North Xtra: After a trying season, Highlands star is ready; Mason overcomes plenty of adversity in standout career
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Highlands' Micah Mason has faced adversity on and off the court to lead WPIAL in scoring two years in a row.
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What can college basketball possibly throw at Micah Mason that he couldn't overcome?
A star senior guard at Highlands High School, he has seen it all through a remarkable high school career that will come to an end at some point in the next month. From injuries to illness to junk defenses designed to stop him, Mason persevered -- and even thrived -- in becoming one of the best boys basketball players in recent WPIAL memory.
"When he faced any type of adversity," Highlands coach Shawn Bennis said, "it just made him stronger. He just wanted to come back and -- it was not so much about proving to other people, it was about proving to himself. 'I can overcome this. I can finish what I started.'
"Just like games where we needed a clutch shot from him, when a challenge was presented, he overcame it. Time and again."
Mason won his second consecutive WPIAL scoring title as a senior, averaging 29.1 points per game. That was down from the 34.1 he scored last season. But most of the other players from Highlands' 2010-11 team graduated, leaving an eager but inexperienced supporting cast this year for Mason, a Drake University recruit.
That meant facing "junk" defenses. It was rare Mason was guarded man-to-man -- or even brought the ball down the court to see a traditional 2-3 zone. The norm was double-teams, shadows, box-and-ones or triangle-and-twos.
"It's been a weird season that's taken some getting used to with the junk defenses and everything," Mason said. "But toward the end of the season, we put in some plays to get me open. And my teammates have been able to hit more shots. They've shown they can step up, and when that happens, we can be pretty good."
The Golden Rams completed their regular season 8-14 and 6-8 in Section 1-AAA play, tied with Kittanning for fourth place. Even though they lost five of their final six games, they enter the postseason with confidence.
First Published February 16, 2012 12:00 am
