Webb Sets Career Mark in 3-Pointers for Boys Basketball Team
Posted Friday, March 15, 2024
With a year to go as a Bellbrook basketball player, junior Austin Webb is already the all-time leader in 3-point field goals made. Webb, who surpassed 2018 graduate Donnie Crouch, set the all-time mark on his last 3-pointer of the season, notching number 159 when he hit three 3s against Kenton Ridge in the first round of the OHSAA tournament.
Webb, though, said he wasn’t aware of the record until Athletic Director Charlie O’Dell told him.
“I think he came in and said, ‘Hey, 3-point king,’” Webb said. “Then he showed me the sign.”
Webb was deadly from behind the arc as a sophomore, shooting 67-of-143 from behind the arc for 47%. As a junior he shot near the 40% mark, hitting 53-of-140 as defenses keyed on him. He has hit 159-of-372 (42.7%) from 3 in his career with a season to go.
And that’s why this year, he changed his game a bit.
“I have been working on being more of a facilitator,” Webb said. “I am trying to see the court better.”
Webb talked about his work with a coach, running drills on watching the defense and deciding when to shoot and when to pass or take the ball to the rim. He credits his work with Xander Smart and with his father for his growth as a player – and he credits his mother with helping him with the mental aspects of the game. But he still has some goals to achieve.
There are only seven players who have scored 1,000 points or more in Bellbrook boys basketball history, and Webb is just 107 points away from joining them.
With a good start to the season, he could be celebrating hitting that mark before Christmas.
“Ever since I watched Luke Kennard play, and saw him score 2,000 points, I wanted to get 1,000 points,” Webb said.
Webb said beyond the extra coaching – and shooting every night in the gym – he is concentrating on hitting the weight room and eating more, trying to put on weight. Webb said that will help him stay strong with the ball, get to the basketball better on the dribble and it will help him on defense.
“Austin has a tremendous work ethic,” Bellbrook boys basketball coach Donnie Tate said. “He is in the gym every day getting shots up. This year he improved his ability to finish at the rim and passing to open teammates going from 1.3 assists per game (as a sophomore) to 2.1 assists per game. Improving those skills has made it tougher for teams to guard him because they have to guard more than just his 3-point shot.
“We expect big things from him next season.”While Webb’s career high in points was against Franklin Road Academy when he scored 26 points as a sophomore, and his best in terms of 3-pointers was when he hit seven against West Seneca, he said neither of those were his favorite game.
He said his best night on the court came against Oakwood this year in the final game of the regular season, when the team played as a solid unit, cutting down the Lumberjacks, 69-49.“By far,” he said. “It was good to get Kellen (Soloman) that win on senior night. The entire team just played so well. And after, the student section was coming into the locker room and dancing. It was kind of perfect.”