Klein, Hunnicutt helping Rockets ignite

Consider senior Sam Klein the ying to junior Ray Hunnicutt's yang.

Or is it the other way around?

No matter the order, the two work seamlessly together to comprise one of the area's most potent scoring duos for the suddenly hot Burlington Central boys basketball team, which has won 3 straight games to improve to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the Big Northern Conference's East Division.

Klein, the 18-year old son of a farmer from Burlington — “and proud of it,” he said moments after Tuesday's 14-point victory over Richmond-Burton — is the team's tallest player at 6-foot-3.

A versatile slasher, he can create his own shots off his determined dribble, rely on the outside shot he's worked hard to improve or create opportunities for his teammates. Klein's scoring average as a senior has climbed to 15.7 points per game, up from last year's 11 ppg.

“He's really incredible,” Hunnicutt said. “Everything he does is just great. He'll pass me the ball sometimes as quick as he can. If I pass him the ball, I know he'll hit the shot. He gets rebounds, too, so we're always in there together, fighting, trying to get another shot.”

Hunnicutt, a 17-year-old junior from unincorporated St. Charles, has likewise upped his production this year. Playing his third varsity season, the tenacious 5-11 guard leads the Rockets with 17.5 ppg., an improvement upon his 2009-10 average of 13.5 ppg.

“We're both very confident players and we're both very good at passing, too,” Klein said. “We don't usually have bad games because we usually feed off each other and work together so well.”

Together, Klein and Hunnicutt average 33.2 ppg, which accounts for 51.5 percent of the Rockets' team scoring average of 64.5 ppg.

“They've grown, especially as this season has gone on,” second-year Central coach Brett Porto said. “I expect nothing less from those two because they do work hard and they do want to get better.”

Both players are also key performers for Central's successful baseball program, but it was the vigorous summer training program instituted by Porto that has each resembling wrought iron this winter.

“I felt the guys in the summer who weren't in football I wanted in a weightlifting program,” Porto said. “Those two guys the last couple of years have bought into it. They've worked hard and have gotten stronger.”

The duo had to buy into the weights to improve, they believed.

“It started in the summer,” Klein said. “We knew we were going to be counted on as good teammates and leaders of this team. We worked hard and that carried over to the fall and now during games.

“We know the way we go, the team goes. When I'm not on, he's on. And it goes both ways.”

Being in top shape has allowed each player to develop a more rounded game. Klein still has strength in his legs in the fourth quarter. The result is an improved shooting percentage of .415.

The added muscle and endurance has allowed Hunnicutt, a 43-percent shooter, to become a force on the boards. His rebounding average has jumped from 4.5 as a sophomore to 7.3 as a junior, second best on the team behind Klein's 7.5 rpg.

“I was always out on the top of the key, but now I go in and crash the boards,” Hunnicutt said. “I'm getting rebounds, putbacks and setting people up off the rebound.”

Few high school teams enter a season with two established go-to scorers like Klein and Hunnicutt.

“It's a heck of a luxury,” Porto said. “They're learning how to play the two-man game. They understand when we need them to play inside and when we need them to play outside. With our tallest player being 6-foot-3, they've done a very good job for us rebounding the basketball. They understand the importance of not only generating shots but rebounding for us on both ends.”

If there is a detriment to having two proven scoring options on the same team, it's the danger the other players will defer to Klein and Hunnicutt too much, which is what happened in the final three quarters of the Rockets' victory against Richmond-Burton on Tuesday. Their teammates stopped looking for their own shots.

“Certain players on our team are going to have shoot a certain amount of shots for us to be successful,” Porto said. “When we buy into that you see some pretty good quarters from us and some pretty good scoring outputs over four quarters.

“But when we forget or sometimes focus too much on finding Sam and Ray, it can hurt us. So it's a matter of finding a balance between giving them the basketball a lot and other guys shooting open shots when all the help is going to those two guys.”

Having two players like Klein and Hunnicutt, players who can score, rebound and dish the ball — Klein leads the team with 38 assists; Hunnicutt is second with 33 — has the Rockets in position to challenge Hampshire for the title in the Big Northern East.

“I think we can compete with them if we keep working hard,” Hunnicutt said of the rival Whip-Purs. “Hampshire's going to be really good. We have to help with their two big guys and keep working on our rebounding because that's what will win us that game.”

Those teams will clash in the first of two meetings next Saturday on Rocket Hill. In the meantime, Klein and Hunnicutt will keep trying to blend their skills with just the right level of contribution from senior guard Jared Moxness, senior forwards Tom Fitzgerald, Tim Sullivan and Luke Fleming and sophomores Ryan Ritchie and Joel Lopez.

Though the Rockets will be outsized against teams like Hampshire, they won't be outworked, thanks to Klein and Hunnicutt.

“We're not the biggest, fastest or strongest guys,” Klein said, “but our mindset is that we're the best athletes out there and we're going to work together and get our team a win.”