James Monroe’s run to the 2021-22 Class A state championship involved heavy work from Eli Allen and Shad Sauvage.
However, the Mavericks couldn’t have raised that coveted trophy without the work of their unsung heroes, Josh Burks and Collin Fox.
Burks is likely the most unnoticed of the group because he does his damage mostly on the defensive end.
“All of us as coaches give him a ton a credit, but it is not always seen by folks on the outside,” James Monroe head coach Matt Sauvage said. “He has great defensive technique, but a lot of it is just his mentality, thinking I am going to win this battle. More often than not, he wins that battle.”
Burks acquired his love for defense at an early age.
“All the coaches that I have ever played for (preached) defense. Hard, hard defense,” Burks said. “Defense turns into offense and gets easy buckets for us. That is what drives me.”
Burks also explained a tough lesson he learned when it came to defense that has had a lasting effect on him.
“I played on a team with the Chapman twins (Braden and Cole) from Shady (Spring) coached by their dad, Brian,” Burks explained. “We were beating a team by 30 and he called a full timeout. We weren’t playing defense and he made us run suicides the whole time. From then on, I always play defense.”
While other players shy away from defense and become jealous of other players scoring, Burks embraces the defensive challenge and views defense as his way to help his team win games.
“Coach gives me that job and I accept the responsibility of doing my job,” Burks said. “When we win, I am happy. As a team, we don’t care who scores the ball. We are just happy that we win.”
“Josh loves it. He loves defense. I think more than that, he loves to shut somebody down,” Sauvage said. “To him that is a win. Most of it is his mentality. There are very few guys that will buy in to, I am going to give you everything I have on defense, but yet, not get a lot of credit for it. Our whole team is unselfish, but when you get a player like him, it’s special to have. I give Josh all the credit in the world.”
While defense is his specialty, Burks can still score the basketball, often knocking down long range bombs at key moments.
In three games at the state tournament, Burks averaged nearly nine points per game and hit eight shots from behind the arc.
“He has always been that way. He is such an unselfish player. If the shot is there, he will take it. Sometimes when it is not there and he doesn’t feel it, he is going to give it up,” Sauvage said.
During the season, Fox was the true definition of a role player. In the three games he played at the state tournament, he was as All-Tournament star.
“These guys here, (Eli and Shad) are in on just about every play and I kind of just take what is there,” Fox said. “Most of the time, I don’t try to force much.”
In the quarterfinal game against Madonna, Fox scored 11 points in a blowout win, but he saved his best for the final two contests.
Battling St. Joe in Thursday’s semifinal, Fox’s energy was the best it had been all season. Fox poured in 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had six steals in a 23-point win over highly-touted St. Joe.
“Collin is that player that we know what we are going to get out of him. These past three games, we have got a lot more. He has really stepped up,” Sauvage said. “He has (taken) more charges than anybody on the team by more than triple this year. He does a lot of the things you are not going to get credit for.”
Fox continued his strong play in the state championship game scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
(Collin) and Cameron (Thomas), they are a force down low,” Sauvage said. “I don’t know what he weighs, but it’s not a lot, and he battles. He comes out of there with the ball sometimes and you don’t know how he has it.”
Burks and Fox are both juniors and will return next season when the Mavericks begin their defense of the Class A title in December.
