Ethan Sutherland checked in his ego a long time ago.
“I've never been the greatest basketball player,” the Ozark senior point guard says with open admission.
But Sutherland has never checked out, as in quitting.
He went through as many struggles as any of the Tigers during their 4-12 start to this season. Ball-handling has been this team’s bugaboo more often than not.
Through all the turnovers, Sutherland has gained respect for his resilience from the perspective of his teammates and coach Mark Schweitzer.
By all accounts, Sutherland has never shown the slightest sign of bad body language. He’s never stopped trying and recently has enjoyed breakthrough performances during Ozark’s stretch of six wins in seven games.
Sutherland was at his finest Tuesday against Republic, while not committing his first and only turnover until three minutes remained in Ozark’s momentous victory. He didn’t flinch against Republic’s second-half, full-court press.
“He's like the three-second rule. He can miss and then, next play,” forward Jace Whatley said of Sutherland’s short-term memory and determination.
“It's hard to be a varsity point guard without having had any varsity experience. He doesn't always make the right decision or make the right play,” Schweitzer said. “But he’s going to get up and keep fighting, that's what he knows how to do. Everything he's got in him, you're going to get out of him. His effort will never be questioned by me.”
Sutherland relates in the dire times individually and as a whole, he’s drawn strength from his teammates.
"I'm hard on myself. I'm harder on myself than a lot of people are,” he said. “I make sure my teammates keep their head up and they do a really good job of doing that for me, too.”
Sutherland easily could have been a shooting guard. Strafford sophomore Cody Voysey is already in his second season as a dynamic starting point guard for the Indians. He attended Ozark through the eighth grade. Southern Missouri RUSH point guard Garrett Rudy, who is a deft ball-handler, lives in Ozark.
Sutherland assumed Ozark’s point guard duties in the pre-season and has been the Tigers’ best man for the job. He’s kept Schweitzer from having Hudson Roberts handle the ball and thus, allowing Roberts to shine as both a spot-up shooter from 3-point land and a scorer in the paint.
Sutherland doesn’t think it’s a coincidence he’s playing his best ball in February. Over his entire Tigers career, he’s as proud of the improvement he’s shown over the course of a season as anything.
"I've always had to compete and work to get better as the year goes on,” he said. “I feel like I've done that freshman through senior year.”
