Two-Sport Star Shines for Lions

Although the Fort Zumwalt East Lions couldn’t scratch out a victory over the Francis Howell North Knights on Tuesday night, junior Collin Zurweller made his presence known.

Zurweller scored 21 points in the 53-42 loss. His strongest quarter was the fourth where he scored nine points. The Knights held a 36-21 advantage at the end of the third quarter, but the Lions outscored Francis Howell North 21-17 in the fourth quarter.

“We just got down and had to get back in the game somehow,” Zurweller said. “So, I tried to help out my team as much as I could.”

The junior said the Lions “got more open looks” in the second half and “played more as a team.” Zurweller’s success came with struggle. He left the game in the second quarter due to injury and returned in the third quarter. Zurweller’s had stitches placed on his chin after he collided with another player. 

“It hurt a little but I try not to let injuries get to me that much,” Zurweller said.

Although he’s a guard, the junior can score from the post or from behind the arc. Zurweller averages 16.6 points per game and leads his team in 3-pointers with eight.

“I just go in and score as well as I can,” Zurweller said. “I try to push everyone to the limit.”

The Lions have struggled to a 3-18 record so far in the 2010-2011 campaign. Zurweller said East has “learned to play hard this year” and he expects improvements next year.

“We should be better,” he said. “We should be able to grow up a bit. This team has lots of young talent which needs to mature, including myself.”  

Not a one-sport athlete, Zurweller also plays shortstop and pitches on the varsity baseball team.  An early bloomer, the junior started playing both varsity basketball and baseball as a freshman.

“This is great experience, it gives me a lot of time to mature early and learn the game a lot more,” he said.

Zurweller said he would like to play baseball at the college level.