Shawnee’s Beckett Bertke (23) drives against Aaron Moenter Delphos of Delphos St. John’s earlier this season. Shawnee handed the Blue Jays one of their two losses back on Jan. 7.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
After starting as a freshman last season, Shawnee’s Beckett Bertke has taken his game to a higher level this season.
The 6-4 forward started all but the first three games for Shawnee and averaged 11.8 points a game last season. He scored in double figures in 14 games with a high of 20 points against Lima Senior and Upper Scioto Valley. He was voted third team All-Western Buckeye League by the league’s boys basketball coaches.
This season, he is averaging 22.2 points and 7.9 rebounds a game for Shawnee (12-6, 6-1 Western Buckeye League). He is shooting 49 percent overall on field goals, 35 percent on 3-pointers, and 76 percent on free throws.
He hit his season high with 39 points in a 79-68 overtime win over St. Henry and also had 11 rebounds and six assists that night. He scored 35 points in a 65-58 win over Delphos St. John’s, which is one of only two losses for the Blue Jays this season. He had 28 points in a 53-46 win over Celina.
Bertke says his improvement since last season has come from “really focusing on my craft and just adding to my game.”
“I’m a better shooter, a better 3-point shooter, and better at finishing around the rim. I’ve got a bigger role and my teammates really trust me with it,” he said.
Shawnee coach Mark Triplett said, “He’s more assertive this year. He’s not a freshman playing with a lot of seniors. Last year we had 10 seniors.
“Now he’s got the X on his back. Everybody is looking for him. Some kids shy away from that, they would rather be that off-ball guy. Beck knows he’s a target. He kind of has that mentality of, ‘Great, bring it on. Let’s challenge me, let’s contest me. I’m ready for that challenge.’
“Beck is a special kid. It’s what he does when nobody is watching. It’s not what he does when he’s in the gym with us at practice five or six times a week. It’s what he’s doing in the offseason,” he said.
Bertke’s leadership also became apparent in another way when he was voted to be one of Shawnee’s captains this season as a sophomore.
“He and Dom (senior Dominic Lynch) are not afraid to challenge each other, they’re not afraid to say what needs to be said to each other and to our team,” Triplett said.
“He watched a lot of basketball growing up with his dad (Nick) coaching and with his brother (Jarin) playing on some really good teams. He’s been in the gym a lot. He just loves basketball. He’s a kid who goes out and competes every day. He wants to be great himself, but more than anything, he wants our team to be great.
“He’s a special talent. I’ve had a couple of those and he’s definitely right there in that mix.”
Bertke’s brother Trevick, a 6-5 freshman point guard (6.4 points, 3.1 assists per game), also has become a starter as a freshman this season.
“In the summer kind of from Day 1, we said, ‘You’re our point guard.’ We made him go out there and get the nerves out early,” Triplett said. “He’s a tough match-up at that size and with what he can do on the defensive end.”
