Alex
Stewart:
He won’t forget Mavs’
title run,
and, as a senior, he tried
to recreate it
By Bruce Smith
Matchup
Alex Stewart was an impact player. He wasn’t always on
the court, but coach Jon Nettleton recognized that when he looked at Stewart
and motioned him to go into the game something was going to happen.
“He probably had the most impact of any player,”
Nettleton said. Stewart knew the 2011-12 was going to be difficult because Mountain View was coming off a state championship. Even though the Mavericks didn’t win a second title, he said they accomplished a goal of at least contending for it.
“We knew it was going to be a lot of hard work because all the other teams were gunning for us,” he said. “We enjoyed bragging about it (the title) for a while but then we had to live up to it.”
Nettleton said Stewart was a pleasure to coach. He averaged 7.4 points per game and 3.4 rebounds as a senior. While that’s not necessarily eye-opening, it was how – and when – Stewart scored that made a difference.
“I was one of the leading scorers,” Stewart recalled. “I shot a lot of threes. We had a lot of players who could score. Coach wanted me to be more aggressive and sometimes I got a lot of confidence. We kind of took turns who would back up Brandon (Luedtke).”
Stewart’s role actually started his junior year. He had inconsistent amounts of playing time, but was one of the players who stepped up their game after the Mavs’ leading scorer, Tyson Percifield, was hurt just before the state tournament. In Mountain View’s semifinal game against SIC rival Borah at the Idaho Center, Stewart scored 12 points in the Mavs’ 65-51 win.
“He came off the bench and had three threes,” said Nettleton said. “In his mind, he’ll remember that the rest of his life. Those were important shots and made a big difference for us at the time.”
One time, Stewart nailed a shot from long range and was fouled on the play. He made the free throw, resulting in a rare four-point play.
A year later, Stewart still couldn’t help but smile when describing that night.
“The 6 (foot)-9 guy hit me (Brock Holubetz), but I still hit the shot,” he said.
When the local media made its SIC predictions, Mountain View was picked third and there was no mention of Stewart, but he came alive again at key times.
He had a season high 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Mavs’ early season win over Capital, and followed it up with a 10-point effort against Boise. He was recognized – and even interviewed – by local radio station KIDO. His efforts helped Mountain View start the season 7-0 and the Mavs were highly ranked as they attempted to repeat last year’s title.
“We have guys on our team that can surprise people,” Stewart said. “This year, it was usually Tanner (Percifield), but it could be anyone. When someone was ‘on,’ we let them shoot. We almost always had someone who was hot.”
Nettleton noted there was something else that set Stewart apart from his teammates.
“If I looked back at all the games, I’d notice that he always had a smile on his face when he was on the floor,” he said. “He was a kid who was always in a good mood. It took a lot for him to get upset.”
Nettleton recalled one specific play, when the 6-3 Stewart went for a layup against Boise, but lost control of the ball.
“It went straight up and through the hoop and he had to grab the rim,” Nettleton said. “He said later, ‘did you see me dunk it?’”
Stewart said another highlight came this year against Centennial. The Patriots were guarding Percifield very closely, and that gave Stewart some additional freedom. Despite being poked in the eye, and occasionally suffering blurred vision, he scored 10 points in the Mavs’ 42-32 win.
Stewart said he didn’t have any further plans to continue playing organized basketball. He appreciated all the great memories at Mountain View. After graduation, he said he was considering going to the University of Idaho.
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