HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — For the third straight season, the Huntsville Panthers are Class 7A Area 7 champions. A big reason for that is from junior Caleb Harrison who in two playoff games combined for 28 points and 21 rebounds, earning tournament MVP. For that, he is Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the Week!

“It means a lot, just getting the MVP award, obviously shows all of the hard work I put in and the coaches put me in the right spot to succeed and at the end of the day, it’s a team effort and we’ve got to keep winning games the rest of the year and see how far we can make it,” junior forward Caleb Harrison said.

“He did a good job of getting to his spots like he can really score it and he got to those spots where he’s good and he was aggressive and he didn’t let mistakes get to him. I thought he did a really good job on the glass. He impacted the game on both ends of the floor, which is what we need from him,” Huntsville head basketball coach Christian Schweers added.

As an upperclassman, Harrison upped his game both on the court and as a leader.

“He’s put a lot of work in, he’s a talented player, has a great work ethic. Just a junior but has a lot of experience on varsity,” Schweers said.

“I think I became a better leader to my teammates and I think everyone looks up to me as the junior being an upperclassman,” Harrison added.

But he’s the first to admit he wouldn’t be able to do it without that he wouldn’t be able to do it without his teammates, including his younger cousin Josh Bowman who he is able to play with this season.

“It’s really fun, obviously we’re both pretty tall so it’s hard for teams to match up with both of us sometimes and if I have a bad game, he can step up. It’s super fun, after all of those years of playing together, finally getting to do it on the varsity level,” Harrison said.

“He’s such a team-first guy. That’s his focus is winning as a team and he’s going to play well for us to do that,” Schweers added.

Now, Harrison is just focused on getting the Panthers to new heights.

“We have so many people who can step up and we all play for each other, I don’t think we have anyone that’s selfish or thinking about their own accolades. I think everyone’s in it to win, and at the end of the day that’s what matters and we have a great coach to lead us. Just see all of us go out there and compete and play hard. I think all the work we’ve put in has really brought us super close together and so let’s see how far we can take that friendship on, at the end of the day we want to walk out with a win,” Harrison said.

We are always looking for standout student-athletes in the Tennessee Valley to feature! If you have a high-school-aged athlete that you would like to nominate for Hiley Mazda Key Athlete of the week, you can email olivia.whitmire@whnt.com, claudia.chakamian@whnt.com or sports@whnt.com.