CLARION, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Devon Lauer is young man of few words.
He lets his play and his work ethic do his talking.
The Clarion junior is a star on the golf course and on the basketball court. This winter, he will be asked to pick up some of the scoring punch lost when Christian Simko graduated and took his nearly 18 points per game with him.
“I know I have to step up a little bit to make up for some of those points,” he said.
Last year, Lauer got a crash course in Point Guard 101 for the Bobcats. Just a sophomore, he was a work in progress, but made big strides as the season went on.
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By the end of the campaign, Lauer had increased his scoring average, improved his court vision and still provided his steady ball handling.
Lauer averaged 10.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.8 steals last season.
“He’s grown,” said Clarion coach Scott Fox. “I think he’s grown three or four inches. He’s been working on his shot — he’s a good shooter. Hopefully he’ll continue to develop. He’s still only a junior. I only have one senior. So we’re still young.”
Lauer is hoping to utilize his bigger size to get to the hoop more.
He’s never lacked quickness.
“He can handle the ball, and I’d like to have him play off the ball more,” Fox said. “I’d like him to come off screens more because of his shot. He has excellent court vision. It’s changed from last year — he had it last year, but it’s gotten a lot better. He plays a lot of basketball and he’s working on the small things he needs to work on to be a better player.”
Even during the golf season this fall, Lauer found time to hone his game.
Once he got off the course, he usually got in the gym.
“He put the work in all summer and fall,” Fox said. “We had open gyms and he was at every single one of them.”
For Lauer, that was a given.
He’s meticulous when it comes to his work on his golf game. He puts in the same attention to detail on the basketball court.
“I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress,” Lauer said. “I grew a couple of inches. That will help me a lot. I think we can go pretty far if we work as a team. I want to try to get the whole team involved.”
Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
