Nevada Preps Boys Athlete of the Week: Arbor View’s Brian Townsend

Before Arbor View’s regular-season finale against Palo Verde on Thursday, sophomore forward Brian Townsend said he reminded his teammates that they need to play hard from the start.

Townsend said having that mindset was going to be critical once the playoffs started. And against the Panthers, Townsend followed through with his message.

“I just went out there and played my hardest,” Townsend said. “I’m going to play as hard as I can no matter what. I just went out there and played my game. I wasn’t really forcing any shots. I took the shots the defense gave me.”

Townsend scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Aggies to a 78-41 road win over Palo Verde. For his efforts, he was named Nevada Preps Boys Athlete of the Week.

In his second year of high school basketball, Townsend said he spent countless hours during the offseason practicing to improve his game. He said he worked on his shot and improving his basketball IQ, which he said has helped him visualize the game better.

This season, Townsend said he’s seen his hard work pay off and help the Aggies to wins.

“I started putting in a lot of extra work,” Townsend said. “I never wanted to feel that I wasn’t good enough to be able to play with the best guys, so I put in tons and tons of extra work, and I still am. It’s starting to finally improve my game a lot more.”

Arbor View finished the regular season 20-7 and tied for fifth in the Class 5A Southern League. Townsend said he’s confident in the upward trajectory of the program.

“We’re constantly improving and getting better,” he said. “We plan on getting to and winning state in the near future.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.