Before we get to the Outside the Huddle All-Area Team and our end-of-year awards, Bounce wanted to take some time and take a last glance at area conferences and hand out some league-specific hardware.
We move on to the NECC boys.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nate Keil, Lakeland
In a wide open NECC this season, it turned out that the best player indeed made the difference as Lakeland captured the conference regular season title. Keil was dominant for the majority of the season while averaging an area third best 20.1 points per game, which was tops in the NECC.
While other players in the conference had major spurts, Keil was a steady hand throughout, adding 6.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He made a clear statement from the outset of the season that he was one of the very best players in all of Northeast Indiana.
HONORABLE MENTION: Carson Smith (Fairfield), Mitchell Miller (Fairfield), Conner Slee (Fremont), Dane Lantz (Angola), Luke Helmuth (Westview), Drew Pliett (Central Noble)
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Luke Helmuth, Westview
If you know Bounce’s awards and OTH history, you know MVP means something different than Player of the Year. MVP to us is someone who is legit the most valuable to their team and overall success of that program.
Helmuth’s closing stretch of the season was enough to put him over the top as he had Westview in tip top form, especially headed into the postseason where they cashed in on a Sectional title and were oh so close to a Regional crown.
Helmuth played consistent all season, sometimes shining and sometimes stepping into roles that allowed others to shine. But with no NECC titles to Westview’s name, Helmuth became the most significant catalyst in the conference down the stretch of the season, where the Warriors went 11-2 after January 19. He had six total games with 19+ points while shooting 56 percent from the field on the season. In Westview’s final eight games before the Regional loss to Wabash, Helmuth averaged 19.6 points as an aggressive dribble drive scorer.
HONORABLE MENTION: Dane Lantz (Angola), Bradyn Barth (West Noble), Conner Slee (Fremont), Joey Taylor (Churubusco), Tyson Frey (Fairfield)
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Joey Taylor, Churubusco
Taylor carved out a bit of a name for himself during the summer and fall leading into his senior season, but had not had the chance to do much on the varsity court the previous season after a transfer from Carroll.
He came in with a difficult role: be a big time offensive threat with the knowledge that teams know a lot about you despite your lack of varsity experience. Taylor flourished and while it didn’t equal contendership for Churubusco, he still played a very heavy hand in getting the Eagles to nine wins. Taylor averaged 16.2 points and 1.9 steals per game while scoring 20 or more on eight occasions.
HONORABLE MENTION: Colten Guthrie (Fremont), Kaden Grau (Westview), Keyan Arroyo (Lakeland), Redick Zolman (Central Noble), Clayton Minnick (Eastside)
COACH OF THE YEAR: Derek Hinen, Fairfield
Fairfield rose to the occasion under Hinen in his fourth season at the helm. The Falcons used a very balanced lineup, played well to their strengths and fed the hot hand to pick up the NECC Tournament title, a Sectional title and a Regional title in the process before losing in semi state to a Delta team that was a really high level state contender.
The Falcons won 20 games over the course of the season, something that had not been done since the 1994-1995 season for the program. In the path of that was a win over NECC regular season champion Lakeland, two victories over Westview and a high level pick apart of North Side at Trine just before the 2023 holidays.
Hinen didn’t have an easy go of things but still helped lead this team to a 20-7 mark against that tough schedule.
HONORABLE MENTION: Chandler Pribble (Westview), Chris Keil (Lakeland), Ben Lemmon (Central Noble)
GAME OF THE YEAR: Westview vs. Lakeland, January 10
With a trip to the NECC Tournament semi finals on the line, this was a matchup that was eagerly anticipated when the bracket was announced for this season’s tournament.
Ultimately, it was the Warriors topping the eventual conference regular season champion, 74-61, after pulling away in overtime. Westview had also won the previous meeting of the two teams about a month earlier.
Lakeland led the game by as many as eight points late and Nate Keil was fantastic in the second half, scoring 24 of his 26 points after the halftime break. Wiley Minix stepped up big for Westview in the fourth quarter with nine points and once the game went to overtime, Wyatt Zepp shined for Westview. The senior scored eight of his 26 points in overtime alone to help Westview advance.
EARLY 2025 NECC CHAMPION PREDICTION: Westview
A lot of NECC teams lose key pieces; every team in the conference except 2023-24 last place Prairie Heights loses at least their top scorer.
At Westview, there are more pieces that will disappear with graduation with Luke Helmuth, Wiley Minix and Wyatt Zepp all being unfortunate losses for the program. With that said, the Warriors are in great shape with coach Chandler Prible mixing in some underclassmen with the vets this past season.
Kaden Grau has all-area potential next season as a junior and will come back really seasoned after playing varsity both of his first two years of high school. He is a diverse scoring win that made major leaps this season. Austin Schlabach was one of, if not the best, area freshman this past season and saw his role and reliability grow as the course of the 2023-24 campaign went on. Owen Brill will take on some leadership roles as a senior next season after being a steady backup hand.
There is a lot to retool everywhere in the NECC, but Westview has the young coach and players that could really make things click quickly.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
Be the first to comment