Two Rockets among league’s best

The only two players with varsity basketball experience on Cedar Grove-Belgium’s boys’ team were rewarded for their effort and skill in the postseason.

Senior Jason von Heimburg made the Big East Conference second team and senior Jordan Villa earned honorable mention.

“Their leadership and their experience really shined throughout. Those were our two main leaders on the floor, off the floor. We had guys who stepped up throughout the year, but those two were consistent,” coach Josh Ketterhagen said.

Von Heimburg, whose position was somewhere in between shooting guard and small forward, was the Rockets’ No. 1 scoring option, leading the team by averaging 15.7 points per game. He also led in rebounds with eight per game.

“He just had an outstanding year. When he wanted the ball in terms of rebounds, he went up and got it,” Ketterhagen said.

“He just played extremely strong this year, played solid on the defensive end.”

Villa, the team’s point guard, was the team’s third-leading scorer, averaging 9.7 points per game. He led in assists with four per game.

When teams designed their defense to take away von Heimburg, Villa provided a solid option. In the first round of the playoffs at Brillion, Villa scored 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while von Heimburg was held to five points.

“He had one of best games against Brillion. Jordan stepped up and really showed how much of a leader he was,” Ketterhagen said.

In addition, Villa could play the other side of the court.

“As long as a kid wasn’t too much bigger than him, he was as good a defender as we had in our league,” Ketterhagen said.

It was no small feat that Villa even got to play this season. After tearing his ACL in the first game of football — the same injury he suffered last year — Villa worked hard to get back to basketball season.

“He had his heart set on playing as fast as he could. I never in a million years would have said he would have played in Game 1, but he did. He got cleared,” Ketterhagen said.

The Rockets finished 6-7 in the Big East Conference and 12-12 overall.