News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Hillman sophomore Trenton Taratuta takes a shot during practice on Monday at Hillman High School. Taratuta is currently the area’s leading scorer at 24.1 points per game.

HILLMAN — It’s not uncommon for any successful team to be led by a standout player. It can be rare however for a standout player to emerge during just their second year of playing varsity sports.

Despite this rarity, the Hillman boys basketball team is happy to have its rare talent wearing the orange and black and filling the stat sheet on a nightly basis for its undefeated team this season.

Sophomore Trenton Taratuta has emerged as the next great basketball star to play for Hillman’s elite boys basketball program.

“The one thing that’s unique about Trenton is that everything you see, he’s put in the work. He’s been in the gym every day since seventh grade at 6 a.m. doing workouts and shooting. He has an extremely high basketball IQ and his efforts during the season and what you see is really a testament to what he does in the offseason,” Hillman coach Eric Muszynski said. “It’s pretty amazing what he’s doing right now and the best thing about him is he operates within the team and is always a team first guy. He doesn’t force things and he lets the game come to him. Just to see him excel and be a team guy is nice to see. I’ve been fortunate to coach great players and he has the same work ethic and is a team first guy, with a high basketball IQ just like the rest of those great players that I’ve coached. The game has really slowed down for him and he’s been consistent for us. What he’s doing is really special and he’s just a special player who is ahead of the curve in comparison to some really great basketball players we’ve had.”

Taratuta is in his second season with the Tigers and is enjoying a breakout season. His play has helped propel Hillman to a 10-0 start for the fourth time in seven years and first since the 2017-2018 season.

Taratuta is currently the area’s leading scorer, averaging 24.1 points per game and has scored 20 points or more in all but two games this season. He has eclipsed the 30-point threshold twice, including a career-high 34 points earlier this season in front of a home crowd against Au Gres.

Along with his ability to tickle the twine, Taratuta is averaging 8.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 5.4 steals per game.

“It’s just really incredible that we’re 10-0 as a team. My scoring, I couldn’t do it without all of the opportunities that my teammates give me, they get me the open looks throughout each game,” Taratuta said. “Coming into the season, I knew we would be a good team, I didn’t really know if I’d be averaging 24 points, but I was putting in the work during the offseason and it’s paying off so far.”

Taratura averaged 16 points per game during his freshman season a year ago, in which he earned honorable mention all-state recognition and helped the Tigers return to their winning ways. Hillman enjoyed its first winning season after a pair of down years and surprise losing seasons, but Taratuta showed serious promise as a freshman and has taken his game to another level this season.

Through just a season and a half, Taratuta has scored 560 career points while averaging 18.7 points per game over his first 30 games played.

Through his first 30 games, Tarauta has put together a gaudy career stat line. Along with his impressive 18.7 points per game, the sophomore has also averaged 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 4.2 steals per game.

Taratuta is on a historic pace midway through his sophomore season and could potentially contend for a school scoring title and cement his name next to Paul Bennett, Jeff Jones, Tim Jones, Greg Jones, Andy Smith, Mason VanPamel, Gunnar Libby, and the rest of Hillman’s elite list of boys basketball standouts in program history.

Taaratuta is already 22nd all-time in scoring and assuming Taratuta stays healthy and doesn’t miss games or opportunities to climb the scoring ranks, it is possible Taratuta will hit one milestone early next season and join Hillman’s 1,000 point club.

VanPamel is Hillman’s all-time leading scorer with 1,679 career points and has held that record since 2015.

If Taratuta is able to maintain his career scoring average over the next two and a half seasons, he will have a great shot to leave Hillman as the all-time record holder.

Only time will tell and Taratuta’s focus is on continuing to help the Tigers win games and continue their scorching start to the season.

“I grew up watching a lot of those good Hillman teams and all I’ve known is winning basketball at Hillman. It motivated me then and it still motivates me now to continue that winning tradition and be like all of the guys I grew up watching,” Taratuta said. “You always look and think about records, but I’m still pretty far away so you never really know. To bring a district and regional title back to Hillman and get to a quarterfinal game with a chance to play at the Breslin Center and win a state title is the ultimate dream.”