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Paetow senior guard E.J. Roberts.
Return of healthy Roberts a boon for state-minded Paetow
KATY—E.J. Roberts remembers the exact date of when his young basketball career hit the proverbial fork in the road.
January 27, 2021. A district road game at College Station. Roberts, playing a prominent role for Paetow as one of its lead guards, tore the ACL in his left knee.
The 5-foot-11, 160-pound Roberts is a natural sparkplug, a prototypical point guard who creates open shots for others, makes shots when given the opportunity, and creates turnovers with his athleticism and speed. But he had to watch, first on TV from home and then on crutches from the bench, as the Panthers enjoyed a surprising run last year to the Class 5A regional final before falling to eventual state champ Beaumont United.
"It was really hard," Roberts said. "Mentally, it'd be hard for any player to see your team go as far and do as well as we did. Some games, I was sitting on my couch, watching. I was at the game where we lost, and it's tough not being able to contribute.
"I had to keep in my mind that if I just kept working and grinding, I'd be able to help us in the future."
Fast track eight months, and Roberts, who was cleared to return to the court three months ago, is back like he never left.
Well, scratch that. He's even better.
"I put myself above 100 percent," Roberts said, practically beaming. "My left leg is stronger than my right now. All that rehab I did … it was a hard grind, for sure. But now I see it paying off."
In Paetow's 69-43 home win over Fort Bend Bush on Tuesday afternoon, Roberts was back to doing Roberts things. He scored (14 points), he dished (five assists), he rebounded (four rebounds), and he defended (three steals).
Roberts scored 11 points in the second quarter, when Paetow (5-3) outscored Bush (4-4), 21-10, to pull away and turn a five-point game into a blowout.
"He's trying to push fast into what he was already doing, and early on, the first couple of games, it caught him off guard," coach Mike Niemi said. "This game, especially, he was a lot more composed. He's starting to see the game a little bit slower, instead of rushing through everything. He's seeing the game clearer, as far as lanes that are available and passes that are available."
Roberts admitted he is still trying to get the rust off. He had his fair share of turnovers against Bush, and only more reps, in practices and games, will get him back in stride.
But he's already made a difference, primarily in taking pressure off Panthers senior star guard Trevor Frank (14 points, six assists, four steals against Bush).
"He makes a lot of passes, a lot of reads that I can't make," Frank said of his backcourt mate. "He's a ball-handler, so I don't have to be handling the ball all the time. He makes big shots. He's huge for us."
Roberts also has significant influence in the locker room.
When he was injured last season, the Paetow coaching staff adopted the guard as one of their assistants. Roberts was able to observe and understand things coaches saw daily.
"Right now, he's able to interject in the locker room things that he knows we're thinking and that he can see himself," Niemi said. "Just from that standpoint, he brings one other guy who leads this group in the direction it needs to go."
Roberts' return fuels a team that has great expectations.
"Last year, we learned how to play together and how to compete at a high level," Frank said. "Our goal last year was to go to the state tournament. This year, we feel we can go to the state championship and have a chance to win it, hopefully."
Aside from having Roberts back, Paetow has a physically gifted newcomer in 6-foot-7 forward Abou Camara, arguably the most athletic Panther on a team full of athletes. Camara had nine points, eight rebounds and four dunks against Bush.
Sophomore wing Ade Onaleye, a bit player on varsity as a freshman last year, adds perimeter shooting to the starting lineup.
Roberts, Camara and Onaleye are ideal complements to the Panthers' lethal tandem of Frank and senior 6-8 post Charles Chukwu (15 points, 17 rebounds, two blocks against Bush).
"I don't see much of a difference in this year's team from last year," Roberts said. "We have just as much talent, if not more. We want to continue molding, keep everything going. Continue to kill."
Refusing to Lose: Paetow continues historic run into Regional Championship
HOUSTON - Mike Niemi has never had a team take a loss as hard as his current group did back in December.
It was the season-opener for Katy Paetow back on December 1 against Cypress Lakes and in the end, a 61-52 loss is what the Panthers would walk into the locker room with.
It was in there at that moment that the players vowed they would not lose again this season.
"It lit a fire under us," Katy Paetow senior Everett Marlatt said.
