The Olympian’s 2022 All-Area boys basketball team

Each year, with input from local coaches, The Olympian selects its All-Area boys basketball team.

This year, six high schools from the Olympia area are represented by players and coaches selected to the first and second teams.

The 12 spots, broken down by leagues, are 4A South Puget Sound League South (four), 3A South Sound Conference (three) and 2A Evergreen Conference (five).

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

BROOKLYN HICKS

Timberline, guard, 6-4, junior

The only returning first-team All-Area selection, Hicks separated himself by earning a second consecutive 3A SSC MVP honor after averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals per game. A highly-sought-after recruit, Hicks has offers in hand from a dozen schools, including Washington, Washington State and Oregon State of the Pac-12. “Brooklyn has become the face of the South Sound area,” Blazers coach Allen Thomas said. “His dominance in the paint, on the glass, in transition, and passing ability has carried our program.”

COACH OF THE YEAR

JOHN KILEY

Olympia

Kiley takes the coaching honor for the second straight year. His Bears (26-6) finished the highest of any area team, third in a brutally competitive 4A state tournament with each of their three wins at the Tacoma Dome coming over higher-seeded teams. He replaced one of the best bigs ever to play for a high school in Thurston County in McDonald’s All-American Jackson Grant, and continued to win. And though he refers to himself, a player on Olympia’s 1985-86 state championship team, as “old,” Kiley embraces modern concepts of fitness and strength training and values the lessons players learn with their summer AAU travel teams.

FIRST TEAM

LUKE BREWER

Tumwater

Guard, 6-1, junior

Brewer claimed 2A EvCO MVP honors before pacing the T-Birds to fourth place in the state tournament, their highest state finish in 46 years. Second-team All-Area as a sophomore last spring, Brewer led Tumwater in both scoring (17.9 points per game) and assists (4.0) in his first season as a point guard. He shot 40 percent from 3-point range, making 10 in one game against Columbia River during a tournament in Arizona. “Luke is incredibly well-rounded and has a high ceiling as a player,” T-Birds coach Josh Wilson said. “He’s really improved his ability to get to the hoop, his passing skills and most importantly his leadership.”

ANDREAS ENGHOLM

Olympia

Forward, 6-7, junior

A first-team 4A SPSL South choice, Engholm was in the unenviable position of being the tallest starter for Olympia after Grant’s departure, but grew into a force as the season progressed. He finished with averages of 15 points and seven rebounds for the season, fueled by a long string of double-doubles from midseason into the playoffs. Kiley referenced both Engholm and Olympia’s other first-team All-Area selection, Parker Gerrits, as “our motors all year long” who both “elevated their games at the state tournament,” where wins over higher-seeded Mariner, Tahoma and Union earned the 11th-seed Bears the third place trophy.

PARKER GERRITS

Olympia

Guard, 6-2, junior

The MVP of the 4A SPSL South, Gerrits averaged 18 points per game to go with five rebounds and five assists. At state, he scored 22 in a win over Tahoma and 19 in a loss to top-seeded Mount Si. Second-team All-Area last season as a sophomore, he’s held Division I scholarship offers from Portland and Montana since the mid-point of his high school career. “His desire to be the best he can is not a cliché. He really works to be a great player,” Kiley said earlier this season. “Physically he’s changed his body. He wants to be great in the classroom as well. He truly has a motor to pursue greatness.”

MILES GURSKE

Timberline

Guard, 6-0, junior

A first-team 3A SSC choice, Gurske was part of a speedy one-two punch for the Blazers’ high octane offense, averaging 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals per game. Heavily-recruited so far by schools at the Division II level, Gurske, who was second-team All-Area last season, may have been the area’s most improved player, according to Blazers coach Allen Thomas. “He’s a good 3-point shooter and an excellent playmaker,” Thomas said. “He helped lead us to back-to-back league championships, a second place finish in districts and a state appearance.”

DIRK PLAKINGER

W.F. West

Forward, 6-4, senior

The high-flying Plakinger gained notoriety as one of the most ferocious dunkers in Washington, but built his 18.8 points per game average by mixing in some old school weapons as well. “He’s mastered the lost art of the mid-range and has one of the prettiest pull-up jumpers I’ve ever seen,” Bearcats coach Chris White said. “Dirk was a dedicated, tireless worker and team leader.” A first-team 2A EvCo choice, Plakinger also averaged 5.5 rebounds and led W.F. West in assists (3.0) and steals (1.6).

SECOND TEAM

Andrew Collins, Tumwater, jr.

Soren Dalan, W.F. West, jr.

Jeshua Hardie, Yelm, sr.

Caden Roth, Olympia, sr.

Chuckie Thompson, Shelton, sr.