Wilson, Olson have good reason to hoist plenty of jumpers for Clyde

If you're lucky, you might see a shooting star.

You could just go to Clyde's gym. Despite a tough start to the season for the team, the Fliers have every reason to keep firing.

Brennan Wilson leads the heat check at 39.2 percent from 3-point range, 81.8 from the free throw line and 51.1 from the field. He made 20 of 51 3s, 36 of 44 free throws and 46 of 90 field goals.

Wilson averages 12.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists.

Brayden Olson has also been ablaze. He's second in the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division at 18.9 points per game and leads Clyde at 5.2 rebounds.

With more volume than Wilson, Olson makes 32.9 percent (50 of 152) of his 3-pointers and 55 percent (60 of 109) of his field goals. He adds 2.7 assists and 2.1 steals.

"He's a super skilled offensive player," Wilson said. "He scores well. He understands basketball on the offensive end and he keeps our team in games or gets us off early in games. He brings energy without saying anything. He gets us flowing on offense."

Wilson made 5 of 13 3-pointers in 11 games as a freshman.

"Come in for a minute or two, be a defender, get a rebound, maybe get a 3 up," he said. "Now, I'm a primary scorer, trying to shut down a player if I can. I've had to pick up slack scoring for the bigger spots we lost from last year."

Olson played in 11 games as well.

"The goal this year was to find a role with a big step up," Wilson said. "Getting used to my teammates, we haven't played much together. Now, we're meeting that goal. We didn't expect the rough season we're having, but we're capable of good things as a team.

"The biggest change was the pace of play. The whole team came up from the JV floor. Coach [Ryan Fretz] got us prepared for that flow. You have to make quick decisions and if you're a split second off, it can cost you."

Wilson's indoctrination came with older brother Brady as a teammate for one season. Same for Olson with Kaiden.

"Last year, I saw it," Wilson said. "If it was [Brady], I'd come along. His success brought me up and made me want the same thing with standout games and being a big name for my team."

The rivalry never stops, but the elders wanted to prepare their siblings to carry the torch.

"Bragging rights trying to outdo your brother," Wilson said. "Back and forth, who is better? Even with football, right away I want to rub a good play in. We argue who is better and who would win. I wanted to guard him at practice and I talked [at him].

"The competitive drive is a little bigger with my brother. You can see it in [Olsons], too."

The sophomores want to make their siblings proud.

"Me and my brother are known as brothers," Wilson said. "It's cool. Cool we played together and to follow in his footsteps a little. Trying to outdo him is always the goal. Playing with my brother was something I always looked forward to.

"The battles in practice made me who I am. The competition in practice made us both better. My brother made me the worker I am pushing me. Playing with him rubbed off on me, his playing style getting to the basket."

Wilson trained for his moves after already making a move, kick outs and creating his own shot. He also prepared for contact.

"Last year, I wasn't much as a driving threat," he said. "My ballhandling has improved, working on aspects to score easier. Pull-ups and drawing fouls. I like to find ways to work at getting my shot off in the easiest way possible."

Floaters, scoops and banks, in addition to jumpers of course.

"I've always been a better shooter," he said. "Last year to this season, my shot improved. I was confident for AAU. My role has changed and part of it has me shooting more. I wanted to get better and I was dedicated to find as much time as possible to improve my shot."

Seniors Abe Morrison and Cole Schwochow occupy key positions, sometimes below the radar. Morrison missed several games early in the season with an ankle injury.

"They stepped up as two leaders," Wilson said. "Cole's stats don't always show it, he's on the floor, tipping passes and grabbing rebounds. Abe is back in the flow rebounding and playing defense. That big body the team is missing."

Ben Wott averages eight points and 3.8 assists, with 31 3-pointers.

Clyde (2-12, 1-7) fell 75-69 to Margaretta.

"We can play with teams," Wilson said. "I hit back to back 3s early in the game. That was one of our best games. We can take off some better teams. We've been right there for a few games. Our record would be completely turned around if we finished them out.

"We always come to work. We're still a good team with a chance to do big things. We need to play four quarters and translate it to wins."

The Fliers beat Colonel Crawford 64-63 early in the season and earned an encouraging 65-47 win over Vermilion. It enabled Clyde to take a deep breath.

"That game was a confidence boost," Wilson said of Colonel Crawford. "It came right down to the wire. We hit free throws and they hit a late 3. It was the first game we played four quarters and beat a good team. We wanted to go get one.

Clyde believes it's close to emerging from its struggles, it's not discouraged midway through the season.

"We look at the last half of the season, every game we'll be the underdog," Wilson said. "We want to knock off good teams and show people even with our record the team is good. Give each team our best shot and pull out a few wins.

"Everybody is frustrated with the losing. We need to dig deep. We have to finish games to change things around and beat some teams."

Wilson and Olson will keep shooting for it.

mhorn@gannett.com

419-307-4892

Twitter: @MatthewHornNH

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Brayden Olson knocks down shots for Clyde boys basketball