Vc’S Smith Big Contributor - Quietly

Valley Christian athlete Eric Smith is so efficient on the basketball court, his coach sometimes is unaware of what he’s accomplished.

“I expect so much of him night in and night out,” said Panther coach Steve Altmeyer, “that I tell him after a game he didn’t play well before I look at the stats.”

Then Altmeyer will discover a 20-point, 10-rebound, six-assist performance and he becomes humbled.

“You don’t realize how much he’s doing,” said Altmeyer.

Smith, who says Altmeyer is tough to please but also is a great motivator, has been doing a lot for three years now. His impact as a rebounder for Valley Christian’s second-place state finish as a sophomore was stunning.

In his third year as a Panther starter and the team’s leading rebounder all three seasons, the 6-foot-1 senior and his classmate Jared Evans have been asked to do even more.

Injuries and illnesses have prevented the unbeaten Bi-County League champions from playing with their entire lineup most of this year.

The burden of late has fallen on Smith and fourth-year varsity player Evans. Over the last five games, each has averaged 18 points per game.

“I like to think I’ve always been a pressure player,” said Smith. “God’s always been there and calms my nerves.”

He and Evans have been good friends since elementary school when they played AAU basketball together.

Smith was a student at St. Mary’s Catholic School. Evans attended Valley Christian and talked to him about the school.

“I decided to check it out and liked it,” said Smith. “I decided to come my eighth grade year.”

Evans made varsity the next year. Smith joined the Panthers for the district tournament.

“I wasn’t part of the team, really,” he said. “As a sophomore I was called upon to be more productive.”

Last year he averaged 15.2 points per game during the regular season and improved to 15.8 during league, district and state playoffs for the fifth-place state team.

This year he’s scoring at a 15.6 clip with two league games remaining.

Evans and Brent Decker, who has missed half the season with injury and illness, are also double figures scorers. Two other seniors, Matt Bolster and Tyson Lacy, have played important roles, as have point guard Matt Barreiro and Joel Knigge.

But for all their vital contributions, Smith is one player most missed when he’s out of the lineup, said Altmeyer.

“When he’s gone, we’re a different team,” he said. “He’s a guy who makes a big difference.”

Smith thought of himself as a baseball player before he arrived at Valley Christian. He considers himself a basketball player now and would like to continue the sport in college. Altmeyer says he can, despite a relative lack of size, because of his ability to rise to the level of competition.

“That is my personal goal,” said Evans. “I don’t think it is the size of the man as much as the size of the heart that counts.”