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Athlete of the Week: Smith plays big for FPHS

By Lew Gilliland
The Times-Journal

Published January 24, 2008

At 6-foot-2, Blake Smith is smaller than most of the players he works against in the post.

But, that hasn’t kept him from playing a critical role for the Fort Payne High School boys basketball team this winter.

“He comes to the game with a lot of energy,” Fort Payne coach Anthony Reid.

“I think it rubs off on the other players. He plays extremely hard. He plays with a lot of emotion. We he comes out of the game, we sometimes suffer a loss [of energy] because he puts a lot into it.”

Smith, Times-Journal’s male Athlete of the Week, put together a series of solid performances while helping the Wildcats win three of their last four games heading into a meeting with Cullman late Thursday.

He had 18 points in a 55-30 victory over Etowah on Tuesday, three days after scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a loss at Grissom.

Smith had 13 points as Fort Payne clinched the Class 5A, Area 14 regular-season championship with a 74-61 victory over Arab on Jan. 18. He contributed 23 points and eight boards in an 82-70 win at Scottsboro on Jan. 15.

“Blake plays hard,” Reid said. “He can go down inside and score ... and he can pop out as well and shoot the 3-point shot. He’s always got to guard people larger than him, but he plays strong inside.

“Blake is not a bad ball-handler, either. He can kind of do it all for us.”

Smith, a junior, is in his first full season on the varsity. He made a few varsity appearances last season during the holidays and the playoffs.

Reid said Smith isn’t afraid to play a big role when games are tight late.

His knack for playing well in those situations showed in game at Albertville last month. Smith scored 13 of his 20 points in the final quarter as Fort Payne prevailed 52-50.

“When it gets late in the ballgame and the game hasn’t been decided, it seems like Blake wants to take the game over, and he’s won some games for us,” Reid said.

“Blake does not like to lose. Some kids want to be successful but don’t put the effort into it to be successful. Blake cares and cares enough to do it the right way.”

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