By Tony Burns
Sports Editor
In Jerrodney Tubbs and Charles Hoof, Junction City boasted one of the best post combinations in the state this season. But, Coach Kendall Hutcheson repeatedly stated his team would only go as far as the backcourt allowed it.
The Dragons won seven out of eight games down the stretch before falling in the 2A State Tournament. That included a regional tournament championship.
If Tubbs and Hoof were the backbone of the Dragons, sophomore point guard Zak Brown was the legs.
“Zak came a long way this year. He’s always been really talented but he’s always been kind of small. He kind of lets that get in his head a little bit. This year I thought he grew up and matured a lot on the court, shot the ball really well for us and handled the ball well for us,” said Hutcheson. “I don’t know at the beginning of the year if I expected him to take over that spot and play as well as he did. But as we started playing, he kept getting better and better and better and the guys had a lot of confidence in him and so did I. I’m just really impressed at just how he matured and grew over the year. He just took over the spot.”
Brown averaged 7.8 points and 2.4 assists per game for Junction City, which finished with a 17-9 record. The Dragons’ offense centered around post touches in the paint and handling the pressure from opponents intent on keeping the ball on the perimeter.
Brown was able to alleviate some of the defensive pressure with his speed. He also helped loosen up the defenses with his outside shooting.
“We had too many turnovers this year. But, if you looked at our turnovers, Zak wasn’t a major problem with that,” said Hutcheson. “One of the things he did really well, with everyone concentrating on our post guys, he still gave us a guard that can penetrate and finish at that hole but he provided some consistent 3-point shooting for us. He shot the ball really well. He made people have to come out and guard us on the 3-point line, which we really haven’t had for years.”
Junction City’s two big guys were both seniors, which means next season, the 5-foot-8 Brown will be counted on to shoulder a larger load. Hutcheson hopes he will be equipped to do just that.
“He’s grown a little bit. He grew a little bit during the season,” the coach said, speaking literally of Brown’s height. “All of his brothers are bigger than he is. I’m hoping he’s about to hit that spurt. If Zak ends up getting close to 5-11, he’s going to be a monster. Right now, he can get up and almost dunk the ball. He shoots the ball so well and he handles it so well. We’ve been getting in the weight room and he’s been hitting it really hard. If he can grow a little bit, he’s going to be a monster, that’s for sure.”