Peninsula’s Bockhorn has always been a shooter. Now he’s turning into a complete player

When the Peninsula High boys basketball team went about replacing its entire starting five from a season ago, coach Matt Robles knew there’d be some players who would take on bigger roles.

None have seized the opportunity quite as well as junior Roman Bockhorn, who was an option off the bench last season but still had a ways to go toward polishing his game. This year, Bockhorn has surfaced as the team’s go-to long range shooter.

The 5-foot-11 junior guard is averaging 19 points per game, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

“I’m feeling really confident,” Bockhorn said. “I’ve been playing at this level since I was a freshman. I think this year, I just came out with a little more confidence.”

Robles said the rest of the league is starting to see what the coaching staff has known for some time: Bockhorn is a knockdown shooter.

“He’s shooting at a very high level,” Robles said. “We’re starting to get him the ball more. He probably needs the ball even more. But he’s a sharpshooter. I guess people are starting to realize that. We’ve known that for a while. … He has a lot of confidence in his shot. He’s worked really hard on his confidence. We just want to keep getting him the ball in good spots and help him be successful.”

Bockhorn said he shot hundreds of shots every day during the offseason.

“At least 100 per day,” he said. “I worked on my dribbling, defense, my leadership, my skills in the fall and in summer league.”

Bockhorn was an option off the bench for the Seahawks last season, but playing time was limited behind an all-senior starting five.

“Those guys were pretty entrenched and a little more physical than Roman was last year, probably had a little bit more of a complete game than Roman last year, since he was only a sophomore,” Robles said.

So Robles challenged Bockhorn to be a more complete all-around player last offseason.

“His shooting ability is obvious, but being able to defend, understanding the help side, understanding the defense, guarding his guy and rebounding the ball,” Robles said. “The last couple years, he’s been kind of that guy off the bench when we need a couple of 3s. Now, he obviously still has that weapon but he’s become a better defender and rebounder. We talked in the offseason about him becoming a more complete player and he’s working his way to that point.”

While Peninsula has gotten off to a tough start, posting a 1-3 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the Class 3A South Sound Conference, Robles said he expects the team to benefit from the growing pains and emerge as a contender this season. Bockhorn, certainly, will play his part.

“He’s only a junior,” Robles said. “He’s still going to get a lot better. He’s shooting it very well right now and we hope we can put him in the right spot to help him keep and maintain that percentage.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 8:18 AM.