Well the fire hasn't been extinguished, and since that game they are winners of 23-straight contests and punched their ticket to the program's first-ever Regional Championship with a dominating 70-42 win over Goose Creek Memorial on Tuesday night.
"They're special," Niemi said. "I've never had a team that took one loss so badly that they were able to gradually as the year goes on progressively get better and better. And it's been in areas that we've had to get better at. They're getting better in half-court defense, defensive rebounding and they're buying into the idea that we have the potential to be a very, very good basketball team.
"We have a state opportunity with this group."
VYPE Highlights 🎥: @paetowhoops continues to make history as they rumble past GCM to advance to first-ever Regional Final #txhshoops @PaetowPress @PaetowHS @hoopinsider @EverettMarlatt @KPRC2RandyMc @PaetowHS_ABC @KatyISDAthletic pic.twitter.com/2Kl9ccxE7c
— vypehouston (@vypehouston) March 3, 2021
Even though Katy Paetow has been open for just a couple of years, the Panthers are senior-laden with six on the roster.
Led by the likes of Everett Marlatt, Jayden McCullough, Khi Watkins, Greg Dunham, Kameron Spanburg and Brian McKnight, this senior group is leaving a legacy at Katy Paetow that will set the bar high for classes to come.
"We're setting a legacy for not even just the kids right under us but for kids in five or six years," Marlatt, who had a pair of late-game monster dunks against GCM, said. "They can come up and do what we're doing. If we can do it, they can do it."
Marlatt is one of those six seniors, which is where the vocal leadership in the locker room usually comes from. But for him, it is really a team thing.
"It is a collective thing," he said. "We're a player-led program. We all talk to each other. We'll coach ourselves at practice sometimes, coach lets us take the reigns a little bit and I feel like that helps us as well."
VYPE 🎥: OH MY!!!! 😤😳🔥@paetowhoops senior @EverettMarlatt goes BIG SLAM here ... Panthers are rolling. #txhshoops
(@MaxPreps @KPRC2RandyMc @HTownHSS @ToddFreed57 @KatyISDAthletic @Ballislife @overtime @briancmcknight @PaetowHS @PaetowPress @PaetowFootball @hoopinsider) pic.twitter.com/dMsBZLwrCR
— vypehouston (@vypehouston) March 3, 2021
Katy Paetow opened its doors in 2017 and is in the midst of its third varsity season.
In the first year, the Panthers went 11-20 overall and 6-8 in district play. In year two, they flipped the script going 26-8 overall, 12-1 in district play and making it to the second round of the playoffs.
Now ... a 23-1 overall record and a chance on Friday to punch their ticket into the Class 5A State Semifinals with a win over No.2 Beaumont United.
"It's unbelievable, we took about a minute and a half [earlier today] and stood in the arena after our shoot around and we said 'hey, not many people get the opportunity to be here'," Niemi said. "It's a blessing for our group to have this opportunity, to have a chance to even compete for a state title and even be in a regional final. We've been preaching big picture all year long, so we are looking forward to the opportunity to see what this team is really made of against an amazing Beaumont United team."
Katy junior Charles Chukwu added: "For us, we have to lock in. We have to stay disciplined. I feel like if we limit our mistakes, we can be even better than we were today. As far as the playoffs, we just focus on one game at a time."
Even though Katy Paetow is making all of this history in 2021, there may still be some people in the city or the state going ... who is Beaumont United playing on Friday?
"People don't know how to say the name, they ask us where we are, some don't know we're in Katy ISD because we're not competing against Seven Lakes, Katy Taylor, Tompkins and those guys," Niemi said. "So, because people don't know who we are, games like this and having a defining win like this and going to the Regional Finals, it speaks volumes for these guys.
"And it does so much for our program for years to come."
Well, it's time to learn how to say Paetow, because the Panthers are here.
VYPE POSTGAME: @paetowhoops head coach Mike Niemi talks with VYPE. A remarkable run by @PaetowHS continues in the 2021 playoffs. They are 23-1 on the year and face Beaumont United next #txhshoops @hoopinsider @PaetowHS_ABC @KatyISDAthletic @KPRC2RandyMc pic.twitter.com/9NloR4zB8h
— vypehouston (@vypehouston) March 3, 2021