Prior to his junior basketball season at Medora High School, Zakk Owen, a family member and some friends were playing basketball at the town park one day.
“They invited me to open gym, and the coach was there, and he came up to me and asked me why I didn’t play basketball,” Owen said. “I figured I’d give it a try, and I liked it a lot, so I stuck with it and played since.”
He has played with the Hornets the past two years and sets up on offense, something he thinks he can do to help the team the most.
“My offense is more along the block area, and I’m a good midrange shooter, but I’m a better 3-point shooter, in my opinion,” Owen said. “I can hit my 3s more consistently than I can my midrange shots. I like to shoot from either one of the corners or either one of the wings.”
Owen said he has enjoyed facing different types of defense over the past two seasons.
“Personally, I would rather play against a zone more,” he said. “I can shoot against a man-to-man, too. It just depends on if my teammates can keep the person off me and get me open. I don’t like to take contested shots too much.”
Owen said when he does play on the block, he enjoys battling for rebounds.
“Going up with two hands helps a lot,” Owen said. “If the ball is going to go to the person behind you, you can use one hand, but it’s easier to use two. You can pull it down a lot easier. I enjoy battling for rebounds.”
He said he will play wherever he is needed on defense to help the team.
“It just depends on where coach puts me,” he said. “Most of the time, he puts me in the middle. It depends on who my partners are out there. If J.D. (Fish) or Isaiah (Myers) or Jack Combs is out there, coach sometimes switches it up and puts me on the block and puts one of them in the middle.”
Owen played on the junior varsity team his junior season and this season has split time between JV and varsity.
In any sport, Owen said it’s important to practice hard.
“Practice is pretty important,” he said. “It helps you a lot. We work on pretty much everything.”
All schools in the area missed several days of school in mid-January because of the weather, and Owen said it took a few practices for the Hornets to return to top form.
“Our first game after that, I wasn’t doing too good the first half of the game,” he said. “The second half, I came out and exploded. I hit three 3s (at Eminence) from the corner.”
For the Hornets to have success in the sectional next week, Owen said they need to work really hard on defense because sometimes the defense falls apart.
“Offensive-wise, we need to work on our plays a little bit more and maybe try some new plays,” he said. “If we play our old plays too much, opponents pick up on them, and they know what play we’re going to run.”
No matter the situation on the court, Owen said players have to stay positive.
“The mental part of sports is really important,” he said. “The fundamentals, the mentality, the plays, everything is important. If you put it all together, you and your team can do a lot and go further.”
He said he has enjoyed attending Medora High School and playing basketball.
“It’s a really good school,” he said. “The teachers are good. Mainly, I’m going to remember the things the teachers taught me and all the friends I’ve made, the bus rides. It’s been a really good experience. I’ve enjoyed being out there with my friends, my teammates. They’re pretty much my family.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Owen file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Zakk Owen
School: Medora High School
Parents: Cathy and Michael Moore
Siblings: Gracie and Marcie
Sport: Basketball, two years
Plans after high school: Attend college
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite TV show: “Supernatural”
Favorite musician: Kansas
Favorite movie: “The Lord of the Rings”
Favorite team: Indiana University
[sc:pullout-text-end]