undefeated Kohler Blue Bombers, both scoring 17 points in a 60-50 loss.
Oostburg is 6-3 in the conference and all three losses have come at the hands of Kohler and Sheboygan Lutheran, the two teams ahead of them in the standings.
“We’re right there with a lot of teams but then go through a little lull during the middle of the game where we don’t look great and can’t get much on offense,” Dirkse said. “If we can shorten up some of those lulls I think we can really compete with the top teams.”
Zavatchin says the pair having has much individual success is going to plan, but he hopes it translates more into team success.
“It was a goal of mine coming into the season that we could both play well as a duo,” Zavatchin said. “I was hoping to beat some of these teams like Kohler but we’re right there, we’re close.”
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After finishing tied with the Blue Bombers for the conference championship, Dirkse says the team set their sights on another crown which so far hasn’t come to fruition.
“The expectations we had for ourselves were a little higher than we’ve been playing at,” Dirkse said. “We just need a little more to get over the hump. Just keep grinding away.”
Dirkse doesn’t think the team is far off.
“I think we have glimpses of us being a very good team which can compete with the top teams like Kohler but we haven’t come out with some of the wins like we wanted,” Dirkse. “We’ve had a lot of growth with our inexperienced varsity team.”
No matter what happens the rest of this season, Kohler coach Ken Roeder knows the duo will only get better over time.
“They’re going to be really, really good players there’s no doubt about that,” Roeder said. “It takes a team effort to handle both of them so I give them a lot of credit. Those guys are going to be very tough to handle the rest of their careers.”
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Oostburg boys have dynamic duo in Cade Dirkse, Jamison Zavatchin
