Junior post player Eddie Burgess was chosen by his teammates for the Braves “Team Together” award at the annual boys basketball dinner Sunday evening, March 21, in First Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The Braves were asked to vote for the player that was a tremendous teammate and always put the team first.
Head Coach Derrick Dengler noted that the varsity Braves were 25-2 overall, a 15-1 first place in the SICL . . and state champions.
“I think there were a couple of keys to our success,” Dengler said. “We have had very good defensive teams in the past.”
Dengler pointed to the “comradery of this team: Joey (Kercheval) talking smack during practice; Gavin (Strong) and Cole (Watts) playing one-on-one after every practice.”
Also, “Pride in our roles: Cam (Johnson), Masin (Shearer), Owen (Cook) Gavin (Strong) on defense, our bench guys, and so forth.”
Dengler said what he’ll remember about this team came during the Lake Mills game at state. “It was me telling them to not guard a kid, then the kid hits a bunch of shots and we had to fight through that to give ourselves a shot.”
Dengler said things to say about each squad member (a separate story, later), and thanked the myriad of support people involved with the basketball program).
Then, he talked about his seniors as a group: Trey Shearer, Cole Watts, Jake Kercheval, Jacob Ross and Cam Johnson.
“I can’t say enough,” Dengler said. “I’m not sure if I’ll remember all the statistical accomplishments, going 91-12 overall, 60-3 in the conference, making three state tournament appearances, improving each year and winning the state championship. Okay, I’ll probably remember that.”
“But what I’ll remember most is showing up as an assistant coach 10 years ago and seeing Trey and Cole at camp in their Curry and Thompson jerseys, helping coach 2-3 defense for a practice when they were in junior high, and probably getting on Joey too much, Jacob for showing up just to be a part of the team and help us get better and Cam for sitting out an entire year, and a year later, making two of the biggest free throws I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m going to remember them being the first group I’ve coached from start to finish as a head coach and for setting a bar of excellence very high for all the groups who have to come next.”
“Thank you so much for all you have done.”
Awards and Recognition
SICL All-Academic
(Student-athletes with a GPA of 3.5 or higher) – Colton Benson, Eddie Burgess, Owen Cook, Maguire DeJong, Jack Erselius, Cam Johnson, Joey Kercheval, Jacob Ross, Trey Shearer, Masin Shearer, Cole Watts, Garrett Watts.
Academic All-State
(Minimum ACT score of 24, grade point average of 3.7 or higher, plus class rank) – Trey Shearer.
SICL All-Conference players
First team – Trey Shearer and Cole Watts.
Second team – Eddie Burgess.
Honorable mention – Cam Johnson, Masin Shearer.
Iowa Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) All-Substate
First team – Trey Shearer, Cole Watts, Eddie Burgess.
McDonald’s All-American Nominations
Trey Shearer and Cole Watts
Iowa Print Sports Writers All-State Team
First team – Trey Shearer.
Second team – Cole Watts.
Class 1A All-Tournament Team
Cole Watts, Eddie Burgess and Trey Shearer, with Trey as captain.
Jim Eeekhoff state tournament most valuable player
Trey Shearer.
IBCA Senior All-Star Game
Trey Shearer and Cole Watts
School Records
Single game records
Three-pointers in a game – 10, by Cole Watts.
Rebounds in a game – 22, by Eddie Burgess.
Season Records
Three-point percentage, season: 49%, by Cole Watts.
Field goal percentage, season: 70.3%, by Eddie Burgess.
Three-pointers made in a season: 96, by Trey Shearer.
Career Records
Most points in a career: 2,299, by Trey Shearer (13th most all time in state of Iowa.
Assists in a career: 464, by Trey Shearer.
Steals in a career: 257, by Trey Shearer.
Three-pointers in a career: 275, by Trey Shearer.
Field goals made: 840, by Trey Shearer.
Rebounds in a career: 661, by Eddie Burgess.