The freshman has fit in well with the veterans, and it started this summer when the Arrows often drove to Shrout’s place. They came alone to work in the barn on becoming a team because coaches could only put them through individual drills at the school.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” Shrout said.
And his teammates have loved having him on the team. Shrout averaged 22.7 points a game this season and was named player of the year in the Southwestern Buckeye League’s Buckeye Division.
“For not having the varsity experience you wouldn’t know that he hasn’t,” said senior leader and 1,000-point scorer Bryce Singleton. “He’s SWBL player of the year – great player.”
The addition of Shrout as a 6-foot-3 point guard to the leadership of Singleton have been key ingredients in the Arrows’ rise to the top of the SWBL Buckeye and to a No. 2 seed in the Division III tournament.
“I’ve been doing it for four years, and it’s incredible, just to get that honor and to get that respect from other teams in the area,” Singleton said.
The Arrows played like a No. 2 seed Thursday night at Northmont High School in a 65-35 victory over No. 18 Covington after leading 40-8 at halftime. Shrout scored 15 points, Singleton scored 13 and junior forward Xavier Adams added 12.
“We told our guys all week it was important to get off to a good start, keep the pressure on them and get the game moving,” Shawnee coach Dale Spitler said. “They really responded well.”
Spitler said his two best players and top scorers (Singleton averages 18.1 points) have responded well to their roles.
“Bryce has really mentored the young guys and helped Mason come along,” Spitler said. “He’s pushed them in practice. He doesn’t care about the stats, he just wants to win, so he doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight.”
Spitler said he told Shrout he had the skill and size for varsity, but he had to work at the mental part. Spitler told him opponents will work hard to stop a freshman from scoring on them and that he couldn’t get frustrated by box-and-one defenses or off nights.
“It was tough at first coming in and understanding my role as a freshman,” Shrout said. “I came from eighth grade where I was the leader and running things. Staying under Bryce and letting him run things was a learning experience at first, but I love it. There’s nothing I would trade for this.”
Shawnee (20-3) will play No. 9 Versailles in a district semifinal at 7:30 Saturday at Northmont.
Versailles 55, Dayton Christian 46: The Tigers (10-14) won their second tournament game, jumping to a nine-point halftime lead with a late run and then a 14-point lead early in the second half.
Eighth-seeded Dayton Christian (14-8) played zone as it typically does, but the Tigers beat it for some easy baskets inside late in the half.
“We were kind of covering spots, not people,” said Warriors coach JT Holliday. “And that’s on me for not getting out of the zone sooner.”
The Tigers are also used to the physical play every night in the Midwest Athletic Conference and a difficult nonconference schedule. Once the Warriors started to match the physical play, they rallied to within three twice in the fourth quarter. But the Tigers stood their ground and made 10 of 14 free throws in the fourth.
“When it comes down to tournament time, playing that physicality, being coached against really hard, I think that prepares you for a long tournament run,” said Versailles coach Travis Swank.
Eli McEldowney scored 11 points and Jaydon Litten and Connor Stonebraker had 10 apiece for the Tigers. Devin Dreier led the Warriors with 17 and Isaiah Edwards added 11.
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