Interstellar

Andrews  – Outer space may not have gravity, but Andrews point guard Kabe Ellis certainly does.

That is, defenders from every position are pulled toward Ellis because he owns what may be the most-lethal jump shot in the Smoky Mountain Conference, which frees up his teammates for wide open field-goal attempts.

With just a sliver of breathing room, Ellis can knock down a 3-point shot before the defender even has the chance to get a hand up, and the junior guard finds himself in comfortable shooting range whenever he crosses half court.

That deadly combination forces opposing defenders to remain glued to Ellis, no matter where he is on the floor.

When defenders are forced to stay attached to Ellis, the other four Wildcats on the court are free to roam around the floor with added space in the lane and on the wings.

Thanks to his tight handle and unwavering court vision, Ellis is fully equipped to punish defenses when they key in on him, finding those open shooters and cutters that are freed up because of the gravity he produces every game.

“I have seen basketball played in this conference for a long time, and without a doubt I think Kabe is the best ball-handler that I’ve seen in the last 50 years of Smoky Mountain Conference basketball,” Andrews head coach Frank Maennle said of Ellis.

“Then when you put on top of that, the way he can shoot the ball, it’s just unbelievable.”

Even with his ability to seemingly score at will, the Wildcats’ point guard is unselfishly dishing out a team-leading 4.2 assists per game, capitalizing on those opportunities he helps orchestrate and getting his teammates involved.

“I like it more, honestly,” Ellis said of dishing out assists compared to scoring baskets. “I like it more when it’s not self-centered and if it’s everyone is contributing to the game. I like to get my teammates involved in the game, not just one person.”

While some players can bash defenses until they break

thanks to their strength and length, Ellis supplies the Wildcats with that same level of dominance, stretching defenses out until they snap like an old rubber band.

“Well you know, if you come into a ball game you’ve gotta be thinking, ‘The first thing we have to do is slow down number five [Ellis] in some way or another,’ and that’s easier said than done,” Maennle said of Ellis’s influence on opposing defenses.

“As a result of that, we know that other kids are going to get open shots and open looks. You can only put so many people on him and run so many people at him and we’ve got kids that understand that they’ve gotta be ready to score, they’ve got to be ready for the pass because he [Ellis] doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body. He’s going to get the ball to the open players and if you run more players at him, then he’s going to continue to find the open player.”

Despite the added attention that he attracts on the offensive end, Ellis still manages to get to his spots and knock down shots night-in and night-out, leading the Andrews offense in scoring with more than 20 points per game while knocking down three 3-pointers per contest.

“Whenever the defense pulls into me, it’s not good for my teammates, but its also good for me,” Ellis said of his gravity’s effect on the floor. “Which means when it opens up my teammates, it also opens up myself. So if anything it helps the team in general.”

One of those benefiting teammates is Ellis’s partner in the Wildcats’ backcourt, Tucker Holloway,.

Holloway, who has been playing alongside Ellis for years, says that the duo’s play styles compliment each other and that Ellis’s shooting ability opens the lane for him to attack.

“We were just talking the other day about how each of us in our own game opens things up for each other,” Holloway said of playing with Ellis. “So that definitely helps with him being able to shoot from so far out, so deep. I can name three or four instances right now that I remember being able to cut into open mid-range shots because the defense was so pushed out on him. So it definitely helps to have a teammate who can make the defense spread out like that.”

With Ellis stretching out defenses from deep and Holloway punishing them around the basket, the Wildcats are scoring a whopping 73 points per game (more than 11 points better than last season) and find themselves ranked number one in the North Carolina Class 1A Rankings with a 9-0 record ahead of two crucial Smoky Mountain matchups against the Cherokee Braves (6-6) and the Hayesville Yellow Jackets (9-2).

With those key matches looming, Ellis says that the Wildcats can’t relax if they want to keep up the pounding pace that they’ve opened the season with.

“Don’t relax,” Ellis said of the team’s mentality. “When we practice, it’s just as important as a game. If not, we need to work harder. There’s no time to relax at all because as soon as you start to, that’s when teams start to beat you. You can’t relax any and you have to take every game as seriously as the last.”

The Andrews Wildcats hosted the Cherokee Braves on Tuesday, December 7 after the Cherokee Scout’s press time.