Player of the Week: Beau Cornwell
Last season, West Branch guard Beau Cornwell pieced together one of the finer freshman seasons of anyone in Iowa.
This season, he’s adding to his already stout Bears legacy, and had perhaps the best two game stretch of his young career while helping to extend his squad’s current win-streak last week.
He scored 31 points last Tuesday night against Tipton, and if it hadn’t been for his record-breaking 46 point performance last season as a freshman, it would have been a career-high for the 6-foot-1 scoring guard.
But it wasn’t just the points that were impressive. Cornwell was able to distribute at a high volume, dishing out a team-high six assists in the win.
“That’s definitely up there for one of the best all-around performances I’ve had,” said Cornwell. “And everything was just clicking for me, and shot-selection was a big part of it.
He added: “My big guys were setting really good screens and got me open, and they were able to roll off of me and I could just dump it down to them. Our big guy Cooper Kabela is also one of the main reasons for my success for getting open.”
Three nights later, in a 70-63 triumph over Bellevue, Cornwell put in a more pedestrian (by his standards) 17 points — just below his season average — but filled up the stat sheet, to the tune of 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
Corwell is among the state’s steals leaders this season, averaging 3.6 per game.
“That’s one of my main focuses this year is trying to get up into everyone’s face and rattle them, and just have my hands really active,” he said. “I’ve been working on my defense all year. And most of the assists are just thanks to my guys finishing the play.”
With the recent surge in Cornwell’s play, has come a winning streak for the Bears. And after a mediocre 6-5 start, they’ve won five straight.
“We’re really clicking on all cylinders right now; we’re moving the ball, we’re patient on offense, intense defense,” said Cornwell. “Our coaches are really designing great game-plans and putting us in good positions to win. And we have confidence in ourselves, and we just know we can go out there and compete with anyone.”
The Bears also have a supportive fan-base behind them, as evidenced by the wide margin in which Cornwell was able to win the Player of the Week poll.
“Everyone around me was supportive; family, friends, teammates, coaches. Some people I don’t even know were texting me saying they voted a bunch,” said Cornwell. “And just knowing that you have all that support from people around you is very satisfying. It makes me want to go out there and play my game for them and reward them.”
Week 7 Voting Totals
Beau Cornwell — 672
Zaine Leedom — 335
Joe Wieskamp — 215
Cole Stout — 52
Zach Lester — 43