PEORIA — If there ever is a time when Salt Fork guards Joe Pratt and Nathan Fathauer grow tired of playing their role on the Storm’s team, head coach Aaron Hird knows exactly how they feel.

And it’s not just coach speak. He’s been there.

“I was a point guard in college who averaged three points a game,” Hird said. “So I understand what it’s like to play that position, be asked to do a job, and not be expected to do more or less. Just do your job.”

Pratt and Fathauer might rarely see their names in the paper, grasping onto any extra glory that might be available as a member of the state’s Class 1A top-ranked team. The headlines are typically reserved for high scorers.

And through five postseason games, the duo has scored a total of only 38 of the team’s 274 points. But what they’ve also done during the span is combine for 26 of Salt Fork’s 50 assists,

“That says that we’re doing our job, just getting the ball to the other players,” Fathauer said. “I think Joe and I, both of our roles is just to run the team. Get the ball and get into our offense. Set the guys up for scores, play hard defense. We’ve got these big post players to score points, so our job is just to get the ball in to them.”

For the season, Pratt and Fathauer have both surpassed the century mark for assists with 128 and 107 respectively. Making their numbers seem more impressive is the idea of having them both on the court at the same time.

While critics of the plan might argue that replacing a bigger scoring threat with a second ball handler could only reduce scoring opportunities, the Storm realize having them both on the floor is nothing short of a luxury.

“They both handle the ball very well,” Hird said. “They are both very poised young men, and both do a great job defensively.

“It’s great to have two point guards. There are nights when a team has a kid that puts a ton of pressure on a point guard. We’re not going to fight him. We’ll send the other kid down the floor with the ball. If he wants to switch over, we’ll give it back to our other point guard.”

For Pratt, much of the credit for his success is owed to his experience as quarterback of the Storm’s football team. Just as he was able to always know where everyone was on the football field, he said awareness on the basketball court is just as important.

But despite the experience and overall success, errors still occur. And just because Hird knows what Pratt and Fathauer are going through doesn’t mean sympathy follows.

“Coach rides us a little bit harder since he is a point guard,” Pratt said. “He expects a little more out of us. If we make a mistake, we get a little bit harsher punishment than the others.

“But we don’t feel like we get overlooked (by people outside of the program). Everybody on the team is a key to why we are here. If we take one key out, I don’t think we’d be here.”

Salt Fork hopes to have all parts working together for at least two more games with the first in today’s 12:15 p.m. state semifinal game at Carver Arena in Peoria. The Storm face Lanark Eastland, and a win would push them into Saturday’s 2 p.m. state championship game.

A state title added to Salt Fork’s list of athletic accomplishments would assure each basketball team member an equal share of the spotlight. But really, Fathauer is fine exactly the way things are.

“I like not getting attention, honestly,” he said. “I’ve just always been that kind of kid. I’m fine with just not being in the spotlight. Our team knows what we do for the team.”