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sgunter@wmbb.com

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Short-Stuff Has Big Game

PANAMA CITY BEACH - It’s been said that basketball is a sport for tall people.  Not so for the Arnold High School basketball team.

Tyler Schwab, the Marlins point guard, puts monster numbers in the stat column, leading the team with 15 points and 7 assists per game.  But, he’s a little short on the measuring tape.

“I’ve heard it from other teams. He’s too small, he’s too skinny,” Schwab said.

Schwab doesn’t look like the point guard of a highly competitive basketball team.  He looks more like someone’s little brother.

“We make fun of him cause he always tries to dunk at practice,” Marlins center Devaris Harris said.  “He just grabs the net ‘cause he cant get up there.”

Harris is the tallest player on the team, standing 6’8”.  Everyone thinks basketball is a tall man’s sport.  But at 5’8”, the shortest player on the team is making the biggest impact.

“He does things you see on TV, on And 1, on ESPN SportsCenter,” Marlins center Kelly Funk said.  “And you gotta be alert, or you’ll have a black eye or a bloody nose ‘cause I’ve been hit with some passes that have done some damage.  He’s just phenomenal.”

“I’m the point guard, I gotta get my team involved,” Schwab said.  “When I go out there I try to get assists before points.  I know the points will come, since that’s how our offense works.”

Head coach James Baxley has coached Schwab ever since he played AAU in middle school.

“When you understand the game the way he understands it, that’s a huge strength, especially at the point guard position,” Baxley said.  “He can see the defense and know what it does.”

Baxley said Schwab’s intelligence is what makes it so hard to defend him.  But, don’t try making fun of the vertically challenged.

“They don’t pick on him cause he plays so well,” Baxley said.  “You don’t want to pick on some that can beat you.”

Schwab and the Marlins (16-6, 6-3) are fighting for the top spot in District 2-3A, only a 1/2 out of first place behind East Gadsden.

Arnold takes on district opponent Wakulla Friday night.

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