Area grads leading college basketball teams

Three area high school graduates are among the top men’s basketball players in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) this season.

Prairie High School grads Adam Herman and Kevan West have led the Concordia University Cavaliers this season and Battle Ground graduate Erik Cronrath is one of the top players at Corban University.

Both Concordia, of Portland, and Corban, of Salem, will advance to the CCC playoffs, thanks in large part to the efforts of the three players.

Here’s a look at what the three have accomplished:

Adam Herman

Concordia University

Sadly, Herman’s season recently came to an end when he suffered a broken hand during a Cavaliers’ practice. The injury required surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.

Herman, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward, was leading all NAIA players in the country in field goal percentage at the time of his injury, making 68.8 percent of his shots. He led the nation last season, when he made 64.1 percent of his shots.

Herman was second in the CCC this season in both scoring (19.6) and rebounding (7.7) averages.

As a result of his play during the week of Jan. 9-15, Herman was named the NAIA National Division II Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. That week, Herman led Concordia to two wins. He scored the final 10 points of the game as Concordia game back to defeat Northwest Christian on Jan. 13. He had 24 points, five rebounds and four steals in that game, in which the Cavaliers came back from a 19-point deficit. The following day, Herman had 28 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Corban.

Herman was also named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Red Lion Player of the Week twice this season.

Kevan West

Concordia University

Kevan West is wrapping up his collegiate career with the Cavaliers. The 6-foot-3 guard/forward is averaging 14.7 points and 5.9 rebounds a game for Concordia while shooting 55.1 percent from the field. Heading into the final two games of the regular season, West ranked 8th in the CCC in scoring.

After playing one season at Ohlone College in California, West has spent the past three seasons with the Cavaliers. As a junior, he averaged 12.7 points while shooting 60.3 percent from the field, which was third in the nation.

For his career, West ranks 14th in career blocked shots at Concordia with 48. In addition to that, West also ranks ninth in both field goal percentage (.561) and games started (69).

Erik Cronrath

Corban University

Erik Cronrath has excelled both on and off the court during his collegiate career at Corban University.

Cronrath recently was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 8 First Team for work both in the classroom and on the court in the last two seasons. He was also named to the Academic All-CCC Team.

Heading into the final two games of the regular season, the 6-foot-8 senior forward was averaging 14.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 58.2 percent from the field and 80.7 percent at the free throw line. He was also ranked 15th on the team’s career scoring list.

Hockinson graduate Mitch Tugaw is a sophomore guard for Corban. He has scored seven points in nine games this season.