While the wins have not been abundant, the effort and energy sure have been.

And no player embodies those intangibles better for Lone Tree than freshman guard Emmett Burke.

“He has played a lot of basketball and he is heady,” Lone Tree Assistant Coach Tom Dickey said after the Lions fell at Wapello, 63-42, in a Southeast Iowa Super Conference boys’ basketball game Tuesday night. “He just knows the game really well. ... He just does a lot of good things for us.”

In addition to an abundance of hustle plays and effort moments that do not show up in the box score, Burke is at or near the top in a variety of statistical categories for Lone Tree (4-9, 1-7 SEISC). He entered the week as the Lions’ leader in assists (35), steals (28) and converted free throws (11), and also ranks second in rebounds (47) and made field goals (30).

“I think I am getting to where I need to be,” Burke said. “I am definitely not there yet, but we’re close.”

Burke’s scoring average of 7.9 points per game entering the Wapello game could likely be higher if not for a team-first, unselfish attitude that elicits more internal satisfaction from being part of a successful sequence that ends in points for a teammate.

“I like that,” Burke said. “I would much rather pass the ball to somebody wide open than shoot a contested shot. That is my favorite thing, I would rather do that all day long.”

The polish in Burke’s game is undoubtedly a product of several years participating in the game. He started playing in the third grade and has experience in Lone Tree youth teams, as well as club ball with 212 Sports Academy out of Williamsburg and at the Amateur Athletic Union level with Team Iowa in Hiawatha, where he played under former St. Louis University player Donnie Dobbs.

“It helps me with defense a lot,” Burke said. “Kids at that level of basketball are a lot faster and can shoot a lot better.”

Burke has also had the benefit of being coached all these years by his father, Ryan, who joined longtime Lone Tree Coach Tom Squiers’ coaching staff as a first-year assistant this season.

“I like it,” Emmett Burke said. “He has just coached me all the way up, so I just like seeing it through.”

Squiers missed the Wapello game due to illness. Lone Tree closed the week with back-to-back home games Friday and Saturday. The Lions were routed by Winfield-Mount Union on Friday, 58-23, then rebounded the next night by equaling their highest-scoring offensive output of the season in a 92-74 victory over Garwin GMG.

The Lions host Columbus Junction and visit Highland Community this week.

“If our guys compete hard every night, that is what we are asking out of them,” Dickey said.