Oregon-Davis (Hamlet, Ind.) junior guard Zach Richie, who is Indiana's leading basketball scorer with a 41.8 average, exploded for a school-record 55 points this week during a 94-90 loss to 21st Century (Gary, Ind.).
Photo courtesy of Suzette Richie
Oregon-Davis High's Zach Richie.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder drilled 20 of 42 shots from the field and 13 of 16 from the free throw line.
"He's built like a truck," said Matt Richie, who is Zach's father and coach. "He's a horse in the weight room. He can bench press 325 pounds."
Richie has to be a physical presence for the Bobcats, who have no other starter over 5-10 and half of their 10-man squad never played basketball until this year.
"We see all sorts of defenses," Matt Richie said. "Last night he fouled out for the second time this year and four were offensive fouls."
Richie started as a freshman until he suffered a serious knee injury. He came back as a sophomore to lead the Bobcats with a 19-point scoring average and shot a sizzling 91 percent from the free throw line. This fall he broke his foot, but missed only the season opener.
Instead of playing a lot of AAU basketball last summer, Richie concentrated on personal improvement to reach his goal of playing at a Division I college. He worked out every day from 7-11 a.m. and 5-8 p.m.
Zach's cousin, Austin Richie, has signed with Western Michigan University. The 6-2 Lowell (Ind.) senior, averaging 34 points per game, also is among the state's leading scorers.