Like any kid obsessed with orange leather, Michael Matthews wants to be tall. Not tall like Manute Bol. Not tall like Paul Bunyon or a Massai warrior. (Though it’d be nice.) Not even as tall as the monsters whose posters hang on his bedroom wall, Shawn Marion or Amaré Stoudemire.

He just wants to be Baron Davis size. Steve Nash. Chauncey Billups. And he hopes the doctors are right when they tell him he’s going to grow to be 6-foot-3.

But at the small size of 6-foot-nothing, the Miners’ point guard has accomplished the small feat of being named Player of the Year for the San Juan League for the second year in a row.

“I went and watched the 2A state tournament,” says Norwood basketball coach Allen “Doc” Williams, “and I did not see a better player in the state in 2A than Michael Matthews.”

The all-conference team is voted on by the league’s coaches. Matthew’s coach, Mike Hughes, was named Coach of the Year in the league, also a repeat. But he credited his players.

“Everybody knows in this business that awards follow when you got good kids,” Hughes said. “They’re still playing every day. We can’t get ‘em out of the gym.”

His players aren’t sure who’s due credit.

“I feel like he’s the best coach on the planet,” said junior center Ian MacCracken. “In every situation he has a game plan. Whether we’re down 20 or up 30, he’ll get us pumped up to play hard and get after it.”

MacCracken himself, though he might slouch a little on the street, was no slouch on the court this year, and was named first-team all-conference.

Telluride, the league winners, put more players on the all conference team than any other team. Senior forward Jeffrey Erickson and junior forward Carl Schroedl were both named to the second team.

Norwood’s Jesse Efurd, probably the second best player in the league after Matthews, was also named to the first team. And Efurd was also one of only 48 players in all classes to be named to the Colorado High School Coaches Association’s All-State team.

He’ll go to the University of Northern Colorado in June to see how he stacks up against the other players on the all-state team.

“He has been an absolute joy to coach, but he obviously has some god given ability that you can’t teach,” his coach, Williams, said. “He’s one of those people that you can’t replace when they leave. You just hope you have another one like that coming through.”

The smallest, youngest player to be named to the all-conference team was Dolores sophomore Tanner Hamm.

At just 5-foot-7 and maybe 130 pounds, Hamm could use to put down a few more forkfuls of the meat he’s named after. But his ballhandling and shooting were enough to earn him his coach’s respect.

“He’s still got a lot of room to grow,” said Dolores coach Justin Schmitt. “He’s got a lot of natural talent.”

The smaller Hamm struggled when he went up against the larger guard Matthews, but that’s possibly because Matthews eats four or five meals a day to try and bulk up.

“At the next level there are gonna be stronger people and it always helps,” Matthews said.

The next level for the Miners is to get to the final, 8-team state tournament. This year, they missed out by just one point, to the taller, bigger Paonia.

Paonia, to the Miners’ relief, graduated some of their most sasquatch-like players.

“None of the seniors am I sad to see ‘em go,” Hughes said.

They’re leaving a spot, possibly, for the Miners to grow into.