With his ADM Tigers finishing the basketball season 6-16 overall, Logan Essy’s senior campaign didn’t go as well as he’d hoped.
Still though, the Tigers’ point guard and leader says he’s proud of the way his team battled throughout the season, even if the win/loss results weren’t there.
“Really we met my expectations in that everyone showed up everyday, we didn’t ever give up. We had one game against Carroll I know where it seemed like everyone kinda gave up, but other than that, we really played hard all the time and showed up for practice everyday.”
When it comes to answering questions about living up to expectations, Essy is actually harder on himself than his team. In Essy’s own words, he had a good year–being honored as a second-team all-Raccoon River Conference performer would indicate as much, but it could have been better.
“I didn’t really live up to the points per game that I really wanted and I didn’t really limit the turnovers either but I guess that is just my style of play–I’m not really out of control but I can get a little wild at times. I don’t know, I kind of wish I would have averaged a few more points and gotten that first-team.”
Essy sure performed like a first-teamer in his final career game on the hardwood. Yes, it ended in an 83-63 first-round playoff loss to Harlan–which Essy is quick to point out–but it also was a career night individually for the senior, as he poured in 32 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He also went 5-of-7 from behind the three-point arc. Safe to say, Essy was in a groove.
“It felt good to go out like that and basically feel like you’re just throwing the ball into the ocean. Everything just felt so smooth and it was a lot of fun I thought.”
It’s great to go out on a high note as Essy did, but still, saying goodbye to your basketball career is never easy for a senior. Essy says he’ll miss the competition and playing with his good friends, but he’ll especially miss playing for his head coach, Aaron Mager.
“He’s been more to me than just a coach, he has always been there for me when I was in Middle School–talked me through some things. He is just a really good guy and a good coach, we just didn’t get the outcomes that he wanted to with our class. But, we really built some solid relationships with him and had a lot of fun this year.”
Tune-in to tomorrow’s sports to hear more from Essy as he previews what’s next on his athletic agenda. A hint: the kid can flat-out play baseball.