Name: Xander Shaw

Jersey number: 22

Grade: junior

Birthday: January 27

Age: 17

GPA: 4.4

Favorite food: Pizza or burritos

Favorite teacher: Mrs. Cherry

Favorite subject: Calculus 

Templeton junior small forward Xander Shaw is our Atascadero News and Paso Robles Press Boys Basketball Player of the Year for his performances leading the Templeton Eagles in both rebounds and scoring while healthy this season. Shaw’s season was cut short due to injury but had the Eagles in playoff contention and with a great chance to win the Ocean League title outright in undefeated fashion. The Templeton junior earned himself a spot on the second-team all league list for the Ocean League as a sophomore and now has his eyes on first-team all league to go with being selected as the North County Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Shaw averaged just over 11 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles this season playing in 21 total games. Standing 6-foot-3-inches with a solid handle, Shaw would routinely grab a rebound and start the break for Templeton who is at the forefront of positionless basketball with nine players over six feet on their roster. Shaw shot 70% from the freethrow line and 47% from the field. In his best game of the season, the Templeton wing poured in 28 points for the Eagles on 17 shots and also cleaned the glass with 21 rebounds for the only 20/20 game in the North County, and potentially the entire county, this season. The Eagles needed every point and every rebound as the game came down to the wire with Templeton pulling out the victory late 81-80.