Makes things happen

Shadle Park has only two seniors on its highly successful boys basketball team, and Austin Hayes is the best one you haven’t heard of.

The other Shadle senior is Zack Humphrey, a four-year starter for the Highlanders who has scored more than 1,000 points in his high school career. He’s the one most typically in the headlines after a Shadle victory – and there have been plenty of those this season, with the ninth-ranked Highlanders off to a 14-2 Greater Spokane League start.

But the guy who does the dirty work, according to coach Tim Gaebe, is Hayes, a hard-nosed player who always draws the assignment to guard the opponent’s best scorer and doesn’t know what it’s like to operate at anything less than 100 percent.

“Austin’s been a program guy,” said Gaebe. “Even as a junior, he played mostly junior varsity, but this year he earned a spot as a starter and is one of our three captains. He’s a guy who is all about the team and knows what’s important on the basketball court.

“Austin really understands his role for us,” the coach continued, “and that’s important for the other guys to see. We’re successful because everybody knows his role, and sometimes that involves sacrifice. Our starters aren’t always our finishers, but we’ve communicated a lot about that this season, that you never know when your time may come, so you’d better always be ready.”

Hayes certainly was, especially after a shoulder injury cut short his football season and had him on the sidelines when basketball practice began in November.

“I couldn’t stand watching the end of the football season from the stands,” he said. “I just kept thinking how my senior season was gone, and how that wasn’t going to happen in basketball.

“I really think that’s what had me so motivated for basketball this season,” he continued. “Even after I could start working out, Coach Gaebe wouldn’t let me scrimmage. I kept trying to sneak in there, but he always caught me.”

Gaebe knew that there was no way to get Hayes to take it easy, he says, so he wanted to make sure the senior was healthy and ready to go.

“Austin’s motor is always going. Whenever he’s on the court, he’s flying around, getting deflections, offensive rebounds, just making things happen. The first thing you notice about him is how hard he plays all the time.”

Hayes knew that was how he’d make the Highlanders better.

“Zack’s there to shoot the 3, Anthony Brown’s an MVP guy, Aaron Dunn’s the big hoss down low and Robby Douglas brings the ball up and can score, too. My job is to hustle, work hard and be scrappy – Coach Gaebe calls me the Energizer Bunny.”

Hayes doesn’t envy Humphrey any of his success.

“We’ve been best friends since we were little,” he said. “He’s such a good player, I loved watching him play varsity when I wasn’t. It’s cool seeing how good he is. I always wanted to play with him, and now that I get to, it’s a blast.”

Hayes also thinks the two have improved from practicing against each other every day.

“I know I owe a lot of my defensive ability to him – I have to guard him every practice. I hope I’ve made him better by making him work hard. I know he’s made me better.”

He remembers how last season ended for Shadle’s seniors – one victory shy of a trip to the state 4A tournament – and is determined not to see his career finish the same way.

“We got so close last year. All our guys are hungry; all we talk about is getting to State. We’re playing well, but we still haven’t played our best. We know how to win the close ones, and we’ve played the No. 1-ranked team in the state (Ferris) tough both times. For me, it’s my last year to play basketball, and I know we can do it!”