Boys county dream team announced
EC Ricebirds earn four first-team spots, Barrera comes back from knee injury to lead Hornets, make first team
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo All-County Boys Basketball Members of the All-Wharton County Boys Basketball First Team and individual award winners include (front, l-r) Nick Barrera, Mike Hayes, Dennis Hemphill, Kevin Gooden, Anthony Terrell, Odis Thompson, Travis Pflughaupt, Philip Spenrath and Jordan Kirschke.

The Ricebirds and Hornets claimed several spots on the El Campo Leader- News and Wharton Journal-Spectator All-Wharton-County boys basketball teams.

Earning top honors this year is El Campo senior Travis Pflughaupt.

A dominant post player for the Ricebirds, Pflughaupt was an obvious choice as most valuable player. He averaged a double-double for the season with 19.8 points and 13.7 rebounds per game.

"Rebounding is huge," Pflughaupt said. "If you don't win the boards, most likely, you're going to lose the game. That was the focus. We tried to outrebound our opponents and if we did, we did and if we didn't, we didn't. It's not the end of the world. I tried to do my part on the boards. I like rebounding. It's fun. I try to be up there at the top to get as many as a can."

Pflughaupt pulled down 396 total boards on the season. He also led the team with 574 total points, made 63 percent of his baskets and averaged two assists and three steals through all 29 of El Campo's games.

The MVP selection was an honor for Pflughaupt, but he did not take credit for it.

"It definitely feels nice, but it's not really a big important thing," He said.

It's not really about me. I'm just very thankful to the Lord for allowing me to play basketball my senior year. I improved on my points. My rebounds were down a little bit, but I think that's a little bit because I made more of my shots this year. I

this year. I was a little more consistent. We didn't end like we wanted to, but it was still fun and I enjoyed it."

The Ricebirds finished the year with a 21-8 record including a 5-5 run in district play. El Campo finished fourth in District 24-4A and missed the playoffs.

Despite falling short of the postseason, El Campo Head Coach Phillip Spenrath earned coach-of-the-year honors.

His selection was based on the Ricebirds' team play, overall record and the quality of their district opponents.

"I thought we had a good year, but we didn't accomplish all the goals that we wanted," the coach said. "That was a little disappointing. It was also gratifying to see the kids get better.

"They had fun while they were play- ing and that was good, because several of them had been with me for three or four years. I got to see them mature through the years and I enjoyed that, but I think we all wished we'd have made the playoffs."

Spenrath also led El Campo to more than 20 wins with a short rotation of players. After losing some key members, the Ricebirds performed better than expected despite a lack of depth.

"That's happened the last couple of years," Spenrath said. "We've been playing with some younger guards, who hopefully will improve this coming year. We've lost most of our basketball experience. We have some really good athletes and they play good roles. Some of them are going to have to step up.

"It's been really difficult, especially when you get into foul trouble. If Travis gets in foul trouble or there were a few nights where Anthony (Terrell) or someone would have a bad game, we don't have a lot of scorers. We have a lot of good hustlers and a lot of good defenders, but we need to work on that."

Terrell joined Spenrath and Pflughaupt on the first team.

As point guard, Terrell helped lead the Ricebird offense through strong defensive presses all season. He played in all 29 games his senior year and totaled 289 points, averaged 3.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 10 points per game.

"Anthony has just been real consistent through the years," Spenrath said. "His scoring was down this year. His assists were real good and he'll probably tell you that, that was more important to him than scoring. A good defender and a good ball handler."

Ball movement was certainly what Terrell focused on throughout the season.

"You've got to pass the ball," Terrell said. "You know you've got to get everybody in the game because you can't win the game by yourself. That's the main thing I try to do - get all the scorers hot and get the team (the ball). If the team isn't happy, it's going to be hard to win games."

Also on first team is junior Kevin Gooden.

Gooden missed the first 10 games of the year, but finished the season as one of El Campo's leaders on the court.

"He's a very electric player," Terrell said. "I feel like he brings a lot of enthusiasm to the game. He makes you have fun with it and he's a great scorer."

Gooden scored 276 total points, made 27 3-pointers and averaged 14.5 points in only 19 games.

The junior guard was thrilled to make the All-County team.

"It meant a lot to me," Gooden said. "It made me feel like I was doing something as a part of the team and part of the county. It made me feel like I did a good job this year."

Gooden said he loves to entertain the home crowd with great plays and big shots.

"It's fun to me," he said. "I get that enjoyment too sometimes. Coach doesn't want me to do it sometimes, but it's kind of fun. The crowd gets excited and I like it. In my mind, I'm saying, 'Wow, that was a big play and I wish I could do it again.'"

Another entertaining guard on the first team is Louise's Nick Barrera.

The senior said his favorite part of the game involves quick dishes that keep the game flow high-tempo.

"Creativity is like when you make a move, pass behind your head, give it to another teammate and see him dunk," Barrera said. "It's just everything that has to do with sharing the ball."

It took a lot more than creativity to put Barrera on the court this year.

He suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear Sept. 14 during a football game against Ganado. The injury meant the Hornets had to use their backup quarterback and Barrera was sidelined for the season.

An ACL tear takes many athletes out for an entire year, but not Barrera.

"The first thing I said to the doctor was, 'Get me ready for basketball so I can come back and play,'" Barrera said. "They gave me exercises and I had to ride a bike a lot. They told me, 'Ride a bike and do these exercises for your leg.' I did that.

"I'd be up 'til about 11 to 12 at night doing exercises, riding bike. When it was rainy and it stormed at night, I kid you not, I did that too. I did everything possible to come back."

When he joined his teammates, the basketball season was nearly over. He played in only eight games, but earned some serious stats. Barrera scored 85 points, made 16 assists, 13 steals, 33 rebounds and averaged 10.6 points per game.

He helped lead the Hornets to a 7-15 record including a 2-4 district run for third place and a playoff appearance.

Second-team honors went to El Campo's Landon Appling and Louise's Wesley Branscum and Matthew Vasquez.

Appling, a sophomore, was a consistent presence for the Ricebirds. He averaged 4.7 points per game, made nine 3- pointers and shot 65 percent from the free-throw line.

Branscum proved to be a strong leader for Louise in his senior season. He scored 231 points, made 146 rebounds and averaged 11 points per game.

Vasquez, a senior, was an outside threat for Louise. He made 33 3-pointers, scored 231 points and averaged 10.5 points per game.

Honorable mention went to senior Larry Williams and sophomore Jac Axel of El Campo and senior Cory Hajovsky and junior Chris Hicks of Louise.

Members of the All-Wharton County teams were selected by the sports editors of the El Campo Leader-News and Wharton Journal-Spectator. Statistics, overall team success are strongly considered in the selection process as well as team work and effort on the basketball court.