Area singer discussess secrets of success By LINDA MCALPINE He s got that pop star look, an album and singles on itunes, and gets fan mail can fame and fortune be far behind for 18-year-old Devin Quello? The singer-songwriter, a West Bend East High School graduate, seems grounded for whatever comes his way. I ve actually made a study of the art of fame, he said, when asked if he is poised on the brink of the kind of career that has claimed the lives of such stars as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and others. I ve watched how stars rise, reach their peak, their fall and hitting rock bottom. Quello said he feels he is too focused on achieving success and then maintaining it to get caught up in stardom s pitfalls. While Quello has been diligently working on his singing career, he doesn t expect to be an overnight sensation. My music could be like a wildflower and bloom quickly or be like a pine tree and take a long time to grow, he said. Quello s music is very much his art, as he is both a composer and lyricist. There is a part of me in my music. They are personal. It s me, wearing my heart on my sleeve, he said. It has a message. His own taste, when it comes to music, runs a wide gamut, as he was introduced to a variety of genres when quite young. I remember listening to everything, from Michael Jackson, Brandy, Britney and the Backstreet Boys to Dean Martin and country music, and anything in between, he said. His singing talent also made itself evident at a young age. I started singing along with the music I was hearing, and I guess I was pretty good, he said. Throughout his school years, he sang in the choir and participated in plays. Quello is somewhat self-taught when it comes to singing and songwriting, as he has never taken professional lessons in either voice or any musical instrument. We had an old-fashioned typewriter and that s what I used to write the words to my songs on, as I loved the clicking noise the keys made, he said of how he started his songwriting. Another thing Quello has studied as part of positioning himself for a career in pop music is the art of the audience. I go to a lot of concerts and raves and I ve watched how other artists perform, from the audience point of view, he said. He recently put what he learned from those experiences into practice in a performance of his own which set the girls in the audience to screaming. Quello was the opening act for the East Dance Thinks Washington County Has Talent! show and he wowed the capacity crowd. When I perform, I love to connect to the audience, to draw them into the performance, to engage them in it, he said about why he left the stage, shook hands with fans in the front row and brought several volunteers from
the audience back on stage to dance with him during the talent show. Despite the obvious adoration of some of his young fans they, like Justin Bieber fans have come up with their own nickname, Devinators Quello said knowing that his music is reaching people and connecting with their emotions motivates him to pursue his pop star dream. Devin, can I just say thank you? Oh my gosh, the last few weeks I have been getting yelled at for no reason and have been getting ignored, but the only thing I have to do to make me happy is pop in your CD, one of Quello s young fans wrote to him. Another simply drew a large colorful heart with two words Inspiration hero above it. I really don t do this for the money, Quello said of his budding success in selling his music on the likes of itunes, Amazon and iheartradio. I do it for the relationships and connections with people, my fans and supporters. If they buy my music, it tells me that it speaks to them and that means something to me. Information about his music and future performances can be found on Quello s Facebook page. Linda McAlpine/ Devin Quello displays a piece of fan mail during an interview in West Bend. GIRLS BASKETBALL: KML 61, WEST 34 Chargers crack into the win column KML likes pace of 1st half against West By ADAM LINDEMER It took four tries, but Kettle Moraine Lutheran found the win column. The Chargers led from start to finish and cruised to a 61-34 victory over West Bend West on Tuesday. KML (1-3) was able to set the tone early. I liked the pace of the first half, KML coach Jason Walz said. It was a pace we wanted, which was up and down, and it was faster. The Chargers took a 10-3 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter and had an eight-point lead after the first quarter. The second quarter gave KML plenty of breathing room as the Chargers outscored West (1-1), 17-5, to take a 30-10 lead at halftime.
