Boys basketball finalists announced for Player of Year
The boys finalists for News-Times Basketball Player of the Year include El Dorado’s Brenden Johnson and Joderrio Ramey, Parkers Chapel’s Nate GarrettEvans, Junction City’s Jarrodney Tubbs and Strong’s Derrian Davis.
The finalists will be honored and the winner announced at the News-Times Scholar-Athlete Awards Banquet on May 31.
Ramey, a 6-3 junior, burst onto the scene for the Wildcats. He led the team with 17.5 points per game and 5.3
assists per game. The numbers are more impressive considering he was primarily a junior varsity player as a sophomore.
“He was a surprise to everybody else. He wasn’t really a surprise to us,” said El Dorado coach Gary Simmons. “People don’t keep a lot of stats during JV stuff but Joe averaged about 20 points a game during that JV season. A lot of times, they just played halves. When it was time to pick a point guard, we kind of thought about BJ at first. But, after watching Joe during the summer and during the spring, he just came. He does a great job penetrating. I guess he was a surprise to some, especially opposing coaches who didn’t know anything about him, but he made a name for himself this year.”
Johnson was anything but a surprise for El Dorado. The 6-2 junior started as a sophomore on the Wildcats’ 6A state runner-up team. He expanded his role this season, averaging 16.6 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Johnson shot 72 percent from the line and made 49-of-129 from 3-point range.
“BJ led us in scoring and picked up his role from last year where he was just, basically, a spotup shooter and guarded everybody’s best player,” said Simmons. “He still did a lot of defending everybody’s best player this year when we had to have him do it. He’s a very good player, a very good leader. He’s a quiet leader, leads by example, works hard every day.”
Garrett-Evans, a 6-2 senior guard, scored more than 500 points for the Trojans, who advanced to the 2A state semifinals. A long-range sniper, he averaged 17 points per game while shooting 80 percent from the line and 40 percent from the field.
“Three-point shooting wise, he stretched the defense out, opened things up for us inside. Teams had to pay so much attention to him, it opened things up for other guys,” said Parkers Chapel coach Josh Langley. “We were pretty well rounded this year so when they tried to take him away, we had other scorers and when they tried to take them away, it opened things up for Nate. It puts a lot of pressure on a defense when you have a kid who can shoot it like he does. They can’t stop everybody.
“He’s a high IQ kid, very fond to coach, loves the game.”
Tubbs led Junction City to the 3A state semifinals, averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, the junior center was a load to defend against in the post.
“He’s a dominant post player, a game-changer type dude,” said Junction City coach Kendall Hutcheson. “Everybody had to game-plan for him and figure out a way to stop him. He’s hard to stop one-on-one. It’s a big compliment for a post player to see junk defenses run for him. He changed the way people had to play us.”
Davis, a 6-2 sophomore, started every game at point guard for the Bulldogs, who advanced to the 1A State Tournament. He aver-
aged 24.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
“Derrian is a really coachable kid. He does exactly what a coach asks him to do,” said Strong coach Greg Anthony. “I was a little concerned putting him in as the starting point guard at the start of the year. Coming in as a
"Helio has a nice career for him. He's able to utilize his racing skills, his business contacts to deliver him other things he wants to do. To me, it was a business decision. He'd probably like to race every weekend, but I think he's in the right spot."
It took Castroneves some time to come around to Penske's way of thinking.
He didn't know what to do with himself at the season-opening IndyCar race in Florida, where he was the grand marshal. There was no reason to sit in team meetings, and not having driven the 2018 car, he had nothing to offer his teammates. He had nothing to do for sophomore in the league we were in, I didn’t know how he would respond to having the ball in his hands as much as he did. Early on, I wasn’t on him a lot. When we went up north over the Christmas holiday, you could really see a difference in him, starting to get confidence in himself. He got more of a scorer’s mentality. Things just started clicking for him.” an entire weekend until he gave the command to start the engines, and ever the showman, he did it hanging from the St. Petersburg fence to mimic his signature fence-climbing celebration.
When IndyCar next raced in California, in a companion weekend with IMSA, it was easier for Castroneves because he was busy with his sports car. Still, that longing to get back into the sleek, fast IndyCar was there — and the cars were just across the paddock.
He's on board with Penske's plan, but he doesn't have to love it.
"I believe it wasn't maybe the right time to leave," Castroneves told the AP. "Nothing lasts forever. Maybe one more year? It is what it is. I hope next year we're going for five. I hope this is the last year we are going for four. When I get four, why stop? You know? Right now the plan is to keep going."
He'll start eighth Sunday in a Chevrolet many believe is among the fastest in the field. The pole was his to lose in the final round of qualifying, but he didn't get the speed his rivals anticipated in his effort. Pagenaud qualified second, Will Power was third and Josef Newgarden fourth.
So, the old guy was the slowest of the Penske quartet on qualifying day. But he might be the winner on Sunday, which just might make him forget about his three second-place finishes — including last year, when Takuma Sato held him off in the closing laps.
It's been so frustrating that his teammates don't want to be the one to beat him.
"It's a terrible situation to be in," Newgarden admitted.
"Imagine," Pagenaud said, "if you are fighting with him and you beat him and he's second? Again? You pass him just before the finish. You win with regret?"
"What do you even say to him? 'Sorry, bro? It was my move, bro?'" Newgarden added with a shrug. "I think if Helio wins, we are all happy. Unless you finish second to him, then it sucks. You want a team car to win. You say that, and you mean it, and if your car is not the car of the day, you want one of your teammates to win and we all would be happy for Helio if Helio won."