Byron’s Preseason Picks: Player Awards and State Title Winners

<!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">One more week until a new year of high school basketball tips off in Illinois. This season feels different from the past few years. The talent is balanced across the state, and there are no clear favorites for which teams can win it all in their class or any unanimous picks for individual awards either. Below are my picks for Miss Illinois Basketball, Gatorade Player of the Year, and the state title winners/MVP's for classes 1A through 4A.</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>Miss Illinois Basketball </strong>- [player_tooltip player_id='514035' first='Danyella' last='Mporokoso']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>Gatorade Player Of The Year </strong>- [player_tooltip player_id='513525' first='Stella' last='Sakalas']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>1A </strong>- Deer Creek-Mackinaw | <strong>MVP</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id='627163' first='Dalia' last='Dejesus']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>2A </strong>- Nashville | <strong>MVP</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id='863112' first='Summer' last='Brinkmann']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>3A </strong>- Washington | <strong>MVP</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id='728033' first='Avery' last='Tibbs']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"large"} --> <p class="has-large-font-size"><strong>4A </strong>- Waubonsie Valley | <strong>MVP</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id='514035' first='Danyella' last='Mporokoso']</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->