By Scott Swanson
Lebanon Local
By Scott Swanson
Lebanon Local
Former Lebanon basketball star Henry “Hank” Pointer is moving on to the next level – Chemeketa Community College, where he plans to play next year for the Storm.
Flanked by Lebanon Coach Casey VandenBos and Jeff Williams, Chemeketa’s new head coach, Pointer, a 6-2, 175-pound combo guard, signed a letter of intent for the Storm on Nov. 23 as a crowd of about 60 teammates, former coaches, parents and others witnessed the occasion.
Athletic Director Kraig Hoene, who noted that he watched Pointer grow up, literally, “two houses down from me,” said Pointer “just loved the game, he had a passion for the game. He always believed in himself. It was just fun to watch him grow up and become the player he’s become.”
Pointer finished his career with Lebanon last year with 803 points scored in 58 games, on top of 208 rebounds and 106 assists.
His biggest game was on Feb. 2, 2022, when he scored 46 points on the road to lead the Warriors to a 69-60 win over the North Salem Vikings, a team that had beaten Lebanon 74-57 earlier in the season.
That put Pointer into the record books, topping Mark Neustel’s longstanding 44-point performance in 1979.
After playing only 13 games as a junior (242 points, 18 points per game), Pointer got some momentum in his senior year, finishing with 420 points in 20 games for a 21 ppg average.
Pointer said the fact that his junior year was cut short by COVID, no playoffs being held in boys basketball in 2021, didn’t help his exposure in the sport.
He said he participated in open gyms at Chemeketa, while working a job over the summer, and decided to attend there. He said he heard from “a few” other community colleges, “but Chemeketa, I just feel like is the best option.”
He said he hasn’t determined an academic focus yet.
“I’m just going there for basketball and trying to figure it out, still.”
Williams, a longtime Chemeketa assistant and AAU coach who moved up to the top spot this season, said Pointer has “always been our radar” for the Storm, acknowledging that COVID threw a wrench into the normal recruiting processes during the past few years.
“We’ve always known he can score and he can just do basically anything on the floor,” Williams said. “It’s good to have a guy like that in your program. We definitely know we got very lucky.”
Williams said the turnout for the signing ceremony “obviously says the impact he’s had on this community.”
VandenBos, who has known Pointer for years and brought him along through the Warriors’ system, said he saw the potential early.
He said he gave Pointer an opportunity as a freshman to play with the varsity and Pointer responded by progressing “just by leaps and bounds” despite “losing his junior year – he played 13 games that year.”
“COVID was not in his favor. It did kind of rob him of some opportuntities.”
“Anyway, things turn out the way they are for a reason and he’s at where he supposed to be at.”
VandenBos said he was personally happy that Pointer signed with an area school.
“We can bring the high school team and go watch him. Just to see what the next three years are going to be and how he progresses is going to be amazing.”
He said he believes the junior colleges are “undervalued” – “everybody thinks D-I or D-II, but then maybe you don’t play for two or three years.
Hoene predicted that Pointer will “do great things for Chemeketa.”