By Andrew Koob
New Castle News

The milestones and achievements have been coming fast for Ethan Moose.

Last week, the Neshannock High senior posted a career-high 39 points in a victory over Union, helping the Lancers clinch their own holiday tournament championship.

He also scored a game-high 21 points in a win over Wilmington and a team-high 18 points in a loss to Beaver Falls.

A week prior, Moose became the 10th player in program history to score his 1,000th point in a victory over Mohawk.

Yet, if it’s all the same to one of the Lancers’ most prolific scorers, he’ll be just as content to take a win on any given night.

It’s that unselfishness, even as his impact in the box score expands, that has both he and the Lancers on the path to success.

“It’s been a great couple weeks, beyond the Beaver Falls game,” Moose said. “I’ve been working my whole life for this kind of stuff. I’m incredibly blessed and it’s been a fun season so far, I’m hoping we can keep that team success going. We just need to keep working and it’ll continue.”

Even with the selfless demeanor, it’s hard to understate the importance of Moose’s increased confidence as it relates to the Lancers’ early-season triumphs.

Moose, who holds offers from a variety of Division III schools and has been in contact with Mercyhurst University, currently is the Lancers’ leading scorer with 23.3 points per game. That mark eclipses last year’s average by more than four points, a year where Moose was second in the county in scoring behind Shenango’s Ryan Smith at 19.2 ppg.

It’s never been about a lack of skill as Moose has come up through the Neshannock ranks, according to Lancers’ coach John Corey. It’s been about confidence and, as evidenced by his recent play, Moose is starting to see the potential in himself.

“He puts a ton of time in so to see him benefitting from all the hard work, whether it’s with us or it’s training outside of the gym, he’s worked so hard to have a successful senior season,” Corey said. “I just think it’s all starting to come together for him. In years past, it’s not that he didn’t have the ability, it was more of a confidence thing. I think now that he’s starting to see how good of a player he is, it’s obviously helping us as a team as well.”

Corey said that the staff as a whole has made a point of emphasis to reiterate just how dominant Moose can be in practice. Even if the star is just as content to let someone else take the glory, his performance will most likely be the deciding factor as to how far Neshannock can go this season.

“I think it’s something that, through his own personal maturation and the season progressing, we as a staff have made it a point in telling him that he has to be the guy,” Corey said. “His personality isn’t that, he doesn’t want to be in the spotlight, but he needs to be that for us to be as successful as we can be. Ethan would be very happy if he came in and had eight points, 12 assists and 12 rebounds but, in reality, he is such a good scorer.

“He has a great ability to get to the rim, finish from the free throw line and his jump shot is improving. He hasn’t shot it much this year, but I’m excited because I know, at some point, he’ll have to knock down some jumpers for us and I know he’s going to.”

After achieving individual successes the last two weeks, what can Moose do for an encore? A matchup against last year’s Section 1-AA champion Lincoln Park looms on Friday night.

Nothing out of the ordinary, according to Moose. Just the same, physical presence that he has delivered all season long.

“I just expect to go as hard as I can,” Moose said. “If they collapse on me, I’ll just kick out. It’ll just be like any other game.”

(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)