Led by 6-9 Northweather brothers,
Blair Oaks has climbed to No. 1

Jan. 16, 2020

WARDSVILLE, Mo. --- If you're a high school basketball coach, you'd consider yourself lucky if you have one player standing 6-foot-9.

They're actually 6-foot-9 sitting, too, it's just not as impressive.

If you have two players at 6-9, you should play the lottery and spend your spare time at the nearest casino, because you're several steps beyond lucky.

If you have three at 6-9, there needs to be an investigation. In this case, the height-blessed coach and players are senior Eric Northweather, junior Backes, and sophomore Luke Northweather. Heck, even the coach is 6-6.

They must be cheating.

Not so in the land of Green. Maybe there's something in the water or the air, but there are a lot of tall young, homegrown young men --- and one coach --- wandering the halls of Blair Oaks High School.

"I've never had this kind of size," said Falcons coach Ryan Fick, who's in his 14th year at the helm. "The first couple years at Blair Oaks, we had 6-6, 6-7 and I thought that was big at the time, and it was. But not 6-9."

They're not just big, they're talented.

"They have the unique combination of size, athleticism, skill and knowledge of the game," Fick said. "The size is God-given, but the skill and the knowledge of the game come from putting in the time in the gym and playing a lot of basketball.

"These guys have played AAU basketball for several years ... they're gym rats."

Other "rats"have jumped on board."

"The good thing about our team is that they pull other guys with them," Fick said. "There are several guys who put in the extra time in the gym to try to improve themselves."

Eric is the leader of the pack and the best of the bunch for the Falcons (12-2), who have risen to No. 1 in Class 3. For love of James Naismith, is he good.

He was good as a freshman and he's gotten better every year. But the improvement he's made from his junior to senior years may be the biggest leap of all.

"I think so," Fick said. "He had a great offseason --- his spring and summer schedule with his AAU team, Mid-Mo Elite, they play in premier tournaments where they're seeing elite talent and high-level competition day-in and day-out.

"I think that definitely has allowed him the ability to improve."

And there's this:

"We had seven seniors on last year's team (that advanced to the state quarterfinals)," Fick said. "Now he's a senior, and you can tell he's come out of his shell a little bit, he's blossomed as far as his confidence level goes.

"He has a drive to really step up his game from a leadership standpoint, as well."

Northweather flirted with some Division I schools before accepting a scholarship offer from Truman State. He's not just an inside player, either, as he made 37 3-pointers last season.

Having said that ...

"Where I think he's really improved this year is his strength around the basket," Fick said. "It's not just physical toughness, a lot of it's mental --- he's developing that mental toughness to go in the paint and finish with both hands."

Eric is averaging a double-double, 26 points 10 rebounds, and Luke is, as well --- 15 points, 11 rebounds.

"They're different type of players, as far as quickness off the floor and athleticism," Fick said. "Eric's got a lot of bounce in his game, and Luke's not quite at that point right now, athletically.

"Luke's got great footwork for a sophomore at 6-9, he's fundamentally sound, and he does a lot of the dirty work that doesn't show up the box score. He's kind of a glue guy --- he's going to dive on the floor, he's going to guard and he's going to block a lot of shots.

"And he's pretty crafty around the basket."

Do the the brothers get along and play nice? Sometimes.

"For the most part, they do," Fick said with a laugh. "But I'd be lying if I said there haven't been some times in practice when it got pretty intense between the two.

"It's your typical sibling rivalry, they get after it in practice. Everybody in the gym knows they're competitive and you get a lot of smiles when they start going at each other."

The last of the triple towers is Backes, although he remains a work in progress.

"He's still pretty raw," Fick said. "He grew really fast and he's still growing into his body, a little bit. But we're hoping by next year when Eric graduates, he can gain some strength to help us out."

Backes is learning from two of the best.

"Every day in practice he's usually guarding either Eric of Luke," Fick said, "so that will make him better in the long run."

Quinn Kusgen, a 5-10 sophomore, is the Falcons' second-leading scorer (16 ppg.) and leads the team in 3-pointers (37, shooting a blistering 43 percent beyond the arc.)

The Falcons have it covered inside and out.

The other starters are 5-8 junior point guard Jake Closser, and 6-1 senior and defensively specialist Jake Rademan.

Freshman Dylan Hair, coming off a great football season, is now coming off the bench andmaking his mark on the basketball court.

Hair today, gone tomorrow? Not this family of Hairs, because they just keep coming.

"He's gifted, athletically," Fick said. "He's taken some freshman lumps, but he's been playing through them."

Carson Prenger, a 6-2 junior, is the first man off the bench. "He's a defense and energy guy," Fick said.

Blair Oaks' defense can be stifling, as evidenced in Tuesday night's 63-30 mauling of a competitive Hallsivile team.

"What we've been talking about the most," Fick said, "is to consistently bring the same energy, defensively, regardless of what's happening on the offensive end of the floor. It's easy to want to guard on defense if the shots are falling, but if you miss some shots, is that going to affect your offense?

"Since the holiday tournament (in late December at Fleming Fieldhouse), I feel like we've taken a step in the right direction."

The Falcons went 1-2 in that event and finished sixth, but they were playing some highly-touted and talented teams.

"That tournament (which was full of Division I talent) is at a different level, athletically." Fick said.

Even though they're in a rugged district --- a district that includes second-ranked Tolton --- the Falcons seem poised to get back to the Elite 8 ... and perhaps beyond.

"One of the things we talked about immediately after that game (the 54-41 loss to Springfield Center in last year's quarterfinals)," Fick said, "is that in order to get back there, every day you step on the floor you have to be ready to compete and try to improve. It really is cliche', but it's the truth.

"And I think this group is embracing that."

When you have a team that's getting better all the time --- and features both size and talent -- that can be scary.

Chris Leuckel

Loeffler's Link

Blair Oaks senior Eric Northweather puts up a shot during last month's game with Father Tolton in Wardsville. The 6-9 Northweather is averaging a double-double for the top-ranked Falcons --- 26 points,10 rebounds.