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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Marshfield senior guard Alec Hinson was one of six players named to the first team of the 2016-17 All-Wisconsin Valley Conference Boys Basketball Team, as voted on by the conference coaches.
Hinson averaged 11.8 points and 3.7 assists per game this season for the Tigers, who finished 8-4 and in second place in the Valley behind champion Stevens Point. Hinson was the top free throw shooter at 95.1 percent (39 of 41), and finished third in 3-point percentage at 44.8 percent in the conference.
Joining Hinson on the first team are Stevens Point senior Drew Blair, Stevens Point junior Joey Hauser, Wausau East senior Sawyer Schlindwein, Wausau West senior Jakob Tordsen, and Merrill junior Zach Mootz. Blair, Hauser, Schlindwein and Tordsen were unanimous picks to the first team.
Blair and Hauser were named Co-Players of the Year.
“To me Alec, in one word, stability,” Marshfield coach Scott Scheuer said. “Not only was he a three-year starter, he was my point guard. I look at my point guard as my quarterback out there. He is extremely hard working. He has the confidence that he’s going to deliver, game after game after game.”
Scheuer and Stevens Point’s Scott Anderson were picked as Co-Coaches of the Year in the Valley.
After missing the first four conference games due to injury, Hauser returned and led the WVC in scoring (22.8), rebounding (10.0) and assist (5.6) per-game averages. Blair was second in scoring at 19.2 points per game.
Marshfield had three others earn all-conference honors.
Senior guard Ethan Posteluk was a second-team selection, with senior Grant Michaelis and junior Seth Anderson earning honorable mention accolades.
Posteluk finished tied for seventh in the conference in scoring at 13.3 points per game, and tied Hinson and D.C. Everest’s Dylan Ellenbecker, an honorable mention choice, for second in 3-pointers made with 26.
“Ethan worked hard on his game,” Scheuer said. “To have two guards as good as those two (Hinson and Posteluk), they were as good as any two in our conference. They feed off each other.”
Anderson shot 58 percent from the field and averaged 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in conference play. Michaelis shot 53 percent from the field, and chipped in 8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game for the Tigers, earning all-conference honorable mention status for the second-straight season.
2016-17 All-Wisconsin Valley Conference Boys Basketball Team
First team: *Drew Blair, jr., Stevens Point; *Joey Hauser, jr., Stevens Point; *Sawyer Schlindwein, sr., Wausau East; *Jakob Tordsen, sr., Wausau West; Alec Hinson, sr., Marshfield; Zach Mootz, jr., Merrill. (* denotes unanimous selection).
Second team: Ethan Posteluk, sr., Marshfield; Riley Petersen, sr., D.C. Everest; Tommy Borta, sr., Wausau West; Zach Langemeier, jr., Wisconsin Rapids.
Honorable mention: Dylan Ellenbecker, sr., D.C. Everest; Grant Michaelis, sr., Marshfield; Seth Anderson, jr., Marshfield; Jared Ollhoff, jr., Merrill; Beau Rosenthal, sr., Stevens Point; Thomas Dunbar, sr., Wausau East; Matt Tuman, sr., Wausau East; Zach Raeder, sr., Wausau West; Dylan Bassuener, sr., Wisconsin Rapids.
Co-Players of the Year: Drew Blair, Stevens Point, and Joey Hauser, Stevens Point.
Co-Coaches of the Year: Scott Anderson, Stevens Point, and Scott Scheuer, Marshfield.