EDN All-Area Girls Basketball Team announced

Dustin White

The local prep basketball scene was blessed with a nice balance of young, budding talent combined with capable, veteran leadership in the recently-concluded girls' season.

With that in mind, the 2010 installment of the Effingham Daily News All-Area Girls Basketball Team also features a fairly even blend of underclassmen and upperclassmen on its 12-player roster.

Six seniors — each an undeniable floor leader of her respective team — have been nominated and ultimately selected for all-area recognition, while the other six — including two freshmen — are outstanding players you can be all but guaranteed to hear from again in seasons to come.

St. Anthony High School senior Victoria Wolke was a hands-down choice for all-area consideration after averaging 15.4 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 17-8 record and earn herself first team all-conference consideration in the National Trail Conference.

"Victoria is an excellent shooter and scorer," said second-year St. Anthony coach Mike Hoene. "She is very aggressive taking the ball to the basket, as evidenced by her number of free throw attempts."

Wolke was indeed fearless taking it to the rack, drawing 133 foul shot attempts and converting