Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – From last season to this season Reese Trepanier looks totally different on a basketball court.

Trepanier’s appearance has changed since the end of last season.

He has added a few pounds of muscle from work in the weight room and has let his hair grow down nearly to his shoulders.

The difference on the court for the West Branch junior goes much deeper than his new look.

“I feel a lot more confident this season,” Trepanier said. “After a couple of years of playing varsity sports I’m not as nervous any more and that has allowed my confidence to grow.”

A more confident Trepanier has meant a more productive Trepanier on the basketball court.

In his first season of varsity basketball and first year at West Branch Trepanier made an immediate impact mostly in the paint.

Trepanier averaged 7.3 points and six rebounds per game a season ago working his way into the starting lineup by seasons end.

After a strong football season in which Trepanier was a two-way starter on the Bears’ Class 1A semifinal team the success has carried over to a breakthrough season on the hard wood.

“Last year I think I was just nervous, football helped but I was a little nervous in basketball,” Trepanier said. “This year in football I had a pretty good year and that carried over to basketball.”

Through nine games this season Trepanier has been among the most productive players in the River Valley Conference South Division.

Trepanier is averaging nearly a double-double with 14.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

“Confidence has been big for him last year he hadn’t played any varsity so he really got a confidence boost coming in and starting for us at the end of the year,” West Branch coach Jason Kern said. “He just works so hard and you can’t coach effort, you’ve either got it or you don’t and he’s always on the floor after a loose ball.”

At 6-foot Trepanier gives away height to most post players but has emerged as one of the better rebounders in Class 2A.

“I just have a sense and I can see where the rebounding is going,” Trepanier said. “I think it’s also just being a little stronger than some of the taller guys.”

Trepanier’s all-out effort has helped him average 9.9 rebounds and a team-leading 2.4 steals per game.

“He’s the best rebounder I’ve ever coached, he’s averaging 10 rebounds a game and he’s 6-foot and has a tiny vertical,” Kern said. “He gets good position and he has a knack for the ball and he knows where it’s going to be and he does so many little intangible things that don’t show up on the stat sheet as well.”

The rebounding has always been a strength for Trepanier but this summer he spent time working on his jump shot.

Not just getting shots up, but reworking the mechanics of his shot.

The results have showed up.

“I’ve been working all summer on shooting,” Trepanier said. “Coach changed a few things up for me and I’ve been working on those things and it’s really helped.”

Trepanier shot 59 percent from the floor last season but has boosted that number to 64 percent this season and has already exceeded his total for made field goals from a season ago.

He has also expanded his range, hitting eight 3-pointers while shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc.

“He’s a guy that brings the energy every day and he feed off of that and he has really worked on his shot,” Kern said. “He is shooting almost 50 percent from three so he’s really gotten confidence in that and he put work in to earn that confidence. It’s big time when he can step out and hit a shot because it really makes a lot harder to defend.”

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