Senior guard putting Laurel Highlands on map
Tri-State Sports & News Service Say what? That’s what Bryce Laskey often hears when he says he plays basketball at Laurel Highlands High School, which is closer to Morgantown than to Pittsburgh. Section
“The WPIAL refers to us leader.” as northern West Virginia,” Early last month, Laskey Laurel Highlands authored, arguably, coach Rick Hauger said the most impressive performance with a laugh. “If we were in the WPIAL this closer to the city, Bryce season. He scored 26 points would probably get more and hit six 3- pointers exposure.” against Elizabeth Forward.
Probably be a weekly In the first quarter. headliner, given his superb That is correct. One numbers. In his first nine quarter. Twenty-six points. games, the 6-foot-4 senior Say what? guard produced point totals “That’s what people say of 38, 25, 45, 25, 46, 21, when I talk about our 35, 36 and 24 points. Entering school,” said Laskey, who, the week, he was averaging despite being on pace for 32.8 per game at Laurel 104 points against EF, finished Highlands, located in with 45. “My AAU Uniontown, F a y e t t eteammates aren’t sure County. Tuesday night where Laurel Highlands is against Latrobe, he poured located. I could tell them in a season-high 47 points. the history of our school
“Kids look up to him,” when they say it, but it’s said Hauger, whose team not worth going into it at entered the week with a 4-5 this point. I know it sounds record, 1-1 WPIAL Class 5A cliche, but you want people 1. “He’s our to know where you grew up and where you’re from.”
At this pace, Laskey, a Saint Francis (Pa.) recruit, is leaving them with no choice. A skilled outside shooter who averaged 23 as a junior, he has converted four or more 3-pointers in six games this season. That total includes eight versus EF and five against Waynesburg. He also became the school’s 13th 1,000-point scorer in the EF win.
A prideful sort, Laskey is well-versed on the history of the program. He can talk in detail about players such as Wil Robinson, who played in the ‘60s and led the Mustangs to a state title, and Gus Gerard, a ‘71 grad. Robinson went on to become the third-leading scorer at West Virginia, behind Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley, and Gerard played at Virginia and later in the NBA and ABA for eight seasons.
“My dad always tells me stories about those guys,” Laskey said. “It’s been a dream of mine to be considered with them.”
Hauger, in his 14th season, grew up watching Robinson and played alongside Gerard. That gives him a unique perspective on where Laskey might fit in among the program’s greats.
“They’re all different so it’s hard to compare,” he said. “Bryce is certainly to be mentioned with the alltime outstanding players who have been at Laurel Highlands. He can drive to the hoop, he hits pull-up jumpers, stepback 3’s, regular 3’s. He catches and shoots real well. He’s a team player. He’s had 13 assists in two games this season. He does it all. Wilbur and Gus were the same way. One of the differences is that there was no 3-point line then. They’re all great players.”
Another former Laurel Highlands great, Barry Taylor, played a role in helping Laskey land a scholarship to Saint Francis. The son of legendary Laurel Highlands coach Harold “Horse” Taylor, he contacted the Division I school after watching Laskey play a few times. Up to that point, only Division II schools had offered.
“I was talking to Army and Navy, but no one pulled the trigger,” said Laskey, an honors student with a 3.98 grade-point average. “I’m glad Saint Francis gave me the opportunity.”
In Laskey, Saint Francis procured a tireless worker (he regularly works out at 6 a.m.) who watches copious amounts of video (clips of NBA sharpshooter J.J. Redick are must-see viewing for him). Anything for an edge.
“I try to model my game after [Redick],” said Laskey, who drives 45 minutes to Morgantown four days a week to work on his speed and strength at Pro Performance RX. “I think that will be especially important at the next level because I’m really going to have to follow his trajectory of being a knockdown shooter.”
In the meantime, Laskey hopes to lead the Mustangs deep into the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in his career. They’ve been eliminated by Mars, led by Notre Dame recruit Robby Carmody, each of the past three seasons, twice in the first round and last season in the quarterfinals.
“I’ve played against him in AAU probably since the first or second grade, and they’ve always been good matchups,” Laskey said. “Obviously, he’s gotten the upper hand recently. Hopefully we can make a nice run this year. I like our team this year and I think we have the pieces to do some great things.”