Sunday, March 13, 2016

Batting 1.000 - All 5 Wasaren EST Participants Earn All-League Accolades

Last year's 1st annual EST boys summer showcase league featured 3 regular participants & 2 alternates from the Wasaren League. All 5 of those that attended at some point received all-league honors this year. Congrats to those 4, listed below - top 3 being the regular participants.

All-EST Honorable Mention Mitchel Wayand (Stillwater 2016, RPI 2020) - Wasaren League MVP
All-EST Honorable Mention Connor McCart (Hoosick Falls 2016) - All-Wasaren 1st Team
Jared D'Aloia (Stillwater 2017) - All-Wasaren 1st Team
Zach Travis (Stillwater 2017) - All-Wasaren 2nd Team
Anthony Zotto (Tamarac 2016) - All-Wasaren Honorable Mention

The 5 players dotted 4 different teams, with the regular participants all wearing different colors over the summer. Wayand was a member of Marcella Appliances, along with Travis; schoolmate D'Aloia suited up for Rising Stars. McCart wore the black jersey last summer for Man Up, and Zotto participated as a member of Upstate Select.

Wayand's scoring prowess was a driving force behind him making the Honorable Mention list in EST, with an average of 11.1 PPG, which put him just outside the Top 10. He had a season high of 23, and scored in a variety of ways (18 2s, 11 3s, 9/13 FT). His production for Stillwater exploded this winter. Wayand pumped in 25.4 PPG, tied for 4th in Section 2, which featured a season/career high of 38 along with another game where he scored 28 in the 1st half. He scored 30+ on 7 different occasions this season, and again got his points in every way (110 2s, 78 3s, 104 FT). Mitchel's graduating at 3rd on Stillwater's all-time scoring list; he finished his career with 1,239 points, after scoring his 1,000th in an early January win over Tamarac. He also consistently had 5-10 rebounds, making him one of the better rebounding guards in the section. As mentioned above, the standout senior - tops in his class at Stillwater - will be continuing his education & hoop career at RPI.

McCart also showed his scoring ability in EST last year, along with a more well-rounded offensive game that continued to be put on display over the winter. He averaged 13.3 PPG (8th in EST) with a season high of 23. He also shot 15/19 from the line (78.9%, 5th in EST for those with a qualifying number of attempts) and hit 5 threes, which was an extension of his game that he didn't show or use his junior year. This winter, McCart averaged 18.1 PPG while also being a double-digit rebounder in most games. The statistical highlight of his year was a 46 point, 16 rebound outburst in a late December W over Granville. McCart, who played down low for Hoosick Falls, also hit 15 threes on the year. Already well-traveled - he missed 2 weeks last summer while interning at Nike headquarters in Oregon - McCart is mulling over a handful of Division III & junior college options.

D'Aloia's game blossomed this winter, which he showed signs of throughout last summer at Union. He averaged 7.5 PPG in EST, with the highlight being a 21 point opening night performance, powered by 7 threes. He finished the season with 18 threes, just outside of the league's top 5. He also proved to be a solid floor general & facilitator. That's the least that could be said about him this winter, as he filled the stat sheet enough to flirt with triple-doubles on a handful of occasions. He also hit 45 threes and got to the line often en route to averaging 14.5 PPG (season high 31).

Travis came through during a mid-July week in EST and was productive offensively, scoring 11 & 10 points in his 2 games. Much of that came off his work on the offensive boards. That hard hat mentality showed throughout the winter, as he also averaged double digits for a successful Stillwater team (11 PPG) while also being their leading rebounder.

Zotto suited up on two separate weeks for Upstate Select in July, averaging 3.5 PPG over 4 games. The athletic guard was effective when his team was able to pick up the pace and get in the open court. He fought through an ankle injury over part of the winter and averaged 11.7 PPG (season high 24) for Tamarac.

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