Published by the Bureau County Republican
Created: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:15 p.m. CDT Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 9:11 p.m. CDT FONT SIZE:   BV takes BCR team by StormBy Chris Yucus - cyucus@bcrnews.comWith a 20-9 record and regional title to their credit during the 2009-10 hoops campaign, the Bureau Valley Storm ladies had the deepest postseason advancement of any area team. The BCR All-Area first team highlights the Storm’s success, with three BV seniors — Courtney Doty, Lauren Hasbrook and 2010 BCR Player of the Year Melanie Thompson earning first-team honors. Joining the trio of Storm standouts on the first team are senior sharpshooter Molly Stephens of Princeton and junior forward Hailee Brayton of St. Bede. First Team Hailey Brayton, St. Bede junior: The Tri-County Conference first team pick led the Academy ladies with 4.6 rebounds a contest this season and finished second among the Lady Bruins with 6.5 points per game. The junior forward proved to be quite a reliable shooter for her squad, finishing among the top five in the area in both field goal percentage at 44.6 percent, and free-throw percentage at 62.8 percent. “She had a really good year on both ends of the floor for us,” said St. Bede coach Tom McGunnigal. “She’s a post player in our system, but she has the physical ability to guard somebody on the perimeter.” Courtney Doty, BV senior: Playing point for the Storm, Doty was tops in the area in three different statistical categories, sitting on top of the offensive leaderboard with 5.2 assists and a .450 shooting percentage (18-40) from behind the three-point arc, and defensively leading the area with 2.4 steals a game. The Three Rivers second-team pick also averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds a game for the regional champion Storm. “Without her we’d be struggling, at times,” said BV coach Jeff Ohlson. “She ran the show for us on offense, and on defense she usually guarded the other team’s best player, sometimes giving up 4-6 inches,” Ohlson said. Molly Stephens, PHS senior: Stephens, the 2009 BCR Volleyball Player of the Year, showed she was more than just a one sport standout this winter on court for PHS. The senior sharpshooter was a threat to knock down a trey at any time, as evidenced by her 22-point regional semifinal performance against Bureau Valley when she knocked down six shots from behind the arc. Stephens averaged 7.7 points per game for the Tigresses, and finished second in the area with a total of 39 threes on the season. The NCIC Lincoln second-team pick kept up her hot shooting in the postseason, making her way to the state finals of the Three-Point Shootout. “Molly had some monster games for us this year,” said PHS coach Spencer Davis. “She plays hard every night ... she’s a real hard-nosed player and just a good athlete all-around.” Lauren Hasbrook, BV Senior: A first-team Three Rivers pick, Hasbrook led the area in rebounding with 10.1 boards a game, came in second in scoring with 11.2 points per contest — connecting on 47.6 percent of her shot attempts, and finished third overall in assists (2.3). Ohlson said Hasbrook “was the glue that makes everything stick together,” and gave the Storm a terrific 1-2 punch combo in the frontcourt with Thompson. While statistically impressive, Ohlson stressed Hasbrook’s role consisted of much more than just things that show up on the stat sheet. “There’s a lot of things that people don’t notice that Lauren does for the team, Ohlson said. “She may be the smartest player I’ve ever coached.” Melanie Thompson, BV Senior: Thompson, the Three Rivers Player of the Year, and honorable mention All-State selection, was tops in the area with 17.2 points a game, and finished second to Hasbrook with 9.4 rebounds a contest. The senior center was a model of reliability for the Storm, connecting on an astounding 54 percent of all her field goals, and 71 percent of her trips to the foul line. “Coming into the year, I knew I had a pretty good player, but she exceeded my expectations,” said Ohlson, “She improved both offensively and defensively ... that’s an awful big accomplishment for a high school kid to raise their game another level, and Melanie did that this year.” Second Team Jaclyn Kain, Hall sophomore: Kain led the way for the Lady Devils with 9.2 points a game (third in the area) and also came up big on the glass, tallying 5.0 rebounds a contest. Hall coach Dave Kain, her father, said that his sophomore forward stepped up big, offensively, to help the squad when they lost scoring threat junior guard Brigitte Klein to a knee injury early in the season. “She was a scorer and rebounder, and helped us bringing the ball up the floor,” coach Kain said. With two more seasons to play at Red Devil Gymnasium, the future is bright for the sophomore standout. Hillary Klein, Hall junior: Klein tallied 9.0 points a game for the Lady Devils, converting on 80 of 205 field goal attempts (39 percent) to finish among the area leaders in shooting percentage, and hauled in 4.0 rebounds a contest. The junior guard, an honorable mention NCIC Lincoln pick, was equally adept on both sides of the ball said Kain. “She was a scorer and quick on defense, a good defender,” said Kain. C.J. Rhodes, PHS sophomore: Rhodes led the Tigresses with 9.2 points per game, and was deadly from the perimeter knocking down 37 threes on the season. The sophomore standout was also a dynamo on defense, using her long wing span and conditioning gained from making the State cross country race to force turnovers in the Tigresses’ swarming full-court defense. “She’s learned a lot about basketball playing at the varsity level this year,” said Davis. “I look for C.J. to do big things in the future.” Haley Stouffer, LaMoille Senior: Stouffer was the “Queen of the Three” this year for the Lady Lions co-op, knocking down an area-leading 40 treys on the season en route to averaging 9.6 points a game to go with 5 rebounds a contest. The senior captain did whatever it took to help her dad’s squad this season, even if it meant playing out of position at forward to help a team lacking in height and depth. The senior captain was a constant on the floor for the Lady Lions. “The kid was hardly off the floor, and gave us four solid quarters every night,” coach Bill Stouffer said. Lorraine Stamberger, LaMoille junior: Stamberger led the Lady Lions in scoring this year with 9.7 points per game, and nearly topped the single game scoring record for the Lady Lions, notching a 32-point performance against Putnam County in late January, only a basket away from the all-time record at LHS. The junior guard also averaged 2.2 steals, and despite her 5-6 stature hauled in 4.7 rebounds a game as well. “She’s a real team player and works hard,” said Stouffer. “I don’t know if anyone works harder than she does.” Third Team Stevie Fisher, St. Bede sophomore: A second-team Tri-County pick, Fisher led the Lady Bruins with 6.8 points per game and tallied 1.7 assists a contest playing point guard. “Stevie, as a sophomore, came in and did a real solid job at a difficult position,” McGunnigal said. Lacey Jensen, PHS senior: Jensen tallied 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds a game for the Tigresses. The senior forward was a big part of the Tigresses’ tough defense, Davis said. Kelle Nett, Hall sophomore: Nett led the Lady Devils with 8.3 rebounds per game (third in the area), and netted 7.0 points a contest. Kain said the sophomore center was a “very good rebounder” and came on strong at the end of the season for Hall. Katlin Petersen, PHS senior: Petersen averaged 7.2 points and 2.7 assists per game at guard for the Tigresses. Davis said he was “real proud” of the way Petersen was able to step up and have some big games this season for the Tigresses. Jillian Stariha, St. Bede senior: Stariha, a second-team Tri County pick, led the Lady Bruins with 1.6 steals a game and also averaged 4.4 points and 1.9 assists at the guard position. McGunnigal was “very proud” of the way Stariha stepped up to take a leadership role during her senior campaign at the Academy. Honorable Mention Bureau Valley: Aubrey Franklin, Meghan Mussche. Hall: Claire Faletti, Bridgitte Klein. Princeton: Molly Harmon, Katie Click, Jasmine Kunkel. St. Bede: Taylor Miller, Kelsey Moravec, Ashley Pearson. LaMoille: Mary Bartoli. The class of 2010
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