Marshall Coverston runs the court in the Wave basketball team's game against Sparks before the end of this season.
Dreams of a state title may have been dashed in the regional playoffs, but one of the Wave’s senior crew is still getting a worthy send-off.
The names for the all-state and all-northern rosters may lack an abundant presence by Fallon, but the Wave’s Marshall “Moe” Coverston made it on the bill to second team, All-North.
“I’m just glad to be recognized by these coaches,” Coverston said. “Just to be a presence for the greenwave on the basketball court and win those games was always good to me.”
With this being his last year with the Wave varsity team, Coverston has his head held high despite the heartbreaker of a loss to the Fernley Vaqueros in the first round of the plasyoffs.
“I was actually disappointed because I thought we actually had a good chance at making state,” Coverston said of the end of the season. “Mostly because we match up really well against Elko. I just wish we had done a little better in that Fernley game.”
By the season’s end, Coverston was third for the Wave with 112 points scored and third in best free-throw percentages at 62 percent, a game change in any regard for the Wave considering the number of games lost at the free-throw line.
Coverston saw the Wave go through both repose and renaissance with the loss of several veterans and the addition of JV players such as Trae Thomson, Christian Nemeth and Hayden Strassen, all of whom contributed to several wins.
In being recognized as a leader and a captain on the court by both players and coach Brad Barton, Coverston said he it was an honor for him to help lead the team in any form.
“Growing up throughout sports I’ve always been a captain, just had that natural leadership ability,” he said. “I guess it was nice to be recognized by the coach of course, but there are also some other leaders on the court too that helped out in certain games at different times.”
With the trials of the basketball season behind him and the prospects of a state championship ahead with the Wave baseball team, Coverston said he is excited for another good chance at a state title but that his two years with Barton’s wave have affected his confidence in a positive way.
,“Staring last year I was very timid and I didn’t really want to play,” Coverston said. “Well, I wanted to play but I just didn’t have the confidence. I got rid of the ball really quickly and didn’t control the court at all. But this year I had more faith in myself and I was able to lead the team.”
Coverston cited Barton and assitant coach Donal Schenk as two great coaches both years.
“They had made some changes that actually helped us out quite a bit from last year’s season, so they’re improving quite a bit as a coaching staff as well,” Coverston said, sad to leave basketball behind but excited to play baseball before graduate this May. “Right now I’m actually kind of excited to graduate because I’ve never graduated before. Well, except for kindergarten. But graduation is really exciting and II think it will be fun. I’ve just been looking forward to our baseball season this year since we’ve got our first game this weekend.”
Though Barton said the Wave team as a whole didn’t end the season with the goals they set for themselves he also said that his players learned a lot this year and Coverston certainly deserved the honor bestowed on him.
“If anybody knows the game of basketball and can see the effort that Moe puts into his game understands the kind of kid that he is,” Barton said. “Even though he’s not a big scorer he understands floor and spacial awareness and he’s always in the right spot. He’s the best help defender in the league, in my opinion, always fighting to help other defenders out.”
Barton added among all the changes the Wave underwent this year, from absences to injuries, Coverston’s temporary absence before the end of the season hurt the team more than anybody, remarking his importance to the team as a leader.
“We were able to overcome some of our other guys being out or injured but with Moe out of our lineup we couldn’t function as a basketball team,” he said. “He was hands down the captain of our basketball team this year.”
On the team as a whole, Barton expressed no less pride in his other players for adjusting to the difficulties of this season and said he was especially pleased with the younger players who came up in response to an opportunity and made the best of it.
In line with Coverston’s thoughts on his personal growth, Barton commended him as the kind of team player whom makes the other four of any starting lineup play to their best potential, something necessaru when the Wave’s younger players needed a leader.
“He’s one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached,” Barton said on Coverston’s development on the court. “He does what he needs to get a win instead of what he wants to get self recogtnition. Character wise he’s an amazing individual. Hats off to his parents for doing such a great job raising him. If we could’ve had him one more year with some of the younger kids coming up he would’ve been a good role model for them for sure.”