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 metaphorical hardware.
We continue today with the NECC.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Austin Schlabach, Westview
A simple one to go to that wasn’t necessarily that easy to get to. But at the end of the day, you deserve a leg up when you are the best player on the best team.
Schlabach was, at times, impossible to guard for the Warriors’ opponents as they captured NECC, NECC Tournament and Sectional titles. Schlabach showcased how much of a super skilled point guard he is as he had a big impact all season. His 15.6 points per game was second in the conference in scoring, adding 5.2 rebounds and a sensational 4.8 assists per game and was one of less than 10 players in Northeast Indiana who averaged 1 or more total in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game.
Even in lopsided games, Schlabach proved his worth. He lead Westview in scoring in one of their most important games of the regular season even though he just scored 12 points in the NECC title clinching win over Fremont.
HONORABLE MENTION: Austin Schlabach (Westview), Carter Coffman (Garrett), Niles Knox (Angola), Redick Zolman (Central Noble)
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Ryan Stuckey, Angola
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.
Stuckey’s value for Angola was something that probably wasn’t given enough credit so it seems fitting to do so here. The Hornets tied for second in the conference with a late season loss to Lakeland in the last game of the regular season costing them a share of the NECC title. That said, Angola’s success to be a 15 win team with a new coach and after graduating their best player can be attributed a lot of ways. The toughness and diversity in how Stuckey played was the most substantial part a lot of the time.
Stuckey averaged 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game but like many of the most valuable players on a team, numbers don’t do full justice. He was often tasked with tough defensive assignments and his ability to rebound the basketball, especially on the offensive end, won games for the Hornets. Stuckey scored in double digits in 6 of Angola’s last 9 games including a season high 20 against West Noble. Perhaps his best game of the season came with 17 points and 10 rebounds in a win at Leo, where he had six offensive rebounds for the third time in the season.
HONORABLE MENTION: Austin Schlabach (Westview), Parker Reed (Garrett), Isaiah King (Garrett), Brandt Garber (Fairfield), Colt Kirkpatrick (Central Noble), Jordan Eash (West Noble), Redick Zolman (Central Noble)
BREAKOUT/MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Carter Coffman, Garrett
Coffman transformed from a solid freshman guard finding his way as a varsity starter on a five win team last year to the conference’s third leading scorer and an IBCA All-State Honorable Mention honoree this season as Garrett won 19 games. There is absolutely a correlation between Coffman’s personal growth and Garrett’s growth as a team between these two seasons.
Coffman was a fire starter on both sides of the ball, averaging 14.8 points per game including a 27 point outing in a NECC Tournament win over Angola and a Garrett sophomore scoring record of 34 points opposite Eastside. He also led the Railroaders with 2.5 steals per game as one of the NECC’s best defensive players. He had eight games with four or more steals, including seven swipes on two different occassions.
HONORABLE MENTION: Niles Knox (Angola), Daniel Yoder (Westview), Parker Smith (Fairfield), Owen Brill (Westview)
COACH OF THE YEAR: Chandler Prible, Westview
Like mentioned in Bounce’s column about the ACAC, it is hard to label anyone else as the Coach of the Year but the guy who won it all. Not only did Prible lead Westview to the outright NECC regular season title, they also won the tournament title in dominant fashion and added a Sectional title to their resume with a relatively young team that only had two seniors.
Prible has won 55 games over three years with Westview, with his 18-8 mark being his second best season in that time. He has also won Sectional titles each of those three seasons. Prible avenged his only NECC loss this season (regular season to Lakeland) during the Sectional round.
HONORABLE MENTION: Logan Traylor (Garrett), Bryan Weber (Angola), Ethan Marsh (West Noble)
GAME OF THE YEAR: Angola at Garrett, NECC Tournament
This game was round two of what ended up being three games these two teams played against each other this season. Angola won round one in December’s regular season affair at their place and Garrett won each of the next two at Paul Bateman Gym, first in the NECC Tournament opening round and then again in the first round of Sectional play. Needless to say, this was a good rivalry in the NECC this season but this game took the cake.
Garrett had to rally after that early season loss, which was their first. Angola was rightfully confident not just because they took the first game, but once this one went into overtime, the Hornets had to feel more comfortable than the Railroaders. That is because this was Angola’s third overtime game of the season and they were 2-0 in those games. This time though, it was Garrett’s turn as they picked up the 56-55 win thanks to a late bucket from Isaiah King. Angola did get the last shot, but Tyler Ruple’s shot just didn’t fall despite a good look.
Carter Coffman of Garrett led all players with 27 points, while Angola got 12 out of freshman Cru Weber and 11 points each from Ryan Stuckey and Tommy Caswell.
Of note, Angola played in six total overtime games this season, going 4-2 in those games including a win at Leo and one in triple overtime at ACAC champion Woodlan.
EARLY 2025-26 CONFERENCE CHAMP PICK: Westview
Westview loses just two seniors from their NECC champion team that also won a Sectional and the conference tournament. That means that the Warriors have a lot back considering just one of those seniors started or played considerable time.
Instead, they return two IBCA All-State Honorable Mention players in senior-to-be Kaden Grau and junior-to-be Austin Schlabach. Bringing back two players who earned all-state honors is something that only conference foe Garrett can claim of all of the area teams. Schlabach’s 15.6 points per game was the second best number in the conference, while Grau added 14.5 points himself.
Next to those two, Westview also brings back Daniel Yoder for his junior year after he had a nice breakout start to this season; he finished averaging 9.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 steals. Also back will be Kaine Reinhold, who was incredibly helpful on the interior before an injury took him out for some of the later part of the season.
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
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