For the past several months basketball fans in multiple counties (Iroquois, McLean, LaSalle and more) have been sending emails about Seneca guard Paxton Giertz.
There was even a mention of former Glenbrook North and Duke star Jon Scheyer, one of the most fun players to watch in state basketball history.
“Everybody here knows of him,” Seneca coach Russ Witte said. “Everyone south of here knows about him. I just hope more people find out about him before the season is over.”
The Scheyer comparison hit home on Tuesday in Seneca. Giertz, a 6-1 senior, scored a career-high 43 points to lead the Fighting Irish to a 71-37 win against Beecher.
Giertz plays with a bounce and a smile and wears a headband. When his three-point shot is falling it is beautiful, barely rippling the net.
He’s the type of shooter that makes the crowd hungry to see more. That’s exactly how it went on Tuesday. Giertz made nine three-pointers. He scored 17 points in the first half and 23 in the third quarter. He checked out of the game with 5:27 left.
“We brought in [some Class 4A] schools the summer before his freshman year,” Witte said. “And [Giertz] was the best player on the floor. So we knew he was going to be something. He just had to work on getting stronger.”
There isn’t any special secret to Giertz’s pretty three-point shot. It was built with hard work early in the morning.
“I’ve been playing basketball since I was two or three,” Giertz said. “I’m here hours before school starts getting up shots. It’s the hours in the gym.”
Giertz was 16 for 28 shooting against Beecher. He recently committed to Hillsdale, a D2 school in Michigan. But before heading to college he needs to complete his climb of the state’s career-scoring leaderboard.
Giertz has scored 2,362 points in his four-year career, which puts him 49th all-time in Illinois. The Fighting Irish (22-4) will play at least six more games this season. Giertz averages more than 24 points, so he could crack the top 35.
“He deserves all the accolades after going against what he’s faced,” Witte said. “He’s a great leader. He holds our record for assist in a season so it isn’t all about scoring.”
Giertz has been facing heavy defensive pressure all season. Several schools have double-teamed him and denied him the ball throughout the game and dared the rest of the Fighting Irish to beat them.
Seneca senior Grant Siegel played against Giertz in elementary school and has watched his rise over the past four years.
“It’s really cool getting to see him do this every game,” Siegel said. “People from other schools criticize us for letting him run the show. But he’s willing to get 10 assists in any game if we need him to. We are a family and we love watching him go out and do his thing.”
Giertz is the quarterback for Seneca’s football team and his dad Mark, an assistant basketball coach, thinks baseball may be his son’s best sport. He’s a left-handed pitcher who switch hits.
“I am unbelievably proud,” Mark Giertz said. “My wife and I take zero credit for it. He just constantly wants to be in the gym and shoot. He has put all the work in himself. We are just there to help with whatever he needs and rebound for him.”