Leading the charge

QUINCY — Aidan Bews isn’t a new face for the Quincy Jackrabbits boys basketball team, though he is in a new role for the team, which became the 2022-2023 Caribou Trail League champions Tuesday.

“(In the past) I was a rebounder, I was probably the third option offensively,” Bews said. “We had two seniors, pretty good scorers. I didn’t really have to do much, I could kind of just be out there running and we’d still win. This year, it’s different.”

A returning two-year starter in the frontcourt, Bews, a junior, has transitioned into the lead player for the Jacks this season and has brought along his teammates to Quincy’s 13-6 record this year.

“It’s a brand-new team, so everyone just had to find their roles,” Bews said. “I’ve been in the program the longest. I talked with Coach (Scott Bierlink), and I was going to be the one to help bring everyone up to speed before the season started.”

Quincy graduated 10 seniors from last year’s state playoff team, which left a significant void in this year’s roster. Now a veteran on the team, Bews’ leadership has been key to the Jacks’ success going back to the summer.

“At the end of last season we lost 10 seniors on our varsity, and we went into summer ball with low expectations,” Bews said. “The first camp that we went to we won a couple of games and realized we could play well as a group, but it was a brand-new group.”

The veteran experience was something that Bierlink expected Bews to bring into this season.

“Him being the lone returning starter, we were expecting him to step up and show some of that leadership,” Bierlink said. “He started as a freshman, started as a sophomore, and he’s probably gone above my expectations. He’s done a great job of putting guys in their spots, mentoring them, being that vocal leader and leading by example.”

As the leading scorer for the Central Washington Select, an Amateur Athletic Union team based out of Yakima, Bews spent his summer working on being a more focused scorer in the Quincy offense.

“I had a lot of tournaments where I was thinking about how I’m going to work on different stuff,” Bews said. “Working on my ball handling and shooting especially, because I knew I couldn't just get the ball in the post every time.”

Working on his game offensively has already shown its benefits for Quincy, who locked up a league title on Tuesday night. Bews is averaging 20.7 points per game, shooting 51% from the field and 44% from beyond the three-point arc. It also led to some high-scoring nights for the junior, who was named Athlete of the Week by the WIAA on Thursday for his 50-point outing against Royal on Jan. 14.

“I told my teammate Pierce (Bierlink) that it feels like a rec league game (against Royal) because we all know each other since we’re so close,” Bews said. “It just seemed like you were going to an open gym, no pressure at all.”

The 50 points in a game are the second-most in Quincy history, according to Bierlink.

“He hit nine threes, I think six of which were in the fourth quarter,” Bierlink said. “He scored in a variety of ways; he hit seven free throws, he got a dunk, he had a couple of jump hooks, scored in the paint. Kind of all three directions.”

Playing in AAU tournaments around the West Coast showed Bews a different speed of the game, having competed against high-level opponents over the summer.

“Just the different speed of the game,” Bews said. “I’d played at the varsity level for two years, then went to a pretty big tournament down in Los Angeles, and it was just different. I was trying to bring that back to here, to give us an advantage.”

Bews got started playing basketball on a hoop at his elementary school, before signing up for the Dru Gimlin 3-on-3 tournament in Quincy. From there it was on to Hoopfest in Spokane and a local AAU team in Quincy.

“We had a terrible year, one of the games we lost, like, 60-4,” Bews said. “But, the coach said there’s a team out of Moses Lake, you can come play with us. I played with one of my buddies on that team, and that really got me started.”

Bews continued playing on into high school, where he started his first two seasons with the Jacks. Now in his junior season, he’s transitioned into the feature option.

He said one of the things he’s grown the most in is his composure on the court.

“Composure, just being more comfortable in some situations,” Bews said. “At the start of the year, I could tell I was a little antsy and maybe forcing some stuff because I knew I had to be a leading scorer. Now, guys have found their roles and I don’t have to step up. We’ve got three guys averaging 20 (points per game), I don’t need to go out and get 25 a night.”

Scoring 50 points in a game showed both Bews and Bierlink just what his potential can be on the court, giving the junior another confidence boost before postseason competition.

“He’s not going to score 50 every night, but that set the bar pretty high,” Bierlink said. “Now he’s just got to play with a little more dog in him, but he’s got all sorts of potential.”

Bierlink is also excited to see what heights Bews can reach with another off-season of working on his craft.

“I keep telling him that he’s just scratching the surface of what he can do,” Bierlink said. “He’s 6-6, he can jump – he’s got a 34- or 35-inch vertical – he can shoot it, he hit nine threes against Royal. He can score at all three levels; you don’t get many guys his size that can do all three.”

While being efficient on the offensive end Bews still hasn’t let up on his defensive play, averaging 11.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game this season.

“If he can make the improvement he made from last year to this year as a junior – if he can make that same jump next year, he’s going to be scary good. He’s one of my hardest-working kids on the team.”

Bews and the Jacks will look to close the regular season strong against Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) on Saturday and Cascade (Leavenworth) on Tuesday.

“This year our closest goal is to win league, and then from there it’s just the long stretch to get to state,” Bews said. “Last year it seemed like it went by really fast, but looking at it, we have a lot of work to do to get to a spot where we can be good.”

Ian Bivona can be reached via email at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.