For a junior on a senior-heavy team, Jared Winslow has embraced his role as the squad’s top scorer. It’s kind of his thing at this point.

As the Libby Loggers boys basketball team’s starting point guard, the 6-foot 2-inch Winslow has become the defacto leader on the court.

“I was born with a basketball in my hand,” he said. “I just love the competition of the sport.”

Winslow, a three-sport star, is either competing or training year-round. Not only is he the starting varsity point guard, but he is the Loggers’ football team all-state quarterback, all-conference safety and the Libby Legion baseball team’s ace pitcher.

He admits that of the three, pitching is his favorite. Winslow also has received interest from several colleges, including University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., and Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. 

With all the accolades as a junior in high school, the young man might be forgiven if it goes to his head once in a while.

 Luckily for his teammates, Winslow isn’t the type to care about personal bests. He just wants to win. 

“He’s just so polite and so humble,” said senior guard Danny Leggins. “And he knows what he’s doing. You can’t say enough about the guy. You can rely on him.”

Winslow said Leggins and senior post Kraig Nelson were two vital parts of an offense that helps every player get open shots.

It probably helps with the humility that his dad is his basketball coach.

“I always treat everybody the same,” Head Coach Wally Winslow said. “But that’s always difficult when it’s your own son. You have higher standards for him.”

Averaging 15.4 points a game in the face of double-team defenses in one of Class A’s stoutest leagues, it is easy to forget just how young Winslow is. When asked within earshot of his father whether there was any part about basketball he didn’t enjoy, he became momentarily bashful.

“Well...the running in practice isn’t my favorite thing,” he said.

Although the Loggers have struggled with conference play, going 1-5, with the sole victory a one-point win over Polson at home, Libby has been learning from the losses.

“We’ve learned to compete better,” Winslow said of his 7-11 Loggers. “Before we were trying to play too fast and couldn’t sustain our leads.”

Libby has rarely had a problem scoring, but when it did, Winslow tries to get things going from beyond the arc. Since Jan. 12 he is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers a game.

However, where the team has always tried to shine is on defense.

“Defensively, he is just one of the guys,” said Coach Winslow. “We run a team defense. Nobody is really a lock-down guy outside of Willy (Reichel, senior guard.)”

Libby played Polson at Divisionals in Ronan on Thursday night, with the winner facing Columbia Falls.

The Loggers knew where their weaknesses lay, and the way to best the Pirates would be in smart play, not in heart.

“We have to stay out of foul trouble,” Leggins said. “The last few games we got guys in trouble who had to sit out for a quarter at a time. If we want to run our stuff we’ve got to execute.”

Coach Winslow saw the difficulties of Polson’s big center, Riley Sampson, and quick guard Will Davey, and knew it would be a tight game.

“Polson will be a highly contested game,” he said. “It will be a physical battle.”

Polson is a team Libby has bested once, so hopes are high.

For Winslow? It’s about surprising people.

“Obviously it would be great to win it all,” he said. “But I’d really like to beat Columbia Falls.”