MVC All Conference and Season Review

As we all wait for our world to revert back to normal I thought I would try to give the girls’ basketball community something to read. My hope is that it will bring a little distraction to your day and a sense of normalcy. So, I will run the through the All Conference  teams and review the season for some of the Southern Illinois conferences that I cover. First, we begin with the MVC. Coming into the season most "experts" would have seen this as a two horse race between Civic Memorial and Highland. The old adage is you have to beat the best to be the best so the odds on favorite would have been CM until someone can prove otherwise. As the season progressed some unexpected changes in the CM coaching staff brought uncertainty to the equation. CM made it through the first round of games unscathed, but the second half of the season provided some excitement. The senior class at Jerseyville did their Lee Corso impression and said, " not so fast". With a 4 game winning streak to end the conference season, including wins over CM and Highland, the Lady Panthers provided a little excitement to end the season. However, with a cushion that was built in the early going, CM held on for the conference title. The final standings were: <ol> <li>CM-- 9-1</li> <li>Jerseyville 8-2</li> <li>Highland 7-3</li> <li>Triad 4-6</li> <li>Waterloo 1-9</li> <li>Mascoutah 1-9</li> </ol> The All Conference First Team was as follows: <ul> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="121834" first="Anna" last="Hall"] </strong>5’11 2020 Forward from CM. Hall was the leading scorer and rebounded for the Lady Eagles averaging 16.4 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. This Missouri Southern recruit has been their go to scorer for 2 years and walks away with 1,700 points in her career.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="121865" first="Kourtland" last="Tyus"] </strong>5’7 2020 Point Guard from Highland. Kourtland is a 4 year starter at Point Guard for CM and an outstanding leader. She averaged 13.3 points per game this year as she took on more of a scoring load. She is a excellent floor general and leader. Kourtland will take her many talents to Johnson County Community College next year.</li> <li><strong>Ellie Brown </strong>5’4 2020 Point Guard from Highland. Ellie moved into the role of the primary ball handler in her senior season and was able to do an excellent job. She scored 9.4 points per game and had 3.7 assists per game. Ellie scored over 1,000 points in her career and played a big part in the Super Sectional run for Highland.</li> <li><strong>Abby Manns </strong>5’7 2020 Guard from Jerseyville. Abby had an excellent season and career at Jerseyville. She was a big part in their end of the year surge that led to the two upsets and 2nd place finish. Abby scored 10.5 points per game and is an excellent defender using her long arms to harass opposing guards.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="123584" first="Clare" last="Breden"] </strong>5’5 2021 Guard from Jerseyville. Clare is an excellent offensive player that can beat you in many ways. She has very deep range on her 3-point shot but has taken her game to another level with improvement off the bounce. Clare handles it well and can use deception and quickness  to get by her defender. She is deadly with the runner/floater that she has worked on and can finish around the rim over taller players.</li> <li><strong>Bella LaPorta </strong>6’0 2021 Forward from Highland. Bella was the leader of a post season run that got the Lady Bulldogs within one game of Redbird Arena. She is an accomplished athlete that has always been tough in the lane offensively and defensively. Her game became more consistent in the 15-18 foot range and she can consistently hit free throws. These two attributes continued to shine bright as the games got bigger at the end of  the season.</li> </ul> The Second Team All Conference was as follows: <ul> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="123609" first="Tori" last="Standefer"] </strong>5’7 2021 Guard from Civic Memorial. Tori returned for Junior season after having a year off to recover from ACL surgery. She is very quick and an extremely tough defender in the open floor. Tori averaged 9.2 points per game while also filling the stat sheet with right at 3 rebounds, assists and steals per game. Tori took over much of the ball handling role to free up Tyus.</li> <li><strong>Megan Kronk </strong>5’8 2020 Guard from Highland. Megan averaged 9.2 points per game for the Lady Bulldogs. She hit over two 3-pointers per game and shot them at a 37% clip for the season. Megan has been a big part of the puzzle for Highland for the past 3 years.</li> <li><strong>Kirsten Taylor </strong>5’9 2021 Guard from Highland. Kirsten is a tough and strong player that averaged 9.4 points per game. She can score going to the rim and handling contact or hit the 3-pointer. Kirsten will step into a more prominent role as a senior and should put up good numbers.</li> <li><strong>Chloe White</strong> 5’9 2022 Wing from Jerseyville. Chloe became a consistent scoring option is her breakout sophomore campaign. She had some huge games including 19 points in the upset of Highland. She does a good job getting the basket and finishing in traffic.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124891" first="Alyssa" last="Powell"] </strong>5’10 2022 Forward from Triad. Alyssa is a bouncy, athletic forward that can score well inside the paint. She is a potential outstanding defender wit her length and quickness. Alyssa needs to add to her ball handling and shooting skills, but has a great future.</li> <li><strong>Aubrey Hubbard </strong>is 5’5 2020 Guard from Waterloo. Aubrey is best known for shooting ability. She was able to make it through to the final 4 in the 3-point shooting competition at state this year. If she has space, Aubrey is deadly. She will take her game to Fontbonne next year and compete at the next level.</li> </ul> The following players were named Honorable Mention All Conference: <ul> <li><strong>Jackie Woelfel </strong>is a 6’0 2021 Post from Civic Memorial.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="148169" first="Sophia" last="Loden"] </strong>is a 5’11 2023 Forward from Mascoutah.</li> <li><strong>Lauren Brown </strong>is a 5’11 2020 Post from Jerseyville.</li> <li><strong>Sydney Hartoin </strong>is 5’6 2021 Guard from Triad.</li> <li><strong>Ashlyn Klucker </strong>is a 5’10 2020 Wing from Highland.</li> <li><strong>Nora Gum </strong>is a 5’9 2023 Forward from Waterloo.</li> <li><strong>Bella Metzler </strong>is a 5’5 2020 Guard from Jerseyville.</li> <li><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="124893" first="Kelbie" last="Zupan"] </strong>is a 5’7 2022 Guard from CIvic Memorial.</li> </ul> As another season passes we go into 2020-21 with many question marks in the MVC. Who will be the head coach at CM and will the tradition keep rolling along? Can their two ACL victims come back strong for their senior years? Can Highland get some younger girls to step up along side their returning players and make a run at a conference title? Will Jerseyville find replacements for the senior class and keep the momentum from their late season run? I will look forward to seeing the answers to those questions next fall. &nbsp;