Romo's rapid rise

It is easy to pinpoint when Nick Romanowski's star was born. In the Sabers' fifth boys basketball game of the season, after turning in four solid but unspectacular previous efforts, the 6-foot-7 junior forward/center went off for what was at the time a career-high 36 points with 16 rebounds in Franklin's overtime victory at Racine Case on Dec. 15.

Facing the athletic Alex Marzette, who would eventually be named a Southeast Conference honorable mention, Romanowski got to the line at will (16 of 22 free throws) and also was a force defensively with four blocks.

It was the first of four straight remarkable efforts that eventually helped lead Romanowski to win the school's first-ever boys basketball SEC player of the year honor, a spot on the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-state honorable mention list and a nod on the 2010 NOW All-Suburban Boys Basketball Team, the first Saber to make the squad in eight seasons.

Striving for improvement

"I have accomplished a lot, but I can still accomplish a lot more," Romanowski said. "(Winning the SEC's top honor) is a great accomplishment. I feel really excited and thankful for all the coaches that voted and said I was the best player in the conference. It's a big confidence booster. To get that vote of confidence - maybe I can be a better player next year and make the all-state team."

That would be a sure bet if Romanowski improves anywhere near as much as he did between his sophomore and junior campaigns. In his first season on the varsity in 2008-'09, Romanowski led the Sabers in scoring (10.6 points) and rebounds (7.1) per game, but offseason work with his AAU team quickly paid off.

Area scoring leader

This season, Romanowski was the NOW area regular season scoring champ and finished with 22.5 points per game, including seven 30-plus point games. He also bumped his rebounding average up to 11.1 (12 double doubles) and blocked 2.8 shots per contest.

"I came into the season knowing I could do well, but I didn't know how well I would actually be able to do," Romanowski said. "As the season kept going, I was putting up some good numbers and I was feeling good. I just needed to get that one (big) game out of my way. After the Case game, that gave me confidence that I could do it, and my teammates did a great job of setting me up in the right spots."

According to first-year coach Tim Hogan, Romanowski's 501 total points were the third most for a single season in school history. He finished this season with 754 career points, good for fourth among active players in the NOW area, and once next season begins, he'll shoot up to first on that list because the three players ahead of him are seniors.

'Romo' goes on a run

Following his breakout game against Case, Romanowski added 30 points and 16 rebounds against West Allis Central, 37 points and 13 rebounds against Milwaukee South, and 28 points against Oak Creek, all in succession.

On Jan. 22, he had 35 points and 21 rebounds against Racine Horlick and he had three more 30-point efforts after that. He had one stinker, a seven-point effort against Kenosha Bradford on Jan. 19, his only game in single digits this season.

"He was aggressive and attacked the basket whenever he got the ball in the post (against Case)," Hogan said. "He continued that trend over the course of the rest of the season. I think I realized he was in the midst of a special season when he was producing numbers like that on a consistent basis . . . It was also evident when opponents had to go zone against us because he was such a tough matchup for big guys inside."

Focus of attention

Romanowski admitted that as teams began to gear their game plans toward stopping him, he at times became frustrated and tried to do too much, sometimes getting himself in foul trouble and as he put it, he "let his team down."

But he made adjustments as the season rolled on and was consistent enough to be the runner-up in the overall NOW player of the year voting to Menomonee Falls' sophomore sensation J.P. Tokoto.

"The biggest adjustment that he made was not getting frustrated with the constant double teams and physical play," Hogan said. "Opponents knew that if they shut him down they had a good chance of beating us. He really matured over the year, handling the aggressive play and sharing the ball with his teammates when he did see multiple defenders."

Romanowski hopes to improve his strength and range this offseason. According to Hogan, the junior is drawing interest from all levels of colleges, but has no firm offers on the table yet.

"I think the interest will be even more so next season," Hogan said.

Franklin's fab five

Nick Romanowski became the fifth player in school history to be named to the NOW All-Suburban Team. The others are:

2001-02: Brian Epps, senior forward

1994-95: Anthony Epps, junior forward

1991-92: Steve Greszkiewicz, senior center

1989-90: Joe Tilley, senior forward

→ NOW Boys All-Suburban Team: Mini profiles on players. Page 17