Ryan Ward hasn’t been at Hartville High long, but he’s certainly made an impression.
The first-year Eagle scored the 2,000th point of his career this season and has helped lead Hartville to the top seed in Class 2, District 9.
“He’s been nothing short of extraordinary,” said head coach Brett Reed.
The son of two coaches, Ward has been well-travelled in his career, playing at Waynesville until third grade, then Stoutland, then Crocker for junior high, and Newburg for the first three years of high school. Then, when his father Doug was hired as an assistant at Hartville, he became an Eagle.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking at first,” he said, of being the new guy as a senior. “I’m comfortable with my teammates and my surroundings.”
Reed says the team made him feel at home almost immediately, and it’s a reflection of his kids.
“I don’t think somebody could come in that they wouldn’t welcome,” he said.
The fact that Ward can flat play sure didn’t hurt, either.
“Personally, I’ve played the best I have, ever,” he said. “The best I’m capable of.”
Reed isn’t shy about the praise for his senior, either.
“He does a little bit of everything,” he said. “High basketball IQ, shoots the ball as well as any kid I’ve ever had. He’s really bought in to our defensive philosophy and tried to get better at that.”
Ward’s coach describes him as “quiet, but also kind of a jokester.” Case in point, a friendly disagreement with just how the Eagles are winning games this year.
“I’m the guy that always says, ‘We’re going to hang our hats on defense and rebounding. That’s how we’re going to win a championship,’” Reed said. “[Ward] is always like, ‘Coach, we’ll just outscore the other team.’”
And don’t look now, but the player might win that argument.
“I think I’m starting to believe him a little bit about us outscoring some people,” Reed said. “We’ve been putting up some points lately.”
However they do it, it’s working well. Hartville is rolling into the postseason with a state title on their minds.
“First of all, the tradition that’s already been established here, and then being able to come in and build on it, it’d be unbelievable,” Ward said.
Reed agrees.
“For that it would mean to our team, and this town, and myself, it would be unbelievable,” he said. “It would be one of the greatest feelings I could ever imagine.”
For Hartville to realize that dream, they’ll lean on Ryan Ward, the Arby’s Athlete of the Week.
