Gerard garners two all-state honorable nods
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Eagle Valley’s basketball season has been over for more than a month now, but Cody Gerard is still picking up awards.
On Wednesday, the Devils junior was recognized in the Denver Post as an honorable-mention, all-state selection in 3A. He had already been named as an honorable mention in the Rocky Mountain News’ selections which were released March 25.
“I was very pleased,” Gerard said. “That’s a pretty good award. There are some really good players on this side of the Slope, so it means a lot that I got selected.”
Gerard, a 6-foot-5 junior, was the Devils leading scorer last season averaging more than 20 points a game. Most of his points came in the low post or at the free-throw line, but he was also a dangerous 3-point threat who ran the floor well on fast break opportunities.
“I think inside, he’s excited about it, but he’s a pretty low key individual,” since-resigned Devils coach Phil Cain said. “That calmness carried over to the basketball court when he had to hit those big free throws down the stretch for us. He was always confident in that he knew what he needed to get done.”
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The Rocky Mountain News selections were voted on by both high school coaches and the News’ preps writers, while he Post’s all state team was picked by a panel of eight journalists.
Cain said that regardless of the different selection processes, both papers came to the right conclusion.
“The coaches in the league, recognized Cody as one of the top players in the league,” Cain said. “It was nice to see that he got that recognition throughout the state with the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News.”
Added Gerard, “I mean, you always have some personal goals, but my main goal always is to make it to state. With us moving up to 4A next year, it’s going to be a lot tougher. But, that’s still what we’re shooting for.”
With the good news there was also some bad. The same day that Gerard saw his name in the paper in the Denver Post he also found out that Cain was resigning from his basketball duties at Eagle Valley to take the head coaching job at Grand Junction Central next year.
“I found out (Wednesday) that we was leaving. It came as a real shock, but I guess it’s the best thing for him and he’ll be making more money.”
Roaring Fork’s Dan Markoya, who garnered first-team, all-state honors, was the only other player from the 3A Slope to receive an all-state selection.
Contact Nate Peterson at 949-0555, ext. 608 or via e-mail at vaildaily.com
