McKaig headlines All-Loganland boys basketball team

Drew McKaig had a career for the record books at Pioneer.

McKaig will graduate as Pioneer’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,136 career points.

He saved his best for last as his all-around game got better and better as his career went on. This year the 6-foot-2 senior guard averaged 16.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is the Pharos-Tribune’s Loganland Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“He really had kind of a breakout year for us,” said Pioneer coach Darren McKaig, who is Drew’s father. “He had to carry a lot of the load rebounding and scoring. But he also was able to play better with his teammates this year which I think helped him a lot too just to become a better player. He just never missed anything, never missed a practice, never missed a summer game. He’s always shooting at home and trying to work on his skills at home.

“He dislocated his finger early on in the season and he still played through it. He basically popped it back in himself and he came back the next week and continued to play. He rolled an ankle and everything. He’s just a tough kid and just wasn’t going to let anything get in his way and have to sit out.”

McKaig’s 1,136 career points trail only Trey Waddups (1,213, 2014-18), Bret Winegardner (1,168, 2000-04) and Dave Borman (1,160, 1970-72) on Pioneer’s all-time list.

The Panthers went 9-14 this year in their final year in competing in Class 2A. It was the third time in the last four years they posted nine wins. They had numerous upsets during that time, which included a win over a regional championship team, North Judson, this year. They also had a win over a sectional championship DeMotte Christian team.

“One of our biggest things throughout my high school career was our season starts tougher than it ends,” McKaig said. “So we play tougher teams at the beginning and then we get better through those games and we’re able to win a lot of games towards the end. That’s always nice to see.

“I know I got the award but a lot of those games were complete team wins. Rebounds, I know a couple players hit four or five threes in some of those big wins. So I’m just glad I had teammates to help me get those wins as well.”

McKaig’s athleticism and all-around play were taken to another level this year.

“In the offseason I really hit the weight room and I think that helped my rebounding ability and finishing at the rim,” he said. “Then obviously as a senior I was seeing the court a lot better and that really helped with my assists.”

McKaig also excels in the classroom. He has a 4.1 GPA on an unweighted scale and is ranked first in his senior class at Pioneer. He plans to attend Taylor University and is going to try to make the men’s basketball team there at the NAIA school.

“I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to play there but I am going there to major in premed and plan to go to medical school after I graduate there,” he said.

The following are capsules of the rest of the All-Loganland team.

L.J. Hillis, Cass

Hillis, a 6-4 senior, averaged 14.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.5 apg. He shot 50% from the field.

The Kings went 9-14 after dealing with heavy losses to graduation from last year’s semistate finalist team.

“I’ve been telling a lot of people that [Hillis] is the best leader basketball or athlete aside, I think he’s the best leader that I’ve ever coached in any sport,” Cass coach Eric Branz said. “I think that had the biggest impact on our team overall. He made academic all-state as well. He’s just overall a really well-rounded great young man that comes from a great family that really instilled strong work ethic in all aspects of life into him. We’re really proud of him with all he accomplished thus far.

“He just did a tremendous job not just leading us but obviously he found a way to average almost 15 ppg for us and was a statistical leader in many other categories as well. He definitely was a very valuable piece for our team this year. During those really rough times that we had, we had a couple stretches where things weren’t going real well for us, he was really the guy that got everybody together and steadied everything and just did a great job for us this year.”

Branz added that Hillis is going to play football as a wide receiver at DePauw University.

Caleb Stinson, Caston

The 6-1 senior point guard averaged 13.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.5 spg.

The Comets went 11-13, a three-win improvement from a year ago.

“His speed and ability to push the ball down the floor really changed things for us offensively this year,” Caston coach Carl Davis said. “He just does such a good job of being on the attack. He puts the defense in a bind. I thought he showed a lot of improvement this year in making the right read, making some great passes. He averaged a really good number of assists this year. Defensively I thought was his biggest area of improvement this year. I thought he was able to get out into passing lanes and force some turnovers this year and led us in charges taken. He just gave us a toughness any time we got beat off the dribble and he was the help-side man.”

Jacob Taylor, Logansport

The 6-4 senior averaged 13.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 2.1 apg. He made 39 3-pointers at a 33% clip.

The Berries went 10-14, which was a two-win improvement from a year ago in their final year in the NCC and Class 4A. The Berries also reclaimed the Cass County Tournament title.

“Jacob had a nice season, especially coming off an injury early, he worked really hard to get himself back to where he needed to be to be a very good 4A basketball player,” Logansport coach Matt Lange said. “I think he did an excellent job and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the future.”

John Malchow, Winamac

Malchow, a 6-1 senior, averaged 13.4 ppg and 4.3 rpg. He made 44 3-pointers at a 38% clip.

The Warriors went 12-13, which was a three-win improvement from a year ago under first-year coach Mike Springer.

“John was a great leader for us,” Springer said. “He was a kid that came in and had to make a lot of adjustments to his game this year. By the end of the season he was one of our better defenders. He was great with shot selection. I just really appreciated his team-first attitude as the season went along. He probably could have scored more points but he did what our team needed him to do and that was to move himself and move the ball. I just felt like he did a great job in that respect the latter half of the season.”

Second team

Talon Zeider, Caston

The 5-11 senior sharpshooter averaged 12.7 ppg and 1.5 apg.

He made 67 3-pointers at a 42% clip. He also shot 91% from the foul line.

“Talon just changes the game with the way he makes teams stretch the floor,” Davis said. “They have to respect him. There were some teams that did a really good job on him and even on nights he might not be scoring a lot just the respect he garners on the court opens up driving lanes for other guys. I think he finished the season with the second most threes made in a season in school history. He had a great year shooting the basketball, over 40%. But one of the biggest things that he added to his game this year was the ability to attack the rim too and get in the lane and finish at the rim or pullup in the lane. It was just a great year for him and defensively he gets so many deflections that disrupts the other team’s offense.”

