Scott City's Luke Umfleet’s sharp shooting inspired by cousin

Family means everything to Scott City junior Luke Umfleet.

It’s not only his source of support but also the source of his skills. In his youth, Umfleet used to watch his older cousin, Gavin Harris, play for Jackson High School from 2015-18.

He was so enamored by the way Harris shot from the three-point line that he made it his mission to master the art form.

“I never really had a mentor for basketball,” Umfleet said. “Watching him shoot made me want to do it too. So I watched film and I started going to the gym to work on my shot by trying to use the correct form.”

He picked a proper example. Harris currently plays at Texas Wesleyan and is a .507 shooter from the arc.

“When I got stronger,” Umfleet said, “it started paying off.”

On a team full of juniors, Umfleet isn’t the only Ram with a propensity to produce from the top of the key. For most of the first half of the season, Brenden Beussink was the Rams leading scorer and a catalyst for their first-round upset against Notre Dame in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

The two juniors would feed off each other in practice and get competitive in shooting drills to see who could drain the most three-pointers.

“Usually in practice, Brenden and I are on the same team and we play off of each other and try to get each other open,” Umfleet said. “When we are down shooting on the gun we will have competitions to see who can make more in a row.”

“He works really hard and shows up early to work on his game,” Beussink said.

Umfleet said his best game came against district Chaffee on Jan. 7. His hot shooting early helped the Rams ramp up a 69-26 rout over their rivals.

“I hit two big 3’s in a row against Chaffee in the first quarter,” Umfleet said. “It put our team up, we went on a big run and went on to never take our foot off the gas.”

Scott City (5-12) has struggled mightily for most of the season. The Rams started 2-9 but have since played .500 ball, including a 55-9 win over winless North Pemiscot this past Friday.

“We are starting to play as a team and we are playing hard and better in general,” Umfleet said. “I can speak for the whole team when we say that there is no team that is not beatable.”

The Rams host Greenville (16-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m., before going on the road to take on Saxony Lutheran on Thursday. Umfleet will need to shoot like his cousin if the Rams are going to have a chance.

"Greenville is going to be probably our toughest game of the whole year,” Umfleet said. “If we play our best and play defense the way we can, we will have a chance.”