Ashton Lloyd (23), left photo, and Gabe Torres (3), right photo, were each honored by the Big South Conference for their accomplishments on the basketball court during the 2021-22 season.

Blue Earth Area junior basketball player Ashton Lloyd was named to the Big South Conference All-Conference team while his senior teammate, Gabe Torres, received honorable mention.

“I am happy for both of them,” BEA head coach, Colby Swanson, said. “They both are very deserving of the recognition.”

Lloyd averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds per game.

“He is a difficult guy to defend,” Swanson remarked. “He can score from the outside, he can score off of the dribble and he can score in the paint.”

Swanson noted Lloyd made a big step from last year to this year.

“He was a role player as a sophomore on last year’s team,” Swanson explained. “This year he became more of a leader and our best player.”

His play really made an impression on his head coach.

“What really stands out is his ability to compete and make plays when the game is on the line,” Swanson shared. “He could change a game on either end of the court, offensive or defensive.”

Swanson said the secret to Lloyd’s success was not really a secret at all.

“He worked hard during the off-season. He became much stronger,” his coach noted. “You could see it in the fall on the football field and you saw it this winter on the basketball court.”

While Lloyd began the season with a great deal of varsity experience, Torres had not accumulated very many minutes of varsity play before this year.

“Gabe came into his senior year after having a leading role on the junior varsity last year,” Swanson commented. “It was a big step for him to come in and assume a leadership role as the point guard for the varsity this year.”

Torres averaged five assists per game his senior season.

“He really was the catalyst for creating good shots for his teammates,” Swanson offered. “He also had a solid year as a defender.”

When he wasn’t dishing the ball to his teammates, Torres found good success getting to the basket and averaged 13 points per game during the season. The scrappy guard was also the third leading rebounder on the team with three rebounds per game.

“To me, the highlight of Gabe’s season was in our game at St. James. Ashton had hurt his ankle and Gabe stepped up and scored 35 points,” Swanson said. “That game propelled us to play better at the end of the year. There is no doubt that the leadership of Torres was a key to our success.

The Bucs ended their season with a record of 12-13.

They lose five seniors off of this year’s team. In addition to Torres, the other seniors are Waylen Douglas, Anthony Carr, Luke Norman and Blake Ripley.