Chrisanthony Del Valle, Logansport

The 5-11 junior averaged 10.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg and 2.8 apg.

“Chris is a nice player, a good, physically strong guard,” Lange said. “We ask a lot of Chris. He handles the ball 95% of the time for us. He did a very good job. Sometimes when you’re put in positions like that it sets you up for failure but Chris did a very, very good job of setting us up for success. I’m really proud of him and what he’s done. I can’t wait ’til his senior year. It seems like we’ve been around each other forever. He’s been handling the point for us for two years. When he becomes a senior we’re expecting great things.”

Isaac Russell, Logansport

The 6-2 senior guard was the Berries’ defensive ace while also averaging 9.7 ppg. He made 43 3-pointers at a 35% clip.

“Isaac’s just one of those kids that is awesome to have on your team,” Lange said. “We ask a lot out of him mostly on the defensive end and sometimes I think that hampered his offense that he was always put on the other team’s best player and we expected him to shut them down. That’s what he did. As selfish coaches we asked him to go on the other end and also make threes on tired legs. He did what he was asked and he went 110% at all times and I’m very proud of him.”

Brennan Deeter, Cass

The 5-11 sophomore averaged 8.3 ppg. He made 31 3-pointers at a 37% clip.

“Brennan for being a sophomore was very consistent for us,” Branz said. “He shot the ball really well and I believe at one point was shooting about 44% or maybe a little bit more from 3. It tailed a little bit off there at the end which is to be expected. But he was very steady for us. He was one of those guys that played every game, he played all 23 games for us this year.

“It’s difficult as a sophomore being pushed into a role that he probably didn’t foresee, I know I for sure didn’t foresee, having to really learn to guard people. He’s more of an offensive threat for us but I think him having to move on and guard one of the top two offensive players depending on who we had L.J. on, it’ll be good for us next year and into the future the next two years of his career. He did a great job shooting the three for us. He’s a very good instinctual player just cutting into the middle of the lane and getting shots that way. I know there were a couple of those that he got in the Winamac game at the end of the season that were big shots for us. He’s very steady as a sophomore and that’s really hard to do and he did that a great job for us in that aspect.”

Justin Potthoff, Winamac

Potthoff, 6-1 sophomore, averaged 8.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 2.2 apg. He shot 52% from the field.

“Justin came a long way early in the season. He came off the bench and was our swiss-army knife and did about anything and everything from point guard to defending the best player to scoring points,” Springer said. “Then the latter half of the season we put him in the starting lineup and he really took off from there and made some really good things happen for our team both on the offensive and defensive end.”

Third team

Brendan Hines, Winamac

The 5-11 junior point guard averaged 8.1 ppg and 2.9 apg.

“Brendan had a really good season, did a great job of handling the ball, starting us in our offense,” Springer said. “He probably gave up some opportunities to score but again he did whatever the team demanded of him and that was mostly setting the table. But he had some good games this year where he got it going. I think he’s got a great season to look forward to next year.”

Bryce Rudd, Cass

The 6-3 junior averaged 8.0 ppg.

“He progressed quite a bit from the beginning of the year to the end,” Branz said. “He was a guy that we were hoping would step into a scoring role. He had to learn to be a little more physical at the varsity level. Again, being consistent, he’s a junior but he had played freshman and split a little time with JV his freshman year and then as a sophomore he played all JV. That was when we really relied on him to score quite a bit for us. You could see some of those drives and pullups in the lane, and he shot the ball really well from 3 throughout the course of the season as well. I think him and I working together last year on the JV helped us, him and I just kind of trusting each other throughout the year. But he’s got a great pullup jump shot, he’s got just a really good basketball body and as his IQ continues to improve and his shot making continues to improve, his athleticism is there, I expect a lot out of him next year.

“He became very consistent on that back half of the season. He could be a tremendous defender at times and we want to see him more consistent in that role but offensively stepping up and trying to be that second or third scorer that we needed this year to tag team with L.J., he did a really good job and had some big games down the stretch for us.”

Cooper Smith, Logansport

The 6-2 senior averaged 6.6 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

“Cooper’s one of those kids every coach loves,” Lange said. “He just does what he’s supposed to do. That 110% doesn’t even exist in his mind. He’s going 120% or 150%. Cooper’s a dream player for a coach.

“Like all of the seniors, we’re going to be sad to see them gone. But hopefully they’ve started something and Cooper’s the catalyst for how we’re going to go in the future.”

Grant Yadon, Caston

Yadon, a 6-3 senior, averaged 6.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg. He shot 57% from the field.

“Grant was our most improved player this year,” Davis said. “He really came on strong the last half of the year. He’s a kid that just works relentlessly at it. He got to the point where late in the year we got the ball inside to him a lot and he was able to be really effective and really efficient in there. On the defensive end of the floor he led us in steals and rebounding and he just did a great job of being disruptive on the defensive end of the floor. And he would go and get a rebound when we needed it.”

Brayden Erickson, Pioneer

The 5-11 senior averaged 5.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 1.9 apg.

“I’m sure he expected to come out and have a great season and score a few more points and everything, but he’s just so solid for us,” coach McKaig said. “Again, another kid who showed up to everything. He supports the other players so well and he’s willing to do anything that the team asks. Maybe that’s to get the ball to other people, he rebounds, at his size and height, he rebounded well for us this year. It’s not just all about his points, he did so many other things well for us. When we beat North Judson he hit five threes in the first half and was really a big reason that we won that game. He had some big moments for us.”