Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

Picking a word to describe Eli Prochnau’s game can be difficult.

Not because there are too few to choose from. The problem is the opposite.

There are the usual suspect type of words used to describe strong ballers, such as intense, fast, defensive, offensive, aggressive and tenacious.

All of them can be used to describe Prochnau’s game.

But when the letters on the scrabble board are taken off, the remaining ones make up the words that best describe the Western Canada Redmen’s basketball player’s game.

C-L-U-T-C-H.

Since he’s taken to the hard-court for the Redmen’s senior boys basketball team, and most likely several years before that, the grade 12 guard has been clutch on several occasions.

“He’s a clutch player in those moments, when you need a basket, he’s the guy that will get you that basket,” says Redmen head coach Steve Wiebe. “Once in a while, last year, my assistant coach would turn to me and say ‘it’s Eli time’, like he sensed it.”

That’s when Prochnau would either go on a scoring tear, pick off a few passes or come up with a momentum-swinging charge to turn the tides of the game in the Redmen’s favour.

“He would somehow elevate his game and it would and bring the team with him,” continued Wiebe. “He’s just that transforming leader that turns his actions into the teams’ action.”

Which is exactly what Prochnau did in last week’s Kram Game of the Week against the Bowness Trojans.

With the Redmen trailing by as much as 19 points, their offense struggling to find their shooting range and the defense having a tough time with the Trojans’ physical play, it appeared that the Trojans were heading for an early season loss against a team they should beat.

But midway through the third quarter the Redmen broke out of their funk and started to whittle down the score, before finally taking the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter on their way to a 90-70 win.

The reason for their 180-degree turn-around can be greatly attributed to Prochnau’s play.

“He hit clutch shots,” said Wiebe after the game when asked about Prochnau’s impressive late-game performance. “At one point in time our assistant coach leaned over and said ‘Eli has turned up his intensity and he’s drug a few guys other kids with him’, and the way his intensity is on the defensive end sometimes will spark our offense.”

And it was at both ends of the court that he took control over.

Along with forcing turnovers on the defensive end and then finding his teammates flying down the court for an easy layup, he also scored all of his 22 points in the second half, earning him this week’s Kram Player of the Week honors.

The majority of those games came courtesy of a sweet-looking jump shot that he’s developed into a consistent weapon.

“I love to shoot the ball,” said Prochnau. “My favourite player is Ray Allen, so I like to model my game after him a little bit, but when the shot’s not falling I will go to the hoop and try to draw contact.”

“As a team we really picked it up on defense and that translated into points, a lot of them were transition points. It was a team effort, for sure.”

Basketball isn’t the only sport that Prochnau excels at.

He also throws a mean football as quarterback for the Redmen senior boy’s team.

Last fall, Prochnau led the Redmen to the Div II title with a 10-7 win over the Central Memorial Rams.

Which begs the question of what sport he would choose if he had the chance to play either one at the post-secondary level.

“I would definitely be up for football or basketball, both if I could,” Prochnau said.

Kram 5 with Eli Prochnau
What are your sneakers of choice? I’m still looking
What is your favourite pre-game meal? Vector Cereal
Who is your favourite NBA Player? Ray Allen
What is your favourite NBA team? Boston Celtics
What is your favourite movie? Coach Carter