BUFFALO TWP — Josh Beale stands on the wing, waiting for the basketball.

The pass is crisp and Beale sets his feet, squares his shoulders and lifts his 6-foot-3 body into the air, releasing his shot at the highest point of his jump.

The ball tumbles through the hoop.

Nothing but net. Swish.

On the next trip down the court, the Freeport junior serpentines his way through the defense, laying up a running, left-handed layup for two more points.

There is no place on the floor where Beale is harmless.

“I like having the ball in my hands,” Beale said. “I like how the offense runs through me. I like the responsibility. I also like getting everyone involved.”

Beale has been a matchup nightmare this season because of his versatility.

He can bang around with the best of them in the paint with his bruising frame. He can just as easily drain 3-pointers from the perimeter.

In six games this season for the Yellowjackets (5-1), he has done both, averaging 18.2 points per game and has drained eight 3-pointers.

Beale is also shooting nearly 80 percent from the free throw line.

“Growing up, I was bigger than everyone, so I played inside,” Beale said. “Once I got older, I thinned down and I started realizing when they put a bigger guy on me, I could beat them off the dribble. So, that's how my game has expanded over the years. I went from an overweight kid to a thinned out one who can beat guys to the rack.”

Beale's father, Mike, is the Freeport basketball coach. Mike Beale has either been the head coach or an assistant with the Yellowjackets for almost the entire lifespan of his son so far.

“He worked on his game a lot,” Mike Beale said. “He's grown up in this gym since he was able to walk. He shoots 300-to-500 shots a day.”

Josh Beale said he is a “gym rat.”

“My dad had brought me to the gym since I could walk,” Josh Beale said. “I really felt like I needed to develop my left hand and my outside shooting game to really develop into a player who is hard to stop. I've always been a big guy, always had touch around the rim, but if I can expand out and get a guard out on me who is smaller, I can shoot over him.”

Beale said he has no preference on where he plays.

Inside? Outside? It doesn't matter.

“Whatever it takes to get the W,” Beale said. “That's all I'm worried about.”

Freeport already has notched a fair share of Ws this season.

Josh Beale deflects the credit to his teammates for that.

“I have great teammates around me. We put a lot of work in during the offseason,” he said. “It's really easy playing with the guys in this locker room. Everyone is looking to each other. Everyone is looking to get everyone involved at any moment in the game. We play for each other.”