DARKE COUNTY – A pair of versatile basketball players are this week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week.
This week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are Greenville boys basketball player Clay Guillozet and Tri-Village girls basketball player Allie Downing.
Guillozet leads all Darke County basketball players and the entire Greater Western Ohio Conference with 33.0 points per game. He’s also second in Darke County and the GWOC with 9.0 rebounds per game.
After being named the GWOC North boys basketball player of the year as a junior, Guillozet is even better as a senior, Greenville boys basketball coach Mike Bashore said.
“He’s probably playing at a level we’ve never seen him play before,” Bashore said. “He’s just a perfect example of what hard work is going to do for you.”
Guillozet is off to a hot start, making 60 percent of his shots. He’s also made 47.1 percent of his 3-point attempts.
“He’s shooting the ball better than he did last year,” Bashore said.
The Greenville senior has been able to succeed even though opponents know he’s a strong scorer and have focused on him. He’s been successful thanks to his versatility.
“He finds different ways to score,” Bashore said. “It’s not just shooting a 3.”
One of the ways Guillozet has been able to score is by getting rebounds. He averages five offensive rebounds a game.
“He’s really skilled,” Bashore said. “He’s got great leaping ability around the basket.”
But it’s not just scoring and rebounding for Guillozet. He also gets his teammates involved and averages 1.5 assists a game.
“He’s a great team player,” Bashore said. “He’s really good at distributing the ball to his teammates when he’s covered up.”
As a two-year captain, Guillozet has been instrumental to Greenville’s success including a GWOC North championship last year and a home winning streak that dates back two years.
“Being a senior and being a leader and being in the program for four years, he has a great understanding of what we try to do,” Bashore said. “He puts so much work into the offseason. It just pays off for him.”
Like Guillozet, Downing is a versatile player who can play a number of roles for Tri-Village.
“It also helps that she is as versatile of a player as she is,” Tri-Village girls basketball coach Brad Gray said. “She is a kid that can go from playing the point on one possession to the kid who we are trying to post up on the next. She also has that same versatility on the defensive end of the floor. We use her to guard just about every position.”
Downing has gotten off to a great start this season and leads all Darke County girls with 16.9 points per game. The junior is second in the county with 7.0 rebounds per game and fourth in the county with 3.1 assists per game.
“Allie has been a great leader for us both by how she plays and vocally,” Gray said. “She is a true competitor. I would say she ranks right up there with the most passionate players that I have had the fortune of coaching.”
With Downing’s leadership, Tri-Village is looking to defend its Cross County Conference championship this season.
“The other kids on our team feed off of her energy and passion for playing the game,” Gray said. “That makes my job as a coach much easier.”