They look nothing alike.

Their personalities could not be more different.

But for as long as point guard David Eads, post Zach Karczewski and swing man Cole Vucurevich have been playing for Lake Travis head coach Jan Jernberg, they’ve been known as “The Triplets.”

Before the beginning of the 2007-08 season, Jernberg pointed at three sophomore names on his varsity roster.

“Those are my guys,” he said. “They’re going to be very good for us for the next three years. They can all play with the big boys.”

And they have. Over the last three years, the Cavaliers are 92-15 and have won nine playoff games. But until Saturday’s region championship, it was the losses that stuck with the three.

First, it was a first-round upset at the hands of New Braunfels during their sophomore season.

“Records don’t matter in the playoffs, everything is new in the playoffs,” Eads said. “No one is ever going to step aside for you just because you’re a heavy favorite. Everyone is going to gun for you, no matter what.”

But once the lesson is learned to play all-out, what happens when that’s not enough? Eads found out the hard way last year when a bad inbounds pass gave LBJ new life in the Region IV final. He blamed himself for four months, despite the fact that the Cavs actually lost on a buzzer-beater in overtime. He was told over and over by friends, coaches and teammates that his one pass didn’t cost Lake Travis a trip to state. He didn’t care.

“When it comes down to crunch time, everything’s magnified and people remember who makes or misses the game-winner,” Eads said. “As a point guard, I pride myself on my ability to take care of the ball, and when we had to have that at the end of the game, I failed in that pursuit. This season has definitely been an opportunity to make up for that.”

Eads made up for it Saturday with a 19-point performance, but when the Cavs have needed big performances this year, one of the triplets always seems to show up.

Karczewski has led the way in the playoffs, averaging 15 points per game, including a 24-point outburst in the regional semifinal against Gregory-Portland. He is far and away the Cavaliers’ most aggressive player, one that Jernberg nicknamed “Twilight” because when he steps on the court, he becomes a monster, dominating bigger defenders while checking in at 6’4”.

“I love playing against guys that are supposed to be the best, especially if they’re taller,” Karczewski said. “I love playing the underdog. You’ve got nothing to lose, so go all out.”

“You’d be hard pressed to find a post his size, with the size and athletic disadvantage he has, that gets the results he does,” Eads said. “He just never quits.”

Vucurevich is the most athletic player Jernberg says he has ever coached, and in a showdown with district rival Killeen on Jan. 29, the 6’4” swingman had five blocks to go with 12 points. He both literally and figuratively rises to the occasion.

“I wouldn’t say I go into those games with a different mindset,” Vucurevich said. “I just think I take advantage of the opportunities.”

He also led the Cavs with 19 points in a come-from-behind win over LBJ in the third round.

“His athleticism is unrivaled,” Eads said. “Some of the plays he makes, you have to stop for a minute and realize what you just saw.”

When one can’t finish the job, another does. They know where everyone is on the floor, and when one of them goes down, the dynamic changes for Lake Travis. When you’ve played together for so long, that tends to happen.

“The chemistry we’ve built has really helped us,” Eads said. “We understand each other both on and off the court.”

They each credit the contribtions of their teammates, especially Chris Dash, Billy Sherakas, Bob Carlton, Griffin Gilbert and Yusuf Abdullah, as a huge reason they were able to make it to this point, especially after losing Jordan Jahr and Ryan Betori.

But it’s their understanding of each other that makes the team special – even if the details really aren’t all that important.

For instance, Karczewski believes he knows where Vucurevich gets his incredible jumping ability.

“His big toe is just ridiculously huge,” Karczewski laughed. “It’s got to be twice as big as mine and like three times longer than a normal big toe. I’m telling you, that’s where it comes from.”

Eads thinks the most interesting thing about Vucurevich is his broad but intriguing musical tastes (well, that and the fact that he was born in Compton, CA). He points to Vucurevich’s digging up Bobby Vinton’s “Mr. Lonely,” which was sampled by Akon for the song “Lonely.”

“He’ll bring out anything from any decade,” Eads said. “I didn’t even know the original version of that song existed. And he was excited, he was listening to that like he would anything else.”

And where Karczewski is borderline abusive on the basketball court, he’s a humanitarian off the court, as a leader for the local Special Olympics. Still, Vucurevich doesn’t think people understand the dark side.

“He seriously changes. I can’t even explain it,” Vucurevich said. “When Zach is on the court, he’s completely different than the guy that comes off the court.”

But both Vucurevich and Karczewski agree on Eads.

“David is one of the most intellectual people I’ve ever met. He’s also extremely philosophical,” Vucurevich said.

“He got some ridiculous score on his ACT, like 34 out of 36 or something like that,” Karczewski said. “It shows up on the court. He has basketball intelligence, but he has more than that when he’s out there.”

They’ll each need their best traits at full force tonight when they take the court against Lancaster (35-2), a team favored to beat them. And a team that’s taller, more experienced and deeper.

But that’s fine for the three seniors. Karczewski will attempt to outfight the opposition, Vucurevich will attempt to out jump them and Eads will attempt to outsmart them.

When asked if what they’ve accomplished has set in, they all answered the same.

Not yet, but it probably will when we step on the court Thursday.

