One of the best things about sports is its unpredictability. But there are still some things you can see coming from a mile away.

Winthrop junior guard Jacob Hickey knew he was going to be taking on a much larger part of the scoring burden for the Winthrop Ramblers this season. He also knew opposing coaches were going to throw everything but their clipboard at him to try and stop him.

They rarely succeeded.

Hickey, a standout sixth man for coach Todd MacArthur his freshman and sophomore years, relished the challenge of his new role as the focal point of the Ramblers’ offense. He also welcomed the challenge from MacArthur to become a more complete player and led Winthrop to a 17-4 record and the Class C South final. For his efforts, Hickey is the Kennebec Journal Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“I knew after last year I’d need to pick up more of the offensive load with seven seniors graduating, so last summer I put in a lot of work trying to get off my jump shot a lot quicker and getting quicker off the dribble so I could get to the hoop,” Hickey said. “At the beginning of the season, I looked forward to every challenge I was faced with. I never really got scared of anything.”

“He knew he was going to get the keys to the car,” MacArthur said. “He had to work on getting quicker and ball-handling. I always knew he could shoot. I wanted him to be able to get to the rim and create his own shot.”

MacArthur described Hickey as a gym rat “and a practice rat” who not only knew he had to put in the work to improve, but also knew how to put in the work.

“You know those theories people talk about why kids don’t shoot as well these days as they used to? Well, he proves those theories wrong,” MacArthur said. “He identifies his weaknesses, and before he leaves the gym he tries to make those weaknesses strengths.”

Opposing teams tried to offset those strengths with a variety of man-to-man and zone defenses designed to keep Hickey from getting the ball and/or give him little room to operate when he did.

Often times, Hickey and his teammates had the tools to make those plans backfire. Never more so than a regular-season game against Lisbon. Hickey blew up the Greyhounds’ 1-3-1 zone for 10 3-pointers (on 16 attempts) and finished with 41 points in roughly three quarters as the Ramblers cruised to an 80-37 win.

“As a team, we did a good job attacking the seams and our point guards were able to penetrate and draw the defense and kick it out to me for open 3’s,” Hickey said.

“As the season went on, I saw more and more defenses, and I think that made me stronger and more confident,” he added. “My teammates did a great job of getting me open this year. I think we have some of the best screeners in the conference. And (guards) Spence (Steele), Bennett (Brooks), Nate (Scott) and Andrew (Pazdziorko) driving to the hoop opened up so much.”

Like Lisbon, Old Orchard Beach tried a 1-3-1 to disrupt Hickey in the Class C South quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center. Hickey, who hit an all-time cold spell and scored just one point in the same building against Dirigo in late December, torched the Seagulls for 33 points.

This time, though, only four 3-pointers figured in the scoring. Instead, he attacked the rim and ended up just one free throw short of the tournament record with 15 foul shots made.

“Jacob’s basketball IQ rose tremendously in terms of how to handle that,” MacArthur said. “He’s a smart basketball player. He knows what he had to do to win, and he’s an unselfish player. All he wants to do is win.”

Attracting that kind of attention can take a lot out of a player physically. But wearing out Hickey wasn’t an option. A standout runner on the cross country team, he was usually the one leaving opponents gasping for air.

“His endurance was second to none,” MacArthur said. “I think cross country played a big part in his conditioning.”

Hickey also paid close attention to proper stretching, saying it not only improved his flexibility but helped keep the aches and pains that can build up over the course of the season at bay.

“He was our guy. He put us on his shoulders throughout the season,” MacArthur added. “We relied on him for a lot of our scoring. It says a lot about him as a player that getting the attention from other teams that he was getting he was able to produce night in and night out.”

That Hickey did, and not just as a scorer. He averaged 22.1 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 4.4 steals.

“I was blown away with his growth as a defender,” MacArthur said. “He has improved probably 10 times as much as a defensive player as he has as an offensive player. He was probably our best passing lane defender. He really used his quickness as an asset.”

“My lateral quickness was something coach wanted me to improve to make me a better defender,” Hickey said. “I wanted to be there for weak-side help and get my hand in the passing lane.”

Hickey’s growth physically and mentally this season has MacArthur predicting big things for his senior year.

“I think the biggest step he’s going to take is next year,” he said.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

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