BRODHEAD, Wis. — Junior Cullen Walker said that as the Brodhead boys basketball team’s matchup against Jefferson unfolded on Friday, it just felt like any other February night. Except, it was anything but.
With just over 14 minutes left in the second half, Jaxon Dooley grabbed a rebound off a missed Eagles’ shot and dished it off to Walker, who was sprinting down the court. The 6-foot-1 guard headed toward the hoop, cut between a pair of defenders and sank a layup.
The basket put Walker at 1,000 career points with the Cardinals.
“When you’re a little kid, it’s always something you really want to do,” said Walker before Tuesday’s matchup against Cambridge. “I’d see all these older players doing it and I wanted to do it too. It was pretty exciting to finally do it.”
The basket had pulled Brodhead within three points of Jefferson after it had trailed 31-20 at halftime. Walker scored 10 points in the second half to help tie it up and force overtime. He hit a pair of threes in the extra period to finish with 24 points but the Cardinals ultimately fell 62-61.
Despite the loss, the matchup was vintage Walker. Helping his squad scratch and claw its way back into a game with his hot shooting has been a characteristic of his since he started on varsity as a freshman.
“It’s been fun to watch him grow over the last three years,” head coach Tommy Meier said. “He scored like 270 points his freshman year. Then, it was like 400-something last year and that’s where he’ll roughly be this year, maybe even a little higher. The work he puts in (makes him such a great player).”
Walker is a frequent sight in the gym for early-morning shooting sessions, and it has helped his offensive game pop out. After averaging 17.6 points per game as a sophomore, he is scoring 19.8 ppg in 17 games this season to rank fourth in the Rock Valley Rock Division. His season high was 30 points against Cuba City, and he has scored 20-plus points in nine games this year.
“I like to think that I’m an all-around player,” Walker said. “I can score at all three levels. I can obviously improve, you can always improve in all parts of the game.”
Athletic records are spotty but Meier said the current record broken in the 1960s hovers around the 1,800 mark. While Walker may not eclipse that, with plenty of games left this season not to mention a full senior season ahead he should get well into the 1,000s.
A scorer from anywhere on the court, the junior is shooting 46.2% this season and has scored 38 treys while hitting a clip of 38.4%.
“His freshman year he learned to be a shooter, and then last year he developed into everything,” Meier said. “Now he just does it all for us. (Three) games ago he had 17 boards against East Troy as a guard. That just says a lot about how hard he works and what he gives on the court.”
Walker’s well-roundedness is evident with his rank of second in the conference with 7.6 rebounds per game as well as his placement of fourth with 3.4 assists each contest.
“I’m just trying to give my teammates energy to play on the defensive side as well as being a leader,” Walker said. “Rebounding-wise, I just read the ball off the rim. You see the ball go up and you think it’s going that way. You follow the ball.”
The Cardinals are currently 8-10 overall and 5-5 in the RVR, where they are tied for fourth. Five of their final six games are in conference play leaving plenty of time for Brodhead to make a late surge.
“When we have a good defensive night, you can probably tell we’re coming out with a win,” Walker said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. But we’ve had some good wins and it’s been fun.”
The next test will be second-place Beloit Turner, who the Cardinals defeated 57-43 back on Dec. 1. And Walker hopes the future is bright for both himself and his team.
“I’m looking to work hard this summer and get better for the next season. We can make a nice run next year for my senior season, but after that I’m not sure. It’s kind of up in the air right now.”
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