The WHHS Eagles men’s basketball team will play their first tournament game this Friday, Feb. 16. Prior to the tournament, awards for the all Eastern Cincinnati Conference team of the year were announced. 

WHHS finished the season in a three-way tie for first place in the conference. With only two losses, the team looks to make a run in the tournament. Several players on the team were awarded All Conference team honors for their efforts on the court. 

The All Conference team is supposed to honor the best players at each position in the ECC. The WHHS team took home five All Conference awards, including two first team All Conference awards. 

Owen Murray, ‘22, was the second leading scorer on the eagles with 11.4 points per game and a team leading 44.9 three-point percentage. These numbers did not only sit amongst the top of the WHHS leaders but also amongst the best players in the ECC, therefore Murray was awarded the first team All Conference award for a great offensive season. 

WHHS’ second first team All Conference award went to Tyler McKinley ‘24. The 6’7 freshman was the team’s breakout player, he was third on the team in scoring and led the ECC in both field goal percentage and blocks. McKinley’s efforts helped WHHS come in first in the ECC; he also made a name for himself as a top player in the conference with three years of high school left. 

“It means a lot to me. It’s just something I worked for all my life. I see myself in the future going to college and playing pro basketball.  For this team, I just want to  have one of the best basketball teams to come out of Walnut. And big things are coming in the next three years,” McKinley said. 

Both Max Poynter, ‘22, and SENIOR Collin Miller were awarded with second team all ECC honors after putting up some spectacular numbers. Poynter led the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game as well as being seventh in the ECC in steals. Miller was fifth on the team in terms of scoring and was third in the ECC with 1.9 steals per game. 

Javion Bostic, ‘23, was awarded honorable mention after averaging 8.4 points per game and 2.9 assists per game. 

“I believe I deserved more but I’m thankful that I even got the award. It was a cool opportunity to go from playing freshman basketball last year to going to varsity,” Bostic said,   “Our team’s future is very bright especially this year as we enter the tournament with high expectations. To be such a young team, many people may say we have overachieved, but we are going to do big things and I’m really excited.”

A full list of the awards and stats from WHHS first place season can be found at: https://eccsports.com/confStandings.aspx?satc=143