MELHS basketball player Jacob Kober.EDWARDSVILLE - Jacob Kober, a senior point guard for the Metro-East Lutheran High boys basketball team, has helped the Knights get off to a fantastic start, going 7-1 as Metro-East enters the Breese Mater Dei Catholic Holiday tournament this week.

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He is a BJ's Printables Male Athlete of the Month for the Knights.

Kober played a key role in the Knights' 76-50 win over Marquette Catholic at Hooks Gym Dec. 20, before Metro-East lost their first game of the season the next night at the Redbirds Nets in Alton, losing 61-49 to Hazelwood Central of north St. Louis County. For the season, in games going through the Marquette game, Kober has averaged 5.8 points-per-game, and also has two assists and two steals, playing a big defensive role in the team's success.

In an interview that followed the win over the Explorers, Kober felt very good about both the win and the undefeated streak to start the season.

"It's just, overall, a team effort every game," Kober said. "We're 7-0 for a reason. Guys are working to get the ball to everybody, and everybody's just playing their role to what they want to do unselfishly."

In the win over Marquette, the Knights got off on two good runs in both the first ans second quarters, taking control of the game, and pulling away from the Explorers. That's one of the keys to Metro-East's early success, along with the strong role play each player has brought.

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"For sure," Kober said. "It's a big message to go out and hit the team right in the mouth from the jump. Momentum swings are a big thing, and then, to kind of keep our foot down. The big thing is staying poised on defense."

It's also a big win for the Knights in a good Gateway Metro Conference, which also includes Father McGivney Catholic and Belleville Althoff Catholic, among other good teams.

"Yeah, that's right," Kober said. "We've got a game tomorrow; we've just got to look ahead to that, and not get too far ahead of ourselves."

The Knights play at the Mater Dei tournament over the Holidays, and Kober feels that the team has a good chance to win it all.

"I don't know," Kober said. "We've got Mater Dei and (Waterloo) Gibault (Catholic) in our pool. We should be able to beat them, but it comes down to if we're able to stay as a team. Everybody's playing a role, and we keep playing defense like we played tonight."

After the holidays, there are more challenges that lie ahead for Kober and the Knights, and he's looking ahead to taking everything on as it comes.

"We've got no problems on offense," Kober said, "we can clearly score the ball. We've just got to focus on defensive movement, and staying in position."

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