Connor Parks has been peaking at the right time to close out his Washington Township basketball career.
During the Senators’ eight-game win streak, the 6-foot-2 guard has scored at least 20 points five times.
Parks was quick to credit his teammates for his surge.
“When our team passes the ball, more people are open, me especially,” he said. “When my teammates are looking for the open guy, my shooting has definitely been hot. I’ve been hot the last month, and my teammates have been finding me.
“The games we pass the ball most, we have the best chance of winning. When we pass the ball, our record’s definitely been the best.”
Parks and the Senators (18-5) aim to continue their winning ways when they play Hammond Academy in the first round of the Class 1A Kouts Sectional on Wednesday. They won the regular-season matchup 63-25 on Feb. 20.
Washington Township coach Scott Bowersock said Parks, who was 5-7 as a sophomore, “has been playing really well over the last month and shooting the ball extremely well” as the team heads into the postseason.
“He’s someone that’s worked tremendously hard for the last two years,” Bowersock said. “A lot of his confidence came when he hit his growth spurt. With that, his skill set never changed. He could always shoot the basketball. Then when he started growing, he realized, even more so this year, ‘I don’t need a lot of space to shoot over people.’
“Over the last six weeks especially, he’s really started to realize just what that means. It’s not a coincidence, all of a sudden, his shooting and scoring started to just go up like crazy. In the last month, he’s had multiple 20-plus point games, and it’s efficient. It’s not like he’s taking certain types of shots. He’s taking efficient shots.”
Parks is averaging 13.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Sophomore guard Brogan Banker leads the team with 13.5 points per game.
“Connor has grown a lot over the past season, becoming someone we all look to as a key player on the team,” Washington Township senior forward Rob McGowan said. “He’s looking for the best outcome for the team and wants us all to succeed. He’s become a great teammate and basketball player.”
Parks posted 10.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals last season, his first at the varsity level.
“I’m definitely stronger with the ball this year,” he said. “I’m always shooting. I’ll always be at the YMCA shooting. I’m always working on ball-handling. I’m just stronger on rebounds, handling the ball and quicker with my feet.”
Parks, who also plays baseball and is considering doubling up this spring with a return to volleyball, spent his first two seasons on the junior varsity team before he became a starter last season.
“It was definitely hard at the beginning,” he said. “I had a lot of nerves. The other guys, the three starters — Kyle (Banker), Rob and Aiden (Armstrong) — they were previous starters our sophomore year. So I had to get used to it. They talked me through it, what to expect and how to get through the harder times.”
The Senators have experienced some good times in recent years. Last season, they went 21-5 to set a team record for victories and won the Porter County Conference round-robin title.
A sectional title has eluded them, however. To change that this season, Washington Township likely would have to defeat Marquette in a semifinal and then undefeated Kouts in the final.
Parks, who enjoys hunting and fishing and intends to study conservation law enforcement at Vincennes, hopes the Senators can go on the ultimate hot streak to make history.
“We’ve played together since we were in first grade,” he said. “Our chemistry is always on point. We know what each other is thinking. When one of us has the ball, we know what’s going to happen and know what to do from there.”