Steen carrying heavy load for struggling Marlins

PANAMA CITY BEACH — At any point during Tuesday night's game against Rutherford, you could find Arnold senior forward Alex Steen trying to free himself to receive an inbound pass before navigating his way through a minefield of fast, swarming Rams defenders working in concert to get the ball from him, or force him to give it to a teammate, before the Marlins could get it across halfcourt.

It's not exactly the role that most 6-foot-7 forwards are assigned at the high school level, but it's par for the course for Steen, who has had to do a bit of everything for a Marlins squad that has struggled to stay above water all season.

Of course, Tuesday's game wasn't the only time that Steen has been a marked man, with opposing defenses making him the primary focus of their game plans all season, which makes sense when you consider that he accounts for 44 percent of the Marlins' points.

"Obviously it's a little tiring, but it makes me better at the same time," Steen said of the extra attention he receives from opposing teams. "It kind of makes me tougher when they're sending two people or more. Wherever I'm going at the next level I'll have to be able to handle that kind of stuff. It is a little exhausting, but it's nothing that I can't deal with. It just makes me better. I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to grind and push through."

Steen grinded his way to 19 points in the 62-55 loss to Rutherford, down from the 30 points he scored in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 4, also a Rams win.

Rutherford coach Rhondie Ross said the strategy against the Marlins, as it has been for most of their opponents this season, was to make anyone other than Steen beat them.

"A lot of times with a guy that is that talented but has to do a lot for his team, as an opposing coach you just try to be strategic about getting the ball out of his hands early in the backcourt or in the halfcourt on the catch," he said. "We tried our best to wear him down a little bit too because he's got to handle the ball and score for them.

"I think it may not be resulting in as much winning as they would probably like, but I think it's actually making him a better player. I think it will bode well for him at the next level to be able to handle the ball and make plays not only for himself but for other people."

Steen himself echoed this sentiment, though he has still been able to put up gawdy numbers despite the inordinate amount of defensive attention he receives. For the season, Steen is averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds per game, slightly up from his junior season when he put in 21 points and 11 rebounds per game.

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Those numbers might be even more impressive if Arnold could simply hang on to the ball long enough for Steen to get up more shots.

With a lack of experience in the backcourt, the Marlins have struggled mightily with turnovers all season, averaging over 20 giveaways per game and turning it over 34 times in the loss to Rutherford.

It was a perfect illustration of why Arnold coach Josh Laatsch made the decision to call on his biggest player to take on more of the ball-handling duties.

"I moved up a couple of freshmen (from junior varsity) because we couldn't get the ball across halfcourt," he said. "If you can't get it over halfcourt you can't give the ball to your best player and let him make plays. Cutting down on turnovers creates more shot opportunities and usually, Alex is the one taking those because the ball usually finds him.

"We've moved him in certain game situations to point guard because he's the best decision-maker we have, so he'll literally get the ball inbounds and bring it up the floor, and then give it to a point guard so we can run a set until he finds the ball and scores."

Despite Tuesday's outing, Arnold has cut down on turnovers dramatically over the course of the last month thanks in part to Steen's move to the backcourt. As a result, Steen's scoring has also increased, as he's averaging 26.2 points over the last 10 games, with Tuesday's 19-point effort the only time during that span in which he failed to reach the 20-point mark.

That consistency is a product of not only Steen's talent but also the consistency of his work ethic, which often leads him to 7 a.m. workouts before school or staying late after practices or games to get even more shots up.

The extra work has resulted in improved shooting percentages from the field, going from 52 percent as a junior to 57 percent this year, and an even bigger jump as a 3-point shooter, going from 19 percent as a junior to 38 percent this season.

"Honestly, it's just me trying to get better," Steen said of his motivation to put in extra work. "Obviously my mom pushes me as much as she can, but at the end of the day she can't make me stay in the gym, can't make me stay after or go early. It's just really knowing that I want to make it. I want to be the best player that I possibly can be, so you come early, stay after, do extra. It's me telling myself that if I want to be there at the next level with those guys, I've got to do extra."

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With interest from Division-I schools such as Troy, Austin Peay, and VMI, along with a handful of Division-II offers, Steen will definitely get the chance to prove himself at the college level next season.

For now, his focus along with that of the other Arnold seniors is to make whatever is left of their final season of high school basketball count.

"I just want us to go out and do what we can, show what we can do," Steen said. "I really don't think there's been a game this season when we've played our best where everyone has it going and we have our best game. We have a couple other seniors, Jordan (White) and Jhantae (Stewart), we can feel it coming to an end. Now more than ever the mentality is to leave it all on the floor and give it our all. We're not gonna get any more high school basketball after this so just leave it all on the floor."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Florida H.S. basketball: Steen doing a bit of everything for Marlins