ABOVE: Martin County West’s Kale Larson takes on Fairmont’s Logan Junkermeier in a nonconference boys basketball game earlier in the season in Fairmont.

TRIMONT– Martin County West Mavericks senior Kale Larson has always brought the same tenacity to the court that he did on the football field.

Regardless of his 5-foot-11 frame, Larson played with the same level of physicality often reserved for the bigs on the team.

MCW head coach Phillip Rotunda sang Larson’s praises on his performance this basketball season, saying that Larson was a bit of a sleeper build.

“He’s sneaky with his stature there, like being able to get inside and just kind of go against the breeze and try to score,” said Rotunda. “He had a lot of big threes over the year and just kind of fun to watch him be a really good point guard there and then have those types of games there.”

Rotunda stated that Larson’s skills set him apart. Beyond being a dynamic scorer, he gets it done on the other end of the court.

“He’s always embracing the challenge defensively to try and take the top guy,” said Rotunda. “Then it’s just the sneaky – like the thing that gets overlooked for him is just the sneaky good rebounding side of it there. He’s very good about getting the ball and finding the ball and all the little things that go unnoticed on the court.”

Larson ended his senior season with an average of 12.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, bringing his season total to 343 points, 150 rebounds, 103 assists, 53 steals, and 21 blocks.

“He and Jacob [Wilmes] are both in the same order,” said Rotunda. “Like you try to keep them on the floor as much as you possibly can because of just what they can do for you.”

Larson gave up wrestling in second grade. At the time, his brother had been getting into basketball, and that’s when he fell in love with the game.

“I quit wrestling in second grade,” said Larson. “And my brother was just starting to get into basketball and we got a basketball hoop and from that point on every summer every day. I was outside shooting and I just fell in love with it.”

Looking back on his senior season with the team, Larson stated that the group of players around him made his final year on the court stand out.

“It was the guys on the team,” said Larson. “We had a big senior group with us this year and They made it a lot more enjoyable than what it would have been without them there was a great group of guys everybody got along, and We all worked well together, got along great and just a fun group of guys to be around.”

Larson and the team had goals set for the season, which he feels they met.

“One of the major goals for us as a team wanted was to win our Memorial game for Karson Janssen,” said Larson. “We had previously been 0-3 in that game and we ended up achieving that win this year, which felt really good to get the first one. Another team goal was to get out of the first round and we had a plan and we won that but we lost in the official first round against BOLD.”

Despite standing at 5-foot-11, Larson plays like he’s a much bigger player.

“In our game against BOLD, I was matched up against their 6-5 guard,” said Larson. “He tried to post me up down low, and I don’t like to be pushed around, so I fight back and I don’t mind playing down low. I’m more of a physical player than my body seems to be able to handle sometimes but I work hard down low.”

Larson now turns his attention to golf. He takes his golf game seriously and now is focused on recovering from a tough season of basketball.

“I’m golfing like three to four days out of the week,” said Larson. “Honestly just letting my body recover from the basketball season. I feel like that’s a big part. So I’ve been sleeping in a bit and just taking it easy.”