It was great for us to pick up our first win, Walz said. And it was the frosting on the cake that we were able to play everyone. We hadn t had that opportunity yet this season. Andrea Meinert led the Chargers with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Rachel Groth had seven points. Ashley Zander finished with 10 rebounds. Everyone played meaningful minutes and handled the pressure well, Walz said. John Ehlke/ Kettle Moraine Lutheran s Sarah Basse grabs a rebound from West Bend West s Laura Schilter on Tuesday in West Bend. KML s offense was in rhythm against the Spartans and made it tough to be defended. We were able to use our athleticism and depth to spread things out and get some openings, Walz said. When you spread things out like that it makes it difficult to defend just one thing. Celina Wanta scored a game-high 20 points for West. After three losses to begin the season, Walz saw an improved team on the floor. KML lost to Germantown 62-58 in its opener on Nov. 20 and then dropped both games in the Brookfield Central Tournament on Friday and Saturday. It was tough to take something away from that Germantown game, because of the frantic pace of it and it was the first game. The two games over the weekend, we saw that we needed to improve some aspects, Walz said. We didn t improve them fully tonight, but they were better. KML 61, WEST 34 KML...13 17 13 18 61 West...5 5 13 11 34 KML (61): Katy Jahns 0 2-4 2, Ashley Zander 3 0-0 6, Mikayla Voigt 1 3-4 5, Sarah Basse 1 4-8 6, Andrea Meinert 6 45 17, Kari Schneiss 3 0-0 6, Rachel Groth 3 1-2 7, Hannah Gresenz 1 0-0 2, Sarah Brandner 2 0-0 4, Sami Bormann 0 1-2 1, Sydney Hanick 1 0-0 3, Taylor Hansen 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 15-25 61. West (34): Alason Koenig 1 0-2 2, Celina Wanta 8 4-4 20, Kayla Clark 2 0-0 5, Laura Schilter 1 0-0 2, Gloria Cope 0 0-1 0, Kayla Waechter 2 0-0 4, Katy Banovich 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 5-9 34. Three-pointers KML 2 (Meinert, No11), WBW 1 (Clark); Rebounds KML 44 (Meinert 11, Zander 10), WBW 29 (Wanta 9); Turnovers KML 16, WBW 27; Team Fouls KML 14, WBW 19; Fouled Out none. John Ehlke/ Kettle Moraine Lutheran s Sarah Brander goes in for a basket with multiple West Bend West defenders in her path on Tuesday in West Bend.
BOYS BASKETBALL: WEST 56, KEWASKUM 50 Reverse psychology Spartans deviate from original plan By PAT NEUMUTH KEWASKUM Every coach goes into a game with a specific plan. West Bend West coach Ryan Wietor executed his in reverse. Initially I wanted to go to (the zone press) in the first half, Wietor said. Because we are not a deep team we didn t feel that we d have the energy for it in the fourth quarter because there s a lot of chasing in that. Instead, the Spartans put the pressure on late and it helped them stop Kewaskum en route to a 56-50 victory Tuesday. What I wanted to do in the first, I ended up doing in the fourth, Wietor said. I think it proved to be effective. We weren t getting stops in our man and we were giving up easy put-back buckets in our 1-3-1. So I went to the next item on the list. The first 20 minutes of the game was closely played. There were 10 lead changes and three ties. Then, West (2-1) went on a 7-0 run to give the Spartans a 34-30 lead midway through the third quarter. Kewaskum (1-2) ended its scoring drought and went on a run of its own. Hunter Flanders ignited a 12-0 run that started in the third and continued into the fourth. Flanders scored seven of those 12 points and he led all scorers with 17 points for the game. West s Jack Baumann ended the run with a free throw with 4:50 left in the game to stop the bleeding, but Kewaskum had a 42-38 lead. After a layup by Jarrett Sargent that gave the Indians a 44-39 lead, Kewaskum went scoreless for the next 2:57. West countered with a 12-0 run and the reason was the full-court press. Kewaskum committed four turnovers in the drought and only got off contested shots. John Ehlke/ West Bend West s Kyle Krier shoots Tuesday night against Kewaskum in Kewaskum.
When they switched to that, unfortunately we had a few guys that didn t execute, Kewaskum coach Keith Traska said. We work on that every day and we are going to get better at that. West waited to the right time to do it, when we were tired. Still, West needed to close out the game from the free-throw line and with an inexperienced team, that s not always easy. The Spartans made it look easy. West went 12-for-16 in the final four minutes of the game. Freshman Matthew Koerner led the Spartans with 13 points, with most coming from the line late. He was 9-for-9 from the free throw line for the game. I m totally comfortable with him going to the line. He makes them all in practice, Wietor said. He s really mentally tough. Wietor said it s unusual to see a freshman make all his free throws, especially late in the game. Koerner made all six of his free throws down the stretch. This was a game Traska circled on this calendar, even though it s just their third game. Traska was an assistant under Wietor the past two seasons. We just did not finish when we had the opportunities when West did, Traska said. I give them all the credit in the world. They played great at the end of the game. They made the shots, we missed the shots. WEST 56, KEWASKUM 50 West...11 14 13 18 56 Kewaskum...9 15 14 12 50 West (56) Matthew Koerner 2 9-9 13, Andrew Duening 5 1-4 11, Mike Frei 3 3-4 11, Jack Baumann 3 3-5 10, Jacob Duening 3 0-0 6, AJ Emerich 1 3-4 5. Totals 17 19-26 56 Kewaskum (50) Hunter Flanders 6 3-5 17, Nate Stockhausen 4 0-0 10, Nate Krupp 3 2-3 8, Brandon Lastovich 3 0-0 7, Greg Rate 1 2-2 4, Jarrett Sargent 1 0-0 2, Eric Limberg 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 7-10 50 3-point shooting WBW 3 (Frei 2, Baumann), KEW 5 (Flanders 2, Stockhausen 2, Lastovich); Team fouls WBW 14, KEW 19; Rebounds WBW 23, KEW 18; Turnovers WBW 16, KEW 14; Fouled out KEW Flanders