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Rock Valley Conference rivals team up

Photo

Andrew Keister

Photo

Bryan J. Gregory

MADISON — The WBCA Division 2 boys all-star game here Saturday will signal the end of Andrew Keister’s brilliant high school basketball career.

For Bryan Gregory, the game will serve as a springboard to a collegiate career at UW-Stevens Point.

And after battling as Rock Valley Conference rivals in two sports the past four years, Evansville’s Keister and Edgerton’s Gregory are looking forward to playing on the same team in the Division 2 North/South game scheduled for 10:45 a.m. at the UW Field House.

“It’s been a lot of fun to finally be able to play with him because he was always giving us troubles in football and basketball,” Gregory said of Keister, a 6-foot-1 guard. “But I already knew how good of a basketball player he was. That’s is why he was picked to be on the all-star team.”

Keister said Gregory, the Rock Valley North Player of the Year, is as good as advertised.

“Bryan’s just really good. When he gets the ball, he’s tough to stop,” Keister said of Gregory, a 6-4 center, who averaged 21.3 points a game this past season. “He’s going to make a difference for us on Saturday when he’s on the court.”

Keister earned All-Rock Valley honors in football, basketball and baseball, but he will concentrate on football at Minnesota State University in Manakato.

Although Keister shared the All-Rock Valley North quarterback spot with Gregory last fall, Mankato will use the graduated Blue Devil standout as a defensive back, where he also was all-conference.

Minnesota State head coach Todd Hoffner said Keister “is an outstanding athlete who excelled on both sides of the ball in high school. He has all the tools you look for in a defensive back, including quick feet, great change of direction and he’ll come up and hit you.”

After getting a chance to play basketball with some of the state’s best this past week, Keister said he’s really going to miss the sport.

“It’s really made me think about my future,” said Keister, who averaged 15.3 points a game this past season. “I know I made the right decision as far as playing football, but this has been a lot of fun.”

Meanwhile, Gregory has a bright basketball future. He will join good friend and Verona graduate Jason Ziemer at UW-Stevens Point, where the Pointers are coming off a 24-5 season and a WIAC championship.

UW-Stevens Point coach Bob Semling raved about Gregory, one of his prize recruits.

“Bryan’s a wing forward who brings athleticism and toughness to the floor,” Semling said. “He moves well without the ball and will attack the rim with cuts and dribble penetration.”

Gregory, Edgerton’s all-time leading scorer with 1,490 points, wants to end his illustrious high school career with one last victory after playing on Crimson Tide teams that won 36 games the last two seasons.

“We’ve been working hard all week and trying to stay focused because winning the game is our No. 1 goal,” said Gregory, who will spend a portion of his summer working at least four basketball camps. “It has been fun, but we still have a job to do, and that’s to win the game.”

One last game together for two long-time Rock Valley rivals.