Student emphasizes help from teammates in his success
Basketball is a team sport but this year at Anzar High School
Scott Benson has proved to be a one-man wrecking ball.
So far this season, the 6-foot-2 power-forward has accounted for
more than 60 percent of the team’s total offensive output. And
despite being double- and triple-teamed every contest, the senior
standout has still managed to average nearly 28 points a game
– in a sport where at the high school level scoring 60 total
points among all players is often the norm.
Student emphasizes help from teammates in his success
Basketball is a team sport but this year at Anzar High School Scott Benson has proved to be a one-man wrecking ball.
So far this season, the 6-foot-2 power-forward has accounted for more than 60 percent of the team’s total offensive output. And despite being double- and triple-teamed every contest, the senior standout has still managed to average nearly 28 points a game – in a sport where at the high school level scoring 60 total points among all players is often the norm.
“He’s just really strong for his size,” Hawks coach Ed Cecena said. “He’s solidly built, has good hands and he catches anything that comes his way. He’s got a knack for scoring around the basket.”
This season Benson’s play has helped the Hawks jump out to a 6-1 record as they prepare for the start of league play Jan. 5 at Soledad High.
In the seven games that he’s played thus far Benson has averaged 27.29 points a contest, and had been averaging more than 32 a game after the first four games – before opposing defenses caught on and started focusing all of their efforts on him.
In addition to scoring, Benson also leads the Hawks in field goals, free throws and offensive rebounds, yet he remains modest in the assessment of his play.
“I have a tremendous post player who goes to the high post and passes down low to me,” said Benson, who lives in Aromas. “I get great passes from everyone on the team.”
The post player that Benson was referring to is the team’s center Erik Olson who, at 6-foot-4, is the Hawk’s tallest player and team leader in blocked shots.
As dominant as he has been this season, Benson has only been playing the sport for four years. He first became interested in basketball after watching a close friend and former Hawks player Jordan Monroe play the game.
“I idolized him,” Benson said. “He taught me everything I know.”
Obviously, one of those things was getting the ball in the basket.
“We look to get the ball into his hands all the time,” Cecena said. “That’s the way our offense is set up.”
Benson relishes his role on the team. The closer the game, the more he enjoys it.
“I love the pressure. I love being on the free-throw line when we are down by two points or up by three,” he said. “When the games are lopsided, it’s not as entertaining. Blowout games make it harder to stay focused. When the game’s on the line I’m thinking about only one thing – the game. It’s actually more relaxing to me.”
Being as dominant a player as he has been in the game this year does have its ups and downs.
“Ever since I scored 40 in one game this season everyone has double- and triple-teamed me,” Benson said. “It gets frustrating but you can’t let it get to you. In those situations, you can’t force bad shots. I try to pass the ball off and hit the open man.”
As bright as Benson’s future in the sport looks there is some concern how he will progress as he prepares to make the jump to the college level.
At 6-foot-2, he will have to transition to the smaller guard position. The only problem is, according to his coach, is he struggles with the outside shot and is only effective right now from inside the 10-foot range.
“He’s undersized for the next level,” Cecena said. “He’ll need to make a huge adjustment to play at the JC level and develop his skills.”
But that doesn’t mean that he’s not already hard at work on his perimeter shooting and his ability to drive down the lane.
“I’m a decent driver. I drive to the left because I’m left-handed. I pass pretty good, but I’m not a shooting guard type,” Benson said. “I need more consistency for that.”
But right now Benson will focus all of his effort on helping Anzar win a Central Coast Section Division V title.
A year ago, the Hawks were eliminated by Eastside Prep in the section quarterfinals after kicking the tournament off with an impressive 70-17 win over York.
This year Cecena believes his team not only has the skills to win the Mission Trail Athletic League title but that they should be able to vie for the section championship.
“We pretty much have the same personnel as last year,” Cecena said. “We want to win a league title and we have a legitimate shot at doing that. We’ve also already beaten a Division I team and have beaten every Division V team that we played this year by more than 30 points so we should do real well.”
John Bagley can be reached at
jb*****@pi**********.com
.
