On the court, Shaun Walton’s face becomes visible with emotion.

Whether it’s frustration from having to battle from a deep deficit, or the adrenaline of pushing an undefeated Brookhaven team to overtime, the heart of Warren Central’s leading scorer goes unquestioned.

Through the help of coaches and teammates like Travonta Miller, however, Walton is able to calm his emotions and center his focus back on the game.

“A lot of games I’ve let my emotions get the best of me and the game doesn’t come to me then,” Walton said. “Once I get my emotions back in I start back playing right.”

Walton averaged 17 points and 2.4 rebounds to earn the 2016 Vicksburg Post boy’s basketball Player of the Year, in a game he credits his brother Jeremye Smith for teaching him. He said Smith is also responsible for clearing his in-game funks by looking into the crowd for Smith and takes heed of his advice. Smith played for Warren Central before graduating in 2008 and to Walton was always a star.

Another aspect of Walton’s game he credits Smith for, and what also makes him a standout among other guards he plays against, is his ability to maneuver into the lane for a put back layup or a defensive rebound.

When Walton sees a ball begin to fall off the rim, his immediate reaction is how could he turn this mistake into second chance points for his team.

“He rebounded the ball a lot better than you think he would at a guard position. It’s good having him come back as a senior,” Warren Central coach Bruce Robinson said.

Inside the locker room, the team gravitated around Walton’s leadership.

Robinson said he was the “glue guy” who helped keep the team together during difficult stretches in the season, which for Walton was in February against Greenville and Murrah.

Around the start of playoffs is when Walton knew he garnered the respect of his teammates and wanted to do whatever he could to put his team in the best position to score.

“That’s when coach Cosby told me ‘The team looks up to you. You play our best and we’ll play our best,’” Walton said.

The Vikings were a young team who struggled with being able to close out games or fought for the win in the final five minutes of the game.

“He’s one of those guys in the locker room that kind of held us together to where we did have a chance to come out and compete every game and have a chance to get better,” Robinson said.

Although Walton is respected among his teammates, he feels he could have had a bigger impact offensively. He made 19 3s on 32 percent from three-point range and shot 73 percent from the free-throw line, but felt he could have helped by dishing out more assists or grabbing more rebounds.

Walton recognized his defensive troubles, which often lead to him being in foul trouble forcing him to ease up his aggressiveness.

“When you talk about his game evolving it’s going from just somebody that’s going to shoot from the outside to becoming a better defender. He’s becoming a better rebounder offensively and defensively. He’s becoming a better leader,” Robinson said. “As a kid goes from freshman year, to sophomore year, to junior year … you want to see him develop in action and in voice.”

Next year, Robinson wants to see Walton move from a pure scorer to a player who knows how to score. He said Walton did a great job to get the Vikings back in their district game against Clinton by being a scorer, but could have put the team over the top by knowing when to set up teammates for a basket.

In addition to being a skilled basketball player, Walton is excels in academics with an above average GPA and standardized test scores. Robinson said coaching a player like Walton is fun, especially on his good days.

“He’s really fun to watch, he’s fun to coach. Just to be able to help him develop as a player, as a student and help develop him as a young man. We think about athletics but we really want them to be successful people and men,” Robinson said.