KELSEYVILLE — Even though the Kelseyville Knights finished a close second to Middletown in the 2012 North Central League I basketball race, Max Huff”s name was being bantered around as a possible MVP candidate.
Indeed, that”s the kind of season the recently graduated Huff had for the Knights during an action-packed 2011-12 season, one in which the team finished 20-7 overall, 11-3 in league to Middletown”s 12-2, and reached the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
Along the way, Huff averaged a team-best 15.6 points and topped the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Huff, a two-sport standout for Kelseyville, is the Record-Bee”s Athlete of the Year boys” runner-up for the 2011-12 season.
Headed to Santa Rosa Junior College where he”ll pursue the sport of baseball in the coming school year, Huff finished his high school basketball career with 1,175 points, which ties him for 17th place on the all-time list of Lake County scoring leaders. He”s now the second-leading scorer among Kelseyville boys, trailing only Scott Conrad (1,717) — his varsity basketball coach each of the past three seasons.
“Max was in the discussion for league MVP,” Conrad said of the All-League meeting that occurred back in February. “If we had one won more (league game), he would have been MVP.”
Huff”s contributions to the Knights” 20-win season came in all areas.
“He covered a lot of our weaknesses,” Conrad said. “Even when he was in a car accident, and he was only about 80 percent that week, he did things out there that amazed you and you appreciated more of what he could do for you at 100 percent. All those rebounds and slam dunks.”
What most people don”t know about Huff, especially during his assault on the 1,000-point career plateau, is what he brought to the Knights as a defender.
“Max was a standout defensive player no matter where you put him on the court,” Conrad said.
That excellent defense carried over to the baseball season as Huff was a standout at primarily third base but occasionally at shortstop for the Knights, who again just missed out on a league title while finishing second, this time to St. Helena, in the NCL I race. Playing a brutal early schedule filled with what would be playoff teams, the Knights posted Lake County”s best mark at 13-8, including 11-3 in league. Just as in basketball, the Knights reached the sectional playoffs and made it as far as the quarterfinals in Division IV.
“Max was our backup shortstop when Dustin (Thaxton) was pitching, otherwise he was at third base,” Kelseyville coach Lou Poloni said.
“I don”t know if we”ve ever had a guy who played defense like that,” Poloni said of Huff. “His range is amazing.”
Huff also had a productive year at the plate, ranking among team leaders in hits (22), doubles (five), triples (two), home runs (two) and RBIs (19).
“We got a little more out of Max every year,” Poloni said. “He was with the varsity for parts of four years and he was pretty much a free-swinging, pull-hitter when he first started. This year he hammered the ball to center field and right field and he took walks.”
A team co-captain along with Thaxton, Huff has been a player for Poloni since 9-10 Little League All-Stars, according to the Kelseyville coach.
“I don”t know how you pick between those two guys,” Poloni said of Huff and Thaxton in relation to Athlete of the Year voting. “I think Max has to be right there. They”re both very nice kids.”
