O-R Athlete of the Week: Connor Roberts, Trinity
Name: Connor Roberts
School: Trinity
Sport: Basketball
Class: Senior
Roberts’ week: The 6-1, 175-pound point guard scored a career-high 28 points in the Hillers’ 75-57 victory over Thomas Jefferson. He broke his personal record of 25 points set in the second game of the season, a 67-63 victory over Seneca Valley in the Canon-McMillan Tip-Off Tournament.
In between those wins, he had a 21-point performance in a 65-39 victory over Brownsville. Those games showed he was more than just a scorer. He had six rebounds and four assists against Thomas Jefferson, four rebounds and five assists against Seneca Valley and four assists and four steals in the win over Brownsville.
So how many games would the Hillers have won without Roberts’ effort?
“Probably, none,” said Trinity head coach Tim Tessmer of the 3-3 Hillers.
Roberts takes an average of 16.3 points and four assists into tonight’s game against Peters Township in the Trinity Christmas Tournament.
“I don’t know if it’s the best game I played,” said Roberts of his effort against Thomas Jefferson. “I shot the ball pretty well that game.”
Roberts’ shooting is key this year now that Michael Dunn graduated and headed for Shippensburg in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Dunn averaged 24.2 points per game, which ranked sixth in the WPIAL (all classifications). He was second in scoring in the Class 5A ranks, just 0.8 behind the leader. He scored 30 or more points in seven games.
“I had to pick up in the scoring department this season,” said Roberts. “It hasn’t been a crazy transition. I’ve always thought I was able to shoot. Michael was such an exceptional scorer and I looked for him a lot last year.”
Multi-sport athlete: Roberts is three-sport athlete at Trinity, playing football and boys volleyball.
In football, Roberts set school single-season records for completions (104), yards (1,551) and touchdowns (17). He set career records for attempts (209), yards (2,469), and touchdowns (28). He also set single-game records for attempts (32), completions (20), yards (353) and touchdowns (5).
“I like basketball the most but I think I’m better in football,” said Roberts, who is still entertaining college offers.
“He’s pretty good at both sports,” said Tessmer. “The last two years, he’s been more of a point guard and he got the ball in the right people’s hands. With the loss of Dunn this year, he has really stepped up his game and knows he has to put the ball in the hoop for us to be successful.”
Compiled by Joe Tuscano