Boys’ basketball notebook: Jefferson’s Royshawn Webb works to become Metro’s scoring leader

CEDAR RAPIDS — If there was a court somewhere, Royshawn Webb wanted to be on it. If there was a hoop, he wanted to be shooting at it.

'If it wasn't here, I was at the YMCA,' the Cedar Rapids Jefferson senior guard said. 'If it was nice outside, sometimes I'd go over to Roosevelt (Middle School) and shoot. By myself usually. Sometimes I'd find friends to go up with me. Wherever I could go to get some shots up.'

Webb is the Metro's leading boys' basketball scorer, an immeasurably better player than a season ago. The reason for his improvement is as cliche-ish as it gets.

Hard work, especially in the offseason.

'Just staying in the gym,' Webb said. 'For me, basketball is always something that I've loved to do. I always wanted to be the best I could be, so I just stayed in the gym, working on things I'm not good at. Just get myself better. I want to continue not just to get myself better, but my team better, too.'

Both are definitely better.

Jefferson is 7-4 going into its game Friday night against Iowa City High. The J-Hawks won 10 games last season, a total they're sure to surpass.

Webb averages 18 points a game, eight more than last season. His shooting percentage from the field has gone from 43 percent last season to 53 this season.

'He is very self disciplined, has put more time in this gym than anybody else, than a lot of guys would have,' Jefferson Coach Brandon Horman said. 'A lot of self-taught stuff with him. He's a quiet kid, leads by example. You know he's going to be ready to game up.'

The 6-foot-2 Webb always has been a slasher, quick and athletic enough to get through the lane and to the bucket. Being left handed makes him more difficult to defend.

But his increased numbers are a result of developing a right hand and a mid-range jumper.

'Coach Horman told me that a lot of teams were going to catch on to what I wanted to do, that I wanted to get to the hoop, so they were going to pack in the lane and stuff,' Webb said. 'He told me that pull-up jumper is going to be open, so I worked on that a lot. I continued to work to get to the hoop because I know that's going to be there. But I worked a lot on my follow through and getting that shot up.'

'He's not just the left-handed driver that's on the scouting report,' Horman said. 'He is learning to take advantage of what else he can do.'

Right now, Mount Mercy and Iowa Lakes Community College are the only ones to show much interest in him post-high school, but Webb is confident the offers will increase if he continues to do what he has done. He's a good, if not quiet, kid with very solid grades.

The whole package there should be enticing to colleges.

'I'm not surprised with Royshawn, just knowing how athletic he is and knowing the other facets he has with the game,' Horman said. 'He has developed some pretty good relationships with some other guys. (Teammate) Curtis Shaw is always right next to him in the gym for about every shot that Royshawn has taken. That's just been our whole team. They've worked hard as a team. They had a great summer.'

AROUND THE HOOP

• Jefferson will be celebrating the 50-year anniversary of its state championship team, Friday, January 27. The school will honor the team between games of a girl-boy double-header against Kennedy. The girls' game begins at 6 p.m. A small reception during that game will be held at the school's cafeteria from approximately 6:15 to 6:45.

• Midland's Alex Martens scored his 1,000th-career point in a win last Friday over Bellevue Marquette. The senior guard has played in just five games this season because of an injury incurred late in the Eagles' successful football season. Their quarterback, he threw for 2,422 yards and 28 touchdowns.

• Postseason district pods for Class 1A and 2A will be released Friday by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. District and substate pods for 3A and 4A will be released next Friday. Coaches eventually will seed all of the districts and substates via seeding meetings.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com