The 2016-2017 Boys’ Basketball Dream Team

Alex Kelehear began his LaFayette High School career two seasons ago with an already solid reputation as a top-flight player. And even as a freshman playing against older, more experienced players, he proved to have the goods time and time again.

As a sophomore, he got even better.

As Kelehear improved, so did the Ramblers, who went from a 12-13 record the previous season to a 23-5 mark this time around. LaFayette was narrowly edged out for the Region 6-AAAA championship, but they went to handle North Oconee for the program’s first-ever home state playoff win.

They went on to hang tough with Henry County before finally succumbing the No. 2-ranked team in the state during their first Sweet 16 appearance in five years.

Kelehear was runner-up in the voting for 6-AAAA Player of the Year and this past week, he was named as an All-State Honorable Mention pick by the Georgia high school basketball website, Sandysspiel.com, the same site that named Kelehear as its Class AAAA Freshman of the Year last year.

Recently, Kelehear was named as the LaFayette High Boys’ Player of the Year by the Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club and, today, he receives yet another honor as the Walker County Player of the Year.

Kelehear scored 16.5 points per night and filled up the stat sheet with 6.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.7 steals per contest. He also led LaFayette with 64 made 3-pointers.

“Overall, I thought it was a pretty good year, especially as a team with us getting to the Sweet 16, which hadn’t been done in a while,” Kelehear explained. “I have to thank my teammates for always being there. I couldn’t have done it with them. They were the ones making the shots and boxing out on rebounds to get me the ball.”

Kelehear said he worked hard in the offseason to prove that he was more than just a perimeter scorer.

“Looking back at last year, I was really just a 3-point shooter,” he said. “So during the summer, I worked on everything else, like passing the ball and taking it to the hole. I really think all that worked showed this year with a better allaround game.”

“Being 23-5 and going to the Sweet 16, you don’t accomplish things like that without having a good point guard,” LaFayette head coach Hank Peppers said. “They are the steady hand that runs your offense and you really get exposed if you don’t have a good point guard.

“But Alex was not just a point guard. He was a point guard that could fill it up, get rebounds, get steals, play defense and just do anything out there on the court. It was a tremendous year for us as a team and for Alex as an individual player.”

Kelehear was often times to object of extra defensive pressure from opposing teams, but he said he trusted that his teammates would find a way to get the job done.

“When other teams put up some sort of special defense (against me), the other guys on the team would step up and come up big in some big games,” he added. “That’s what being a team is all about.”

Kelehear also proved to be at his best when the lights were on brightest. That was never truer than in the Region 6-AAAA tournament semifinals as he hit a shot with four seconds left on the clock to hand the Ramblers a 44-43 win over Heritage.

“You look at the stats he put up and he really played better in bigger games and that’s what you look for in a leader,” Peppers added. “You look for someone who steps up in the big games. Alex does that and I expect him to do it even more and more in the next two years.”