It’s been eight months since Lake Travis’ last-second loss to LBJ in 4A state quarterfinal.

The Cavaliers have lost their leading scorer – Jordan Jahr – a starting guard in Ryan Betori and an invaluable sixth man in Jeff Coursen, all to graduation.

Lake Travis head coach Jan Jernberg is left with a strong core that includes three returning starters and a big move-in player, but if the Cavaliers are going to get anywhere, they’ll have to exorcise their playoff demons.

“I know this sounds silly, but I was recovered as I was going to be about a week after the fact,” Jernberg said. “I was dying inside, couldn’t sleep for two days – and I knew I wouldn’t – but I keep telling the guys there are a billion people in the world who could care less about who won that game. It’s still just a game.”

That may be true, but the weight of the loss stayed with the team for a while, especially the returning seniors David Eads, Zach Karczewski and Cole Vucurevich.

“The guys that got us there were also the guys that failed in the clutch, there’s no way around it,” Jernberg said. “But the reality is that it had to be a perfect storm for LBJ to beat us that day, and that’s exactly what it was.”

The hope now is that the Cavaliers can pull something from such a tough loss.

“We had it, should have won it and we didn’t,” Jernberg said. “We led all categories, shot better and the whole bit. But just a couple of two-minute spurts did us in. If it makes us hungrier for this year, then we’re better off for it because I think we have a chance to get back there.”

When the football season ends, and the team is at full strength, Jernberg anticipates a starting rotation with Eads manning the point, Vucurevich in the shooting guard position, Karczewski moving out to the small forward position, move-in Billy Sherakas at the power forward position and Griffin Gilbert at center.

The first three have already carved out their spots, and Jernberg has an immense amount of trust invested in them.

“These are the best three letterman I’ve ever had as a group,” Jernberg said. “Three first-team all-district starters, a great point guard (Eads), the best rebounder pound-for-pound I’ve ever had (Karczewski) and a kid that can jump out of the gym (Vucurevich).”

Sherakas moved in from Denmark, and has played for the country’s junior national team. Jernberg thinks he can fill the scoring void left by Jahr’s exit.
“He can dunk with either hand, shoots the three well, handles the ball as well as anyone except Eads and he plays very aggressively,” Jernberg said. “The transition has been tough, but he’s trying extremely hard to get the system down and to get in his role. That’s a credit to him.”

Gilbert brings plenty of skill to the post, but he’ll miss a good portion of the season due to playing a starting role on the Lake Travis football team. The Cavaliers will also be missing a reliable player off the bench in Trevor Gillette – the football team’s starting defensive end.

Lake Travis’ most experienced sixth man will be Yusuf Abdullah, who stood out as the most valuable player in this year’s preseason team scrimmage.

After that, it’s up to Matt Tyson, Bob Carlton, Chris Dash, Drew Nikolovski, Collin Betori, Trent Kan, Adam Peckover, Will Cefai and Andrew Chavis to carve out their spots on the team.

It’s an interesting group in that there is a lot of senior experience, and a lot of really young players will relatively no varsity experience.

“The biggest trick with that mix is trying to get the older guys to mentor, and get the younger guys to be invisible,” Jernberg said. “I don’t need heroes from the sophomore group. I just need guys that can give me quality minutes that I won’t notice in the course of a game because they’re not making mistakes. I just want them to be a piece of the puzzle. If they’re trying to style and profile and not defer to the experienced scorers, we’re going to bump heads. ‘Just hold your own and don’t make mistakes.’”

Jernberg has been coaching for over 30 years, so he’s got a good idea of what he’s dealing with this year. He knows this Cavalier squad will be good. How good? That’s another matter.

“I think we’re missing a guy like Jeff Coursen. That extra man. Jeff could have coached this team, let alone played for it,” he said. “I think we have the potential to get to the same place, but we have a lot of stops along the way before we get there. We’ll just have to see.”

Can they make it to the state final four?

“Right now, they’re not a final four team,” he said. “I’ll qualify the statement by saying that I didn’t think last year’s team was a final four team at this point. Once we beat Killeen, I really started to think we could be there.”

Thanks to exceptional team height, if Lake Travis does make it back to the Region IV final, they’ll get there a different way.

“We’re going to run a lot more zone and match up,” Jernberg said. “The reason why is because we have a chance to be really big. We’re talking 6’3” to 6’6” all the way across the floor. That’s big.”

They’ll face some staunch competition in the region in LBJ, Kerrville Tivy, Killeen and Marble Falls. The last two will also be a handful in district play.
“I don’t think anybody will go through the district unscathed,” Jernberg said. “I don’t see anybody going 10-0.”

That means no clean slate for Lake Travis for Killeen – two teams that have become bitter district rivals.

“I do know that Killeen and Lake Travis will get referees from somewhere other than Killeen and Austin,” Jernberg said as he laughed.

It could be that the head coach is playing possum, but it speaks to reason that a team with that much quality returning to the starting lineup should be able to make a run in the playoffs if everyone stays healthy.

“I think by the time we get to district play I’ll have an idea, and the tournaments we play in are pretty salty,” Jernberg said. “I’ve got another great staff with Clint Baty, Ben Faulkner and Michael Wall. It’s going to make my life easier, and hopefully we’ll be the better for it.”