Jaguars follow Stiverson to win
ANDOVER — Andover Central junior Boston Stiverson looks a little out of place on the basketball court. He's 6-foot-4, 290 pounds and looks more like a football lineman — which he is.
Teammates Marshall Miller, Randall Vautravers and Mark Anderson — now they look like basketball players.
There's no doubt that Stiverson has a place with the Jaguars, though, especially after he scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds in Andover Central's 63-48 victory over Augusta.
"We've been waiting on B to have a game like that," Andover Central coach Jesse Herrmann said, whose team improved to 13-2 and 6-0 in Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail Division III.
"He played real well. I'm happy for him... they have big, physical guys, and we knew that was kind of where the game would be won.... Without him tonight, it's a whole different game."
Stiverson's future focus is solidly on football. But he's got a passion for basketball, a game he's played since he was a child, a game he once thought he'd play in college.
Throughout the season he has worked out with assistant coach Kyle Taylor in the mornings, riding the exercise bike or getting on the elliptical machine.
"I want to lose weight for basketball and put some muscle on, I want to get up and down the court quicker," he said.
Stiverson is a solid 290, and when he's in the lane, he not only takes up a lot of space, he's difficult to move. Through Andover Central's offense, he takes a lot of passes in the lane, then kicks it back out, with crisp passes, to the guards.
He capped the Jaguars' 19-0 run — they held Augusta scoreless during a span of 7:01 over the second and third quarters — with three consecutive baskets. He got the offensive rebound — he had seven — on a missed free throw and scored.
On the next possession he made a strong move to the basket, did a shot fake and scored, was fouled and hit the free throw. On the second possession of the third quarter he scored again inside for the 33-12 lead.
"Boston is a beast," Augusta coach David Stephenson said. "He's hard to move, and it makes it tough to score and rebound."
Herrmann agreed.
"He's got good feet, good hands. Obviously that's an advantage," Herrmann said. "You can use that size, and he does.... He got a lot of easy baskets and a lot of rebounds because he can hold people real well, and their big people are hard to hold."
Shane Smith led Augusta with 14 points, while Travis Erwin had 12 points, six rebounds.
Augusta6 6 18 18 — 48 Andover Central10 21 19 13 — 63
AUGUSTA: Smith 14, Clausing 2, Erwin 12, Furr 5, Carman 7, Richmond 2, Patterson 6. Totals 19 (3) 7-13 48.
ANDOVER CENTRAL: Miller 8, Vautravers 10, Anderson 7, Stiverson 16, Gentry 6, McWhorter 4, Wilks 8, Lock 2, Clements 2. Totals 25 (4) 9-15 63.