EHS grad Riley Carel named GNAC player of the week

Enumclaw High graduate Riley Carel, a junior guard playing for the Saint Martin's University men's basketball team, was named Player of the Week by the Great Northern Athletic Conference.

Enumclaw High graduate Riley Carel, a junior guard playing for the Saint Martin’s University men’s basketball team, was named Player of the Week by the Great Northern Athletic Conference.

The honor was announced Jan. 6.

Carel scored 29 points for the week, including 17 during SMU’s 73-69 win over 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific on Jan. 4 as the Saints beat the Falcons for just the third time in the 13-year history of the conference. He also had career highs with eight assists and five steals during the win, while grabbing six rebounds and making seven of 12 shots.

Carel played for Seattle Pacific during the 2011-12 season then transferred to Saint Martin’s, sitting out a year due to transfer rules.

Including the victory over SPU, Carel scored in double figures in four-straight games for the Saints, helping SMU to win three times. During that stretch he averaged 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

This season he ranks second in the GNAC in steals (1.8) and 13th in assists (3.0) while averaging 10.1 points per game and 4.9 rebounds.

The Saints (5-7, 2-2 GNAC through Jan. 6) are on the road this week in GNAC play traveling to Central Washington on Thursday for a game at 7 p.m. SMU heads to Northwest Nazarene for a game at 6 p.m. Saturday.