“The Triplets” weren’t labeled as such because they were similar in any way, shape or form.

It was because they might as well be one entity.

Weekend Preview

If the Cavaliers (33-5) manage an upset tonight against Lancaster (35-2), it’s likely they will have done it their way. Lake Travis is good at making other teams play its game, and frankly, doesn’t quite know how to win any other way. At least not lately.

The best example would be a team like Killeen, which averaged 70-plus points per game, but was held to 46 and 57 in both games against Lake Travis. The Cavaliers are good at making first options disappear, and forcing tougher shots.

In theory, Lake Travis could be exploited for its height disadvantage against a team like Lancaster, but it wouldn’t be the first time a taller team has failed to capitalize.

“They’ve got four division one players – they’re very good,” Jernberg said. “We’re not going to do anything different than what we’ve done before. Yes, they’ve got some height, but we’ve played teams with guys that were 6’6” and 6’8”, and we’ve done pretty well against them.”

When they haven’t done well, they’ve done poorly against the press, forced bad passes and most of all – gone cold from the floor or the free throw line. Lately, it hasn’t been a problem.

“If we shoot the ball well, we’re going to be in it,” Jernberg said. “That’s the key.”

It will have to be for the underdog Cavs to keep up, but if they’ve shown anything this season, it’s that if they’re in the game late, they’ve always got a shot.

For many outside of Lancaster and Lake Travis, though, this 4A final four is about one thing – Houston Yates’ otherworldly dominance. The Lions (32-0) have won 14 straight games in which they’ve scored 100 points, and controversially set a state record for points in a game with a 170-35 win over Houston Lee earlier in the year.  They are the defending state champions, and this tournament is supposed to be their crowning achievement. Yates plays The Colony (32-8) following the Lake Travis – Lancaster game tonight, and the winners of each game face off for the title at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

How the Cavs got here

Boys Season Results
Date    Opponent    Time/Score
Nov. 17    McCallum    61-56 (w)
Nov. 20    Vista Ridge    50-45 (w)
Nov. 24    @ Austin High    73-60 (w)
Nov. 25    Anderson    69-31 (w)
Dec. 1    @ Cedar Park    52-49 (w)
Dec. 3    Palmview    84-21 (w)
Dec. 4    S.A. Clark    74-62 (l)
Dec. 4    St. Thomas Catholic    42-37 (w)
Dec. 5    Converse Judson    36-34 (l)
Dec. 8    @ Lehman    91-31 (w)
Dec. 11    Westwood    65-55 (w)
Dec. 12    Mansfield    63-40 (l)
Dec. 12    St. Stephen’s Episcopal    68-56 (w)
Dec. 12    Cedar Park    37-34 (w)
Dec. 18    Lockhart    81-31 (w)
Dec. 21    Copperas Cove    82-52 (w)
Dec. 28    Big Spring    58-39 (w)
Dec. 29    St. Michael’s     56-55 (w)
Dec. 29    Vista Ridge    63-42 (w)
Dec. 29    Houston Sam Houston    57-41 (w)
Jan. 4    Smithville    82-49 (w)
Jan. 8    @ Elgin    67-40 (w)
Jan. 15    @ Lampasas*    41-28 (w)
Jan. 19    Hendrickson*    65-49 (w)
Jan. 22    @ Hutto*    63-44 (w)
Jan. 26    Marble Falls*    66-54 (w)
Jan. 29    @ Killeen*    48-46 (w)
Feb. 2    Lampasas*    56-39 (w)
Feb. 5    @ Hendrickson*    68-60 (l)
Feb. 9    Hutto*    56-53 (w)
Feb. 13    @ Marble Falls*    72-46 (w)
Feb. 16    Killeen*    57-55 (l)
Feb. 24    McCallum**    69-58 (w)
Feb. 26     Cibolo Steele**    49-42 (w)
Mar. 1    LBJ**    66-56 (w)
Mar. 5    Gregory-Portland**    70-44 (w)
Mar. 6    Kerrville Tivy**    38-31 (w)
*Denotes district game
** Denotes playoff game

LTHS Boys Statistical Leaders
(Updated through end of regular season)

Player        PPG    RPG    APG    FG%      FT%
Zach Karczewski        14.2    7.1    0.5    58    58
Cole Vucurevich        10.3    5.2    1.4    44    51
Billy Sherakas        9.7    4.4    0.5    44    68
David Eads        8.6    3.4    9.2    42    67
Chris Dash        7.8    3.4    0.5    54    57
Griffin Gilbert        5.1    2.3    0.2    62    52
Bob Carlton        4.3    0.8    0.4    45    70
Yusuf Abdullah        1.6    1.1    0.4    30    59
Drew Nikolovski        1.5    0.5    0.3    37    38
Matt Tyson        1.2    0.6    0.6    30    53
Collin Betori        1.0    0.6    0.0    –    100
Adam Peckover        0.8    0.6    0.2    33    100
Trent Kan        0.5    0.7    0.2    75    25
Team totals        60.7    27.4    13.7    48    60

LTHS Boys 3PT Leaders

Player        3FG    3FGA    3FG%
Chris Dash        36    77    47
Bob Carlton        35    85    41
Billy Sherakas        44    122    36
Team totals        176    485    36