The ball comes to him. Often by design. Other times because he goes and gets it.
Cable Spall is the Crothersville boys basketball team’s point guard, so it is his job to catch the pass-in from a teammate and dribble the ball up-court to start the Tigers’ offensive play.
Regularly, the ball is passed back to him, he tilts his head forward and studies the defense. Then he dribbles right, left or straight ahead, dashing to the hoop for a layup. Or he stops in his tracks and elevates, his jump shot softly rolling around in the net as if it is a branch swirling in a river eddy.
But Spall, a 5-foot-11 senior with hops and quickness, also rebounds taller than his height, so his leaps of missed shots get him the ball, too. Or sometimes, his sneaky reaches poke free the opponent’s dribble, and he collects a misdemeanor theft, the steal of the ball resulting in a breakaway.
No one’s perfect, though. Twice in a game Saturday, Spall came into possession of the ball against Medora, and sprinting for the hoop with the strides of a runaway horse was seized by a notion.
“Why not?” he asked himself.
Both times, alone for a gimme layup, Spall lifted for what he thought would be a statement dunk. Both times, he missed, the ball rolling off the rim into the hands of the Hornets and resulting in no points for Crothersville.
A little later, accompanied by a sheepish smile, Spall stated the obvious, “I missed two dunks.”
Usually, smiles follow his shots because they go in. Spall is averaging about 24 points a game this season, those drives to the basket, the outside shots and his free throws paying off. For now, dunks are probably shelved.
It has been a season of rebuilding and disappointment for Crothersville following a first sectional championship in 2020. The Tigers are 2-9, heavily reliant on Spall’s savvy and Quinten Keasler’s inside play as the only two seniors back with significant experience.
“We lost a lot of players from last year,” Spall said recently.
So he knew there was going to be a lot of responsibility on his shoulders this season.
“So I don’t feel any pressure to be a leader on the floor,” he said. “I know these guys are young. I was a sophomore once, and I messed up a lot.”
Spall is not a yeller on the floor but said he doesn’t hesitate to take players aside and offer advice or provide encouragement in the locker room.
“I think we’re figuring out how to play as a team,” he said. “For my first three years, we had three really good seasons, winning 15 games a year. My sophomore year, I was the only inexperienced guy on the floor.”
Spall has accumulated Crothersville varsity experience but also played summer AAU ball against tough foes from around the state and region.
“Every time you play, there is someone really good,” Spall said. “I played against a lot of the top talent in the state.”
On Saturday night, the Tigers played one of their best all-around games, building a big lead early at home and toppling Medora 83-45. Spall scored his usual 24 points, though other Tigers recorded career bests. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and notched five assists and four steals.
Basketball has been Spall’s primary game since he was in elementary school. He did play a little bit of baseball as a third baseman when he was quite little, but by second grade, basketball captured him. Spall watched an older cousin play the game, and his sister was a cheerleader. Other relatives in Austin played hoops all of the time.
He has soaked up knowledge of the sport since, but has one lament.
“I wish I could grow a couple of inches,” Spall said.
Unless you are Manute Bol and have to duck walking through doorways because you stand 7-7, most basketball players make the same wish.
Of course, if Spall was a giant of the hardwood, he wouldn’t be a do-everything point guard.
Between graduation and the threat of the coronavirus, coach Bobby Riley said Crothersville’s participants are down this season, from 16 to 11.
“I lean on him to be that leader,” Riley said of Spall. “He’s building those guys up.”
Spall is the high scorer for the Tigers most games, and with 842 points, he has a good shot at topping the career 1,000-point total by the end of the season in March. But Riley said Spall has told him, “’I’d trade that for 15 or 16 wins this year.’ That’s what I love about him.
“He gets rebounds, assists. He just does everything. I wish I could give him more rest, but we lose something when he’s not in there. For us to struggle the way we are this year, it’s got to be harder on Quinten and him.”
It has become apparent that Crothersville is not going to get those 15 or 16 wins this season, so Spall’s goal to make his final high school season memorable is to reach the 1,000-point mark.
The school record of 1,496 points belongs to Josh Thomas, a teammate from last year.
“I’m not going to get that,” Spall said. “But 1,000 points, it would mean a lot to me. I’ve put hours and hours in my whole life. We won a sectional, and I got that. I want to get this.”
Spall said he wants to study precision machinery. He is not focused on a four-year college and playing basketball at the next level, though he would like to have that chance.
“It’s something I’d definitely be interested in if I got a college offer,” he said. “It’d be great if I could.”
Spall’s single-game high is 32 points, but a steady outpouring of 20-plus games should carry him to his goal.
“If he can stay healthy and we don’t get shut down because of quarantine, he should,” Riley said.
For some players of a certain size, hitting 3-pointers is easier than dunking. Spall has never dunked in a high school game, though he did so in AAU games and elsewhere.
“I’ve been throwing them down in practice,” Spall said. “I thought it was a good opportunity.”
Of course, he never envisioned missing on those wide-open charges to the basket, which at the pro level sometimes haunt players when Facebook makes them available for viewing a zillion times. But Crothersville won, his teammates played well and he did everything else asked of him. So that night, Cable Spall could laugh at himself.