Oh Henry - Bell City's junior rings up big point totals

With a long, slow stride and an easy-going smile, Eric Henry is known in Bell City as a nice guy.

According to Bell City coach David Heeb, sometimes he's too nice.

Heeb likes it when the 6-foot-1 junior trades in the grin for a scowl, because it's then when Henry plays his best.

"I like it when somebody challenges me," said Henry.

Though he is injured right now with a deep thigh bruise which led to a calcium deposit problem, Henry is arguably the best all-around high school basketball player south of Perryville and north of New Madrid.

Going into the University High Christmas Tournament, Henry was averaging nearly a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds. He was a second-team all-state selection as a sophomore, playing for the Cubs, one of the area's best Class 1A teams.

Henry also gets two steals and two assists per game, shoots 51 percent from the floor, 48 percent from the 3-point line and 75 percent from the free-throw line.

When it comes to playing basketball, Heeb says Henry has all the physical skills he needs.

But even though he is the team's hardest worker, sometimes Henry lacks intensity.

"Everything is yes sir, no sir," said Heeb. "He's just super nice and so well thought of and sometimes with his physical skills he makes things look easy. But when he gets mad and wants the ball, he's as good as anybody around."

A little motivation

And so sometimes Heeb has to play the bad guy.

When Henry is playing at the top of his game, pulling down rebounds, taking the ball to the basket and playing aggressively on defense, Henry is simply known as Eric.

But when Henry comes out timid and isn't sharp, Heeb hits "Eric" with a little motivation, calling him "All-State." To any other player, that would be a compliment, but Heeb uses the term to mock his star player.

Henry has set his own standard. And Heeb tries to make sure Henry lives up to it.

The All-State moniker began after Henry scored only 14 points against Leopold on a Tuesday night. Henry didn't play terribly, but he didn't live up to Heeb's expectations.

For two straight days, Heeb was in Henry's ear. "All-State" this, "All-State" that.

By Friday, Henry was sick of it. Henry said it didn't make him mad, but he was definitely tired of hearing it.

"He just yells all-state at me," Henry said. "It's just his way of saying that I'm not playing at an all-state level."

The next game, Henry dropped 40 points and 15 rebounds on Bernie.

Not a vocal leader on the court, Henry doesn't say a whole lot. But Heeb knew Henry was in for a big night when he simply said, "Coach, I'm ready to play."

Not only was Henry ready to play, he didn't get into foul trouble, which is a rarity this season. There's no telling how many points Henry would be averaging if he would stay out of foul trouble.

Against Scott County Central earlier this year, Henry had 22 points in 14 minutes. Against Advance, he had 16 points in 10 minutes and against Delta, he had 20 points in 18 minutes.

Henry is as versatile player as there is in Southeast Missouri.

He shoots well, he plays well in the post, he's a good rebounder, he can handle the ball and he can set up his teammates.

Though Heeb hasn't been around the coaching ranks too long, he has helped coach some great players, including former Scott County Central standouts Jreece Johnson and Jon Fort.

"But I think Henry is the best scorer that I've coached," Heeb said. "Eric can't shoot the best or dribble the best but he can score from all over in so many different ways. He's made himself a better 3-point shooter and his pull-up 15-footer is as good as any player's I've seen."

Room for improvement

If there's one thing Henry needs to work on, Heeb said, it's his defense.

"Eric plays with a lot of instinct on defense and he gambles a lot," said Heeb. "This leads to a lot of spectacular steals and great plays, but it also leads to him losing his man and committing some silly fouls. He needs to be more patient at times."

Henry doesn't like to talk about himself too much.

He said his strengths as a player are his shooting ability and his post play. When prodded further, he deferred the credit to his teammates.

"I feel good about the players I play with," he said.

That sentiment seems to go the other way, too.

"His teammates love him," Heeb said. "I've coached some other talented kids whose teammates think they're selfish. His teammates know he's the best player on the team and they respect him."

Henry made steady improvements to his game over the summer.

He went through the Acceleration Program, attended several clinics and worked on his perimeter shooting.

"He has a lot of talent, but doesn't have an attitude about it," said Heeb. "And he's as hard a worker as you'll find. And that helps me coach the other guys when the best player on your team is also the hardest worker."