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Of the three scoring point guards on this year's All-Metro Conference boys basketball first team, the one who came out of the blue was Kyler Erickson of Millard South.

The Patriots' 5-foot-10 senior went from averaging 6.8 points as a junior to a Metro-best 20.6.

“It was a simple change. We had the ball in his hands all the time,'' said Tyler Cerveny, who took over as Millard South's coach last summer. “We made him the point guard, which to me seemed like a natural.''

Also on the All-Metro first team are a pair of seniors who are repeat selections — Omaha Bryan point guard Galen Gullie (the All-Metro honorary captain) and Omaha South forward Duol Mayot — plus Omaha Benson point guard CJ Carter and Omaha Central sophomore forward Akoy Agau.

The second-team picks are junior Darian Barrientos-Jackson of Central and seniors DK Augustine of Bryan, John Paul Franco of Omaha Creighton Prep, Isaac Gustafson of Millard North and Jalen Hueser of Papillion-La Vista South. Members of the third team are seniors Reath Jiech of Bryan, Steven Ferrarini of Omaha Westside and AJ Holmes of Omaha South, and sophomores TraDeon Hollins of Central and Connor Lusso of Millard West.

Observations of The World-Herald staff and nominations by league coaches determine the newspaper's All-Metro Conference teams. All coaches were sent nomination forms.

Erickson, who was injured for four games, led Millard South to a 14-10 record that included two wins against state champion Central. His career high of 39 points came in a season-ending loss to Omaha Burke in districts. He was a 44 percent shooter on 3-pointers and averaged about three assists a game.

“His improvement,'' Cerveny said, “is a credit to how hard he worked in the offseason.”

Cerveny said Northwest Missouri State is showing recruiting interest in Erickson, as are many of the GPAC schools.

Mayot's numbers dropped slightly from last season to 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds. Omaha South coach Bruce Chubick Sr. said that reflected better balance within a team that went to state for the first time since 1993.

“We were harder to stop when we had three or four guys sharing the duties,'' Chubick said. “I thought Duol's perimeter shooting improved. He stepped out and hit 3s in some important games.

“His passing improved and I thought he became one of the best lock-on defenders. We put him on guards, on big men. That really is what he does better than anything and with us that's pretty important.''

Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs could be Mayot's next stop.

Agau moves up from the third team after averaging 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Eagles.

“He's got to maintain a hunger,'' Central coach Eric Behrens said of the highly touted sophomore. “He's got to come back and want to work harder, want to work hard this offseason, not be satisfied with what he's done.''

Gullie was a three-year starter who led Bryan to the state championship game for the first time. He averaged 12 points and 3.5 assists per game while topping the 1,000-point mark for his career.

“It starts with his smart decision-making and true leadership on the floor,'' Bryan coach Tim Cannon said. “After we lost to Prep in January, Galen, DK and Reath really picked it up and figured out what we had to do.''

Carter is a UNO recruit who was a three-year contributor for Benson. He averaged 13.2 points as a senior, with a high game of 29 in a first-round overtime loss at state to Norfolk.

Donnie Johnson, the Bunnies' first-year coach, said Carter was an improved player on defense by season's end.

“It was a learning process for both of us and he adapted to what I wanted,'' Johnson said.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1041, stu.pospisil@owh.com

twitter.com/stuOWH

ALL-METRO BOYS BASKETBALL

FIRST TEAM
Player, School, Ht., Yr., Avg.
Galen Gullie, Omaha Bryan, 5-8, Sr., 12.0
Akoy Agau, Omaha Central, 6-8, So., 10.6
CJ Carter, Omaha Benson, 6-0, Sr., 13.2
Kyler Erickson, Millard South, 5-10, Sr., 20.6
Duol Mayot, Omaha South, 6-4, Sr., 13.9

SECOND TEAM
DK Augustine, Omaha Bryan, 6-5, Sr., 14.3
John Paul Franco, Omaha Creighton Prep, 6-4, Sr., 10.3
Darian Barrientos-Jackson, Omaha Central, 6-2, Jr., 10.5
Isaac Gustafson, Millard North, 6-3, Sr., 13.0
Jalen Hueser, Papillion-La Vista South, 6-3, Sr., 19.8

THIRD TEAM
Connor Lusso, Millard West, 6-5, So., 16.0
Reath Jiech, Omaha Bryan, 6-5, Sr., 11.8
Steven Ferrarini, Omaha Westside, 6-2, Sr., 15.7
TraDeon Hollins, Omaha Central, 6-1, So., 10.7
AJ Holmes, Omaha South, 6-0, Sr., 11.4

Coaches All-Metro Conference Honorable Mention
• Bellevue East: Spencer Lewis, Mike Schlesiger, Kyle Connor. Bellevue West: Jeremiah Dotzler, Roberto Hernandez, Shaquille Esparza, Deon Pettigrew. Millard North: Josiah Gustafson, Evan Ritzdorf, Derek Hord, Nick Marchese. Millard South: Reagan Fowler, Blake Headley, Elijah Tostenson, Quentin Urban. Millard West: Shawn Martin, Zach Kallman, Frankie Guido, Alec Smith. Omaha Benson: Cal McCoy, Raaquim Brown, KJ Scott, Riak Bol, Avery Langford. Omaha Bryan: Ethan Montalvo, Sam Bongomin, Telly Mason, Joe Imig, Jake Maslo. Omaha Burke: Tre Hymer, Brett Anderson, Cameron Williams, Tre King. Omaha Central: Dominique McKinzie, Ed Vinson, Deandre Hollins-Johnson, DeShun Roberts. Omaha Creighton Prep: Eric Donald, Mike Hoy, Matt McLeay, Aiden Hook, Scott Bates, Jack Hummel. Omaha North: Nick Billingsley, Brandon Altstadt, Parnell Matthews, Jacob Brown. Omaha Northwest: Taran Haynes, Jeremy George, Jordan Thomas, Robert Harris-Hearnes, Cornell Wells-Harris, Tre Bush. Omaha South: Bobby Lage, Lonnie Gaines. Omaha Westside: Ben Wilkinson, Nate Skold, Charlie Landen, Tiras Bolton. Papillion-La Vista: Brett Dougherty, Adam Barcel, Josh Abels. Papillion-La Vista South: Matt Milz.

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