Published: January 09, 2009 12:44 am         

Jordan Pearson's clutch play one reason for Vikings' move into rankings

West Terre Haute — Surprises have been pleasant and plentiful for coach Joe Boehler and the West Vigo boys high school basketball team so far this season, as the Vikings enter a pair of weekend games with a 9-2 record, the top spot in the Western Indiana Conference and a 10th-place ranking in the state’s Class 3A writers’ poll.

Even more of the surprises have come from Jordan Pearson, who scraped the rust off his game after a summer of baseball to become one of the main reasons the other surprises have taken place.

“I knew he was a good player,” Boehler said this week in talking about the future Indiana State second baseman. “But I got the job [as Viking coach] in late July, and I think I only saw him once [because of baseball commitments] until school started.

“But since the first of September, he’s probably improved more than any other player,” Boehler added. “He’s here all the time, he’s very dependable … he’s really come on strong for us; he’s given us much more than I expected.”

Perhaps the main reason for West Vigo’s success so far has been the Vikings’ ability to come up with big plays in close games, and Pearson has had more of those than most.

The 6-foot-1 senior has shown an ability to affect the game with his scoring, his rebounding, his passing and his ability to steal the ball in key situations, and at the recent Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic — where Pearson was an all-tournament selection — he added a couple more items to his repertoire.

“He tends to fill up the stat sheet,” Boehler agreed, “and he can play virtually every position.” During the Classic, Pearson’s jobs included guarding Rockville’s 6-8 scorer R.J. Mahurin and playing the post on offense when the Vikings used a small lineup for a while against Sullivan.

“He can do that, but he can also bring the ball up and get our offense generated,” Boehler said. “And he might be our best defender. He guarded R.J., but he can also guard a point guard.”

“I try to do whatever it takes to win,” said Pearson, who admitted surprise when he was put at the post without warning in that latter situation. “I just do it all. I’m just learning everything each day, so I knew what to do [at the new position].”

Pearson admits to other surprises about this season. Like some of his teammates, he wasn’t sure how quickly the adjustment could be made to the new coach and the new system.

“I thought we’d start a little slow, then pick up things,” Pearson said this week. “But we started real hot, and kept going … it just shows how hard we’ve worked.”

Now, he added, the Vikings are thinking about bigger things.

“First, we want to win the conference,” Pearson said. “Then we hope to continue that success and win the sectional … and I even think we could do some damage in the regional.”

He shrugs off his own success, although he admits playing organized basketball for the last time might have given him a little extra incentive.

“Just coming in every day and trying to get better pays off,” Pearson said. “I try to play as hard as I can each night; I figure this will be the last time I’ll be playing [basketball for the school].”

The Vikings have a home game tonight against Riverton Parke, then travel to Greencastle on Saturday.

“We’ve just got to stay focused, keep playing how we’ve been playing,” Pearson said of those games. “We can’t take anything for granted.

“And we could be 11-2 by winning these two games. We only won 11 all last year.”

If the games get close, Boehler figures Pearson might provide a big play somehow.

“He’s deceptively athletic,” the coach said. “He has a burst … explosive ability.

“He really surprises me at times.”

And those surprises, Pearson said, have led to his most enjoyable basketball season.

“By far,” he confirmed this week. “It’s so much funner when you’re winning.”