QUINCY — After taking over the starting point guard position as a freshman in the 2022-23 season, Quincy rising junior Pierce Bierlink helped lead the way to both regular season and district titles for the Jackrabbit boys basketball team during his sophomore season, taking home the Caribou Trail League most valuable player award in the process. 

“That meant everything to me,” he said of winning the award. “Getting it over returning guys like (Aidan) Bews and Julian (Ibarra), and some other guys in our league that were also very good. It meant a lot to me because my older brother was also an MVP of that league when he was in it.” 

Pierce comes from a basketball family — his father, Scott, leads the way from the bench as the team’s head coach, and his older brother, TreyVaughn, won the same MVP award during the 2021-22 basketball season. Growing up around the game, it was almost inevitable that he would end up playing for Quincy. 

“He would spend hours just putting up shots, working on dribbling skills — he was a gym rat,” Scott said. “He came in the gym all the time when I was coming in the gym when I was coaching. He just had a passion for the game since a young age.” 

Pierce said he started playing basketball when he was six years old, but his real interest began when he was watching TreyVaughn compete in tournaments when he was younger. 

“The atmosphere and watching him play, I love that, and I love watching basketball,” Pierce said. “That’s when I knew when I wanted to do this.” 

That passion for the game, along with a strong work ethic, allowed Pierce to find his way into the starting lineup as a freshman, where he averaged 19.6 points, corralled 8.1 rebounds, recorded 4 assists and stole 1.3 balls per game in 2022-23, shooting 39.3% from three. 

“He puts a ton of work into it, he didn’t just happen to show up as a freshman and happened to be pretty good,” Scott said. “He’s put a lot of time and effort into it; I think that’s what allowed him to come in (and start) as a freshman.” 

Pierce was named to the first-team all-CTL list during his freshman season but came back stronger for his sophomore campaign. 

“I tried to get in the gym as much as I could,” Pierce said. “I knew that coming off a year like that, no one really expected me to do what I was going to do. I knew that they were already going to know what I’m doing, so I just had to keep getting better.” 

The biggest growth made during the off-season ahead of his sophomore season? His maturity, Scott said. 

“As a sophomore, he felt a little more comfortable, with just his maturity,” Scott said. “As a freshman, he’d get on the refs a little bit, kind of showing his age. I think that was his biggest step, his maturity; with the refs, his teammates, just the flow of the game.” 

While his statistic averages took a slight dip this past season — 19.2 points per game, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game – he shot more efficiently from the field, including a 41.4 percentage from beyond the arc. Pierce has already accumulated 913 career points just two years into high school. 

Trust from coaches and fellow teammates on the court was a key aspect in Pierce’s performance on the floor in the 2023-24 season. 

“Some of the shots and some of the stuff that I do can be questionable at times, but my teammates and my coaching staff — they know that I’m capable of what I can do, and they know that even if I miss or I do something wrong, that I can come back the next play,” Pierce said. 

He said his highlight from this past season came during December when the Jacks took down rival Ephrata 62-47 on their home floor in Quincy. Pierce finished the game with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists. 

“That’s when I knew this was going to be a good season,” he said. “We just came out and were firing on all cylinders.” 

Pierce said the strength of his game comes from his ability to score, which he spends plenty of time working on both during the season and in the off-season. 

“I try to go into the gym and get some shots up by myself, and I’ll invite some other kids that play on my team as well to come and play them one-on-one, or we’ll play five-on-five,” Pierce said. “(Work on) some situations stuff and get more repetition.” 

    Quincy’s Pierce Bierlink, left, passes the ball to a teammate during a game against Omak this past season. Bierlink won the Caribou Trail League’s most valuable player award this winter.
  

    Jackrabbit rising junior Pierce Bierlink brings the ball up the floor during a league game against Omak last season.
  

    Quincy’s Pierce Bierlink moves toward the rim on a lay-up attempt during the second half of a game against Cashmere last season.