Dowden excited to see what junior Beau Cary will bring to team next season
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The jump that Big Foot junior boys basketball player Beau Cary took from last year to this was significant.
And with one year still remaining in his high school career, there’s no telling where he will go from here.
But there’s certainly plenty to be excited about.
Cary recently was a first-team, All-Rock Valley Conference selection after he led the Chiefs with 342 (14.9 per game). He also had team highs in free throws (71), field goals (128) and rebounds (185, 8.0 per-game average).
“Beau had a great statistical year for us,” Big Foot coach Mike Dowden said. “He led the team in points and rebounds by a long shot.
“He played great in games, but more importantly, only had one game where he didn’t play well all season.”
The focus for Cary now, Dowden said, is to become that player who can take over a game at any time.
“I think he took a step forward in being a dominant force, but needs to take an even bigger step forward for us next season,” Dowden said. “In addition, you have to love the way he wanted the ball in tight situations.
“I think he can be pretty good. He needs to get stronger and tougher, but I think with another year of maturing, he will be good. Once his body catches up to his brain, I’m hoping for real good things.”
Greco was second in scoring behind Cary with 273 points (12.4 per game). He led the Chiefs with 40 3-pointers, in rebounds (61), assists (63) and steals (27).
There were times when Greco put the Chiefs on his back, both with his shooting touch and his ability to get his teammates involved, Dowden said.
“Zak had some really good nights for us,” he said. “I go back to the game at Brodhead where he kept us in it with his hot shooting, the game at Palmyra-Eagle where he hit a couple big threes, and the home game versus Parkview where he had 10 assists.”
Dowden added he appreciated Greco’s efforts during his time with the Chiefs.
“I think he really grew over his career at Big Foot, as he started all but two of our games in the past two seasons,” he said. “He had to play out of position for most of his career, but I think he did some good things for us from the point.”
Big Foot finished the year at 9-14 overall and 7-9 in the RVC – and the work has to begin now to keep the program moving forward, Dowden said.
“We need to get better physically and (at) shooting the ball,” he said. “We have to decide basketball is important and that we are going to put an effort into improving in the offseason.
“I think we have the guys to do it, but now we have to follow through with it.”
