INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Incline Village senior TT Valosek was the hardest worker and most competitive player the moment he stepped onto campus as a freshman.

His head coach, Tim “TK” Kelly, got excited when he saw just how competitive he was.

“He hated to lose and would always push himself during 1-on-1 drills and conditioning,” Kelly said. “He knew he was going to play but he was still the most competitive person we had. He was a leader from Day 1. He walked in with a great work ethic and attitude and earned respect real fast.”

Valosek enjoyed a high school basketball career that many would envy and he recently collected hardware from yet another outstanding season.

The Highlanders won a third straight Northern Nevada regional 2A crown and second straight runner-up finish at state, after winning that title in his freshman season (2018-19).

Valosek this year was named Offensive Player of the Year for the state tournament and earned his third straight MVP award from the Northern League. He was also Offensive Player of the Year his freshman year at state and was the MVP as a sophomore.

In his three seasons, he was a part of 75 wins, and not many losses, including zero in league play.

The only reason he didn’t beat the scoring record set by Paul Bryant, who is largely considered the best player in school history and was part of a team that won back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975, was due to the pandemic when his junior season was wiped out.

Missing a full season left a bitter taste, but not because of his point total.

“I’m extremely bitter about losing that season,” Valosek said. “I missed out on playing with my friends, Brad Rye and Brody Thralls, even though Brody ended up having to transfer. But I got to play on three pretty amazing teams.”

“I’m just amazed what teams he was on accomplished,” Kelly said. “The idea of what people got to see … To play in three straight state championship games, and to win one, most people never get to play in one. He always played in the last possible game of every season.”

Valosek himself doesn’t really give too much thought about winning individual awards. He’s not going to give them back or anything, because who doesn’t like being rewarded for hard work? But he’d rather celebrate team victories like league and state championships.

In fact, his favorite memory of playing in high school came this year when he was sitting on the bench during homecoming.

“I convinced my best friend Shane (Green), who played basketball for maybe five minutes in his life, to play and he got a chance to play during homecoming,” Valosek said. “He was a lineman on the football team and they shoot everything 900 mph. But he came into the game and got a chance to shoot a 3-pointer and he sank it. He brought down the house. The fans were going crazy.”

Valosek scored 20 points or more in a game 10 times this season, including three 30-plus point games that came in three straight games where he totaled 94 points.

He scored his career-high, 33 points, as a sophomore. In all, he scored 20 points or more in a game 30 times in his career.

He averaged for his career 17.2 points per game, 7.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and two steals. He would have averaged more but oftentimes he would be on the bench cheering on his teammates while Incline held large leads.

“I feel honored and blessed for being able to coach him for the last four years,” Kelly said. “He’s a really special kid.”