FAYETTEVILLE -- Lemuel Reber has been a scoring machine for Haas Hall this season, but even his best game hasn't produced the points to match his stellar ACT score.
Reber, a 6-foot-1 senior, has posted a 30 on the ACT. His high-point on the court has been 28 against Elkins in a 76-70 double-overtime victory.
Profile
Lemuel Reber
School: Haas Hall
Class: Senior
Height: 6-1
Notable: Averaging 22.5 points per game this season with a high of 28 points. … Also averaging 8.8 rebounds per game. … Was home-schooled for five years before enrolling at Haas Hall as a sophomore. … Has scored a 30 on the ACT.
At Haas Hall, a public charter school, academics come first and foremost. And Reber, who was home-schooled before enrolling at Haas Hall as a sophomore, understands class work comes before layup drills.
Reber said Mastiffs coach Basil Seymour-Davies, who is a volunteer, emphasizes the importance of getting classwork done before shifting the focus to basketball.
"The hard work that we put in academically definitely carries over to the court," Reber said. "Coach Davies says there is no reason why we can't be just as good athletically as we are academically."
This season the Mastiffs have taken that to heart. Entering the final stretch of play in the 3A-1 West Conference, Haas Hall is in the thick of the conference title chase. The Mastiffs (13-11, 5-3 3A-1 West) are battling Mansfield, West Fork and Lavaca for the league lead. Haas Hall knocked off Greenland 50-46 on Tuesday behind 23 points from Reber.
That the team is in a dogfight for a conference title is somewhat surprising considering they bumped up two classifications from 1A to 3A this season. Despite the big leap, the Mastiffs are finding the transition has been smoother than they expected.
"The conference that we were in before really prepared us for this move," Reber said. "It hasn't been as big of a transition for us as it has been for the girls."
Reber pointed to games last season against West Fork and Gravette as giving the team a measure of confidence that it could compete in the bigger conference.
"We got a glimpse last year of what it would be like playing those bigger schools," he said. "So we knew that if we put in the work, we could compete."
Reber has personally put in the time since last season to improve all facets of his game, specifically his ball-handling. He said he worked with Blue Hopkins at Fayetteville Christian School on drills to improve his shooting and speed as well.
He is one of three seniors on the Haas Hall team who have been with Coach Davies for the past three seasons. That senior leadership has been a big factor in the team's success, Davies said.
"I don't think we could have made this transition without them," he said. "To have that continuity has been huge."
Davies said Reber's improvement from last season to this season has been about more than just increasing his scoring average, although that has been a nice boost.
"This guy works harder than anybody on the team," Davies said. "He gets up early in the morning to work out, he encourages the rest of the team, especially the younger players."
Reber, who played summer AAU basketball for the first time last summer, is hopeful he can continue to play at the collegiate level.
"I'm definitely thinking about that," he said. "Obviously academics come first. I know that having that rigorous academic experience and the athletic experience will be valuable."
Chip Souza can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAChip
Sports on 01/29/2015