High school boys basketball: With sights on improvement, Carthage's Walker delivers on all levels

Dec. 22—CARTHAGE — After a strong junior season with the Carthage basketball team, Trenton Walker vowed to get stronger and become a better basketball player.

Walker returned to his native California during the summer and worked out with a personal trainer.

"I'm from California originally so I go out there some times and I was definitely able to see new things with basketball," Walker said. "I work out with different people and to be able to come back use what I learned over there and apply it to my game here. I think that's really helped me, especially this season. I use what I learned there here."

Walker is admittedly stronger and has emerged, he hopes, as a more well-rounded player on the court.

"I was needing to hit the weights and get stronger," said Walker, who stands at 6 feet. "Because one of the biggest things for me last year is I feel like I got pushed around a lot, so this year I said 'I'm not going to let that happen.'"

With Walker leading the way, the Comets are off to a 5-1 start this season, including 3-1 in the Frontier League, after Wednesday night's 72-31 win against Indian River.

"We're the same kind of team, we just put in a ton of work over the offseason and got ourselves a lot better," Walker said. "It's going really good ... It's the best start we've had since I've been a part of this team, so we're just looking to keep being successful and keep getting wins."

The versatile point guard has been at the heart of Carthage that is looking to break out after a promising 2021-22 campaign.

"We play fast, we get a lot of transition, but we also have shooters we're able to hit from outside, inside," Walker said. "Pretty much anything we need to do, we can do it. We're pretty good defensively, very quick, athletic and long, so we're able to get it done."

Walker leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.2 points a game through the first five games.

"He is a dynamic, dynamic scorer, lightning quick," Carthage coach Jeff Ventiquattro said of Walker. "I guess the best attribute without a doubt to describe Trenton is he is a sponge in a sense where he's is a basketball junkie and always willing to listen and learn. And I think his ceiling is super high because of that."

Showing his versatility, Walker can also play as a shooting guard.

"His athleticism allows him to attack and basket and play above the rim," Ventiquattro continued. "His shooting ability, he has very deep range, he continues to work on his decision making and he's very, very coachable."

"I think my biggest strength would probably be when I get it going from the outside," Walker said. "I mean I can hit from anywhere and once I get out there I feel good about, that's one of the biggest things about my game."

Last year as a junior, Walker averaged 17.9 ppg with 3.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

"I'm feeling great about what I've been able to do," Walker said. "This season I'm averaging about 23 points a game and that's about six more that I've averaged the past two years, so I'm definitely showing improvement. But definitely being able to get the 'W' is the biggest thing for me, we've been winning, so I'd like to keep that going.

"So everything that I can for us to win, that's what I'm going to do."

Walker leads a balanced starting lineup, which includes talented juniors Makiah Johnson, Kalel Tevaga and 6-foot-5 center Aiden Hicks.

Johnson, a swingman, averaged 9.9 ppg last season as a sophomore.

"Makiah has made a ton of progress learning the game," Ventiquattro said of the 6-foot-2 Johnson. "He and Trenton are the two most athletic kids I've ever coached on the same team at the same time, bar none. They both can play above the rim, they're great going to the basket, they're both good shooters. Makiah is really, really learning the game at a high rate and how to play fundamental basketball.

"But the biggest improvement with Makiah has been learning the game of basketball and he truly has a super high ceiling."

Comets senior Ashton Norton, who also returns, will look to provide more depth when he returns from an injury, hopefully next month, according to the team.

"For the most part, I'm very happy with the start," Ventiquattro said. "This is a great group of kids and top to bottom we're definitely one of the hardest working that I've been a part of in practice without a doubt, which helps."

Carthage's big win so far was a 77-57 home victory against rival Watertown on Dec. 6, when Walker generated a game-high 40 points.

"That game was just great," Walker said. "We were just firing on all cylinders from the tip and it was just a really great feeling because they sent us home last year. So being able to kind of get that revenge and take that game was really nice."

The win avenged a series of losses by the Comets to the Cyclones last season, including setbacks in three straight games, capped by meetings in the FL's "A" Division playoff title game and a 58-52 loss in a Section 3 Class A playoff game at Watertown.

"In the past two years, Watertown won every single game against us," Walker said. "They were kind of really had our number, so we just took that, sat on it throughout the summer and the spring and all that, and we came back and we were like 'they're not beating us, we're going to win this game no matter what.' And we came out and did that."

The sectional loss came after Carthage jumped out to an early lead, only to watch the advantage slip away to a more experienced Watertown team.

"It stung, because that was like the third time in a row that they beat us, it was a real close game down to the wire," Walker said. "We really felt as though we could beat them, but that's not how it played out, so we took that and learned from it, learned how to execute when we had the lead."

"That was a game to honest with you that gave the kids coming back, we're basically returning our core from that game and gave the boys some confidence," Ventiquattro recalled. "And they understood that we were right there in the sectional game with Watertown, we just were a little physically overmatched and I think that's one thing that we have as a group and as a team decided that we definitely needed to get stronger physically and to continue to work on our skills.

Walker has also been called upon to be more of a leader this season for the Comets.

"I've been a point guard for a few years, but I guess I'm more of a leader this year," Walker said. "Last year with our senior Caleb Ashlaw, I was really able to kind of just learn from him, how he led the team vocally and that's one of the things I'm working on this year, just being a vocal leader. Making sure that the guys know what's going on making sure I'm talking with them. I've kind of taken all that from him, now I'm just using what I learned last year and kind of putting that into play."

Walker also prides himself on the defensive aspect of his game, which has progressed over the years.

"I would say I would a pretty formidable defender," Walker said. "I don't think anybody can really get by me, I'm pretty quick, I'm pretty good at playing the passing lanes. So I think I play pretty timely defense."

Walker, who has family in Oakland, Calif., again credits his summer in the Bay Area to much of his improvement as a basketball player.

"I just went out there and I found a personal trainer and he was really just hooking me up," he said. "Whenever I wanted to be in the gym and come to the gym and work out, he was just like, yeah. We just were working for hours, making sure I was doing my shot right, making sure I was getting stronger, finishing, ball handling, defense, all if it, stamina. Making sure that I was able to play 30 to 40 minutes a game, so that's a big part of it."

Walker, who is part of a military family, has also lived in Germany and Kansas.

"It's cool, it's low key," Walker said of Carthage. "It's one of the more low-key places that we've been, but it really gives me a chance to focus on school and sports."

Later, Carthage plays its next league game when it hosts Lowville on Jan. 5 before it plays at Watertown on Jan. 18.

"We definitely have come a long way," Walker said. "Last season we were still coming off that COVID season, so a lot of us weren't as experienced, were seeing a lot of things we hadn't seen before, it was our first real season since COVID. So we had some obstacles, but it was a great learning experience for everybody on the team."

Ventiquattro added: "This core of guys have been through some tough times, but they've stuck with it. They've believed in themselves, believed in what we're trying to sell in our program here at Carthage and the benefits are paying off."