When senior Matt Hollis, Johnson’s leading scorer, went down with a meniscus tear during the Lanierland tournament in December, coach Jeff Steele retooled the offense.

In the middle he put junior Montrell McKenzie, a 6-foot-6 center who had hardly played in his junior season and hadn’t been able to play in the scrimmage games and camps last summer or in the preseason as he recovered from a broken arm.

“He didn’t play at all until our first game against Winder,” Steele said. “Just now he’s starting to get into good physical basketball condition.”

Now Hollis is back, and is once again scoring in bunches. But McKenzie remains a key piece for the Knights (10-11, 2-6 8-AAA South), averaging 11 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game through the first 21 games of the season.

“We changed what we were doing when (Hollis) went out,” Steele said. “To simplify things we put Montrell under the basket, and it’s worked out.”

Last week not only did McKenzie record a pair of triple-doubles, he averaged 18.6 points, 13.6 rebounds and 10 blocks per game in wins over Lanier and Oconee County and a one-point loss to West Hall on Saturday. For his performance, he is The Times Athlete of the Week.

“His overall game’s improving, he’s getting more and more comfortable with the games he plays,” Steele said. “It’s always a work in progress, but he’s learning the feel of the defenders.

“Overall we’re pretty pleased.”

One of the things Steele likes most about how McKenzie plays on offense has been his ability to read the defense and pass out to a shooter if he doesn’t have a good shot.

If he does have a shot, his size and athleticism makes him a tough match-up for almost any forward in the area. It doesn’t hurt that he grew two inches from his sophomore season.

“It’s not hard to score anymore like it was last year,” McKenzie said. “The better you get, the harder you are to defend.”

And McKenzie just keeps getting better.

“There’s not one negative thing I can say about his progression,” said Steele, who is still trying to get his players to get the ball to McKenzie more often as the junior continues to show improvement.

Of course, McKenzie has other ways to get his hands on the ball, whether it gets passed to him or not.

He’s already set the school record for rebounds in a game this season with 32 in a loss to Walnut Grove, and he is regarded as one of the area’s top shot blockers.

Now he’s trying to help get his team on track for a strong finish. Despite having all the pieces to play with anybody, according to Steele, the Knights have continued to play hot-and-cold basketball and are in the bottom half of the subregion.

“We’re taking too many shots that we could have any time, instead of working for the better shot,” the coach said.

The Knights have had flashes of brilliance working in the revamped offense centered around McKenzie, but have yet to put it all together.

Still, with four games remaining against subregion opponents, there’s time to make some noise.

“If we don’t take quick shots, don’t let other teams speed us up and play at our pace, then we can be pretty good,” McKenzie said.

It almost came together Saturday, but Johnson fell behind and, as Steele put it, “looked for the 10-point shot.”

McKenzie put in yet another great performance, however, with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. It was a testament to his improvement on offense that he scored more than double his season average.

It’s also no surprise, with the numbers that he’s putting up, that colleges are noticing.

“We’re already getting calls,” Steele said. “You can’t put up those numbers and not have people be interested.”

Right now it’s mostly smaller schools, but McKenzie has his sights set on possibly reaching the top level.

“I want to be D-I by the end of my senior year,” he said. “But I need to get stronger and a little bit taller, and perform more on offense.”

McKenzie is working on getting stronger, he’s developing his offensive arsenal (including his favorite, the up-and-under) and Steele said that he already boasts the wingspan of a 6-8 or 6-9 player.

With how far McKenzie has come just since last season, a little more improvement would only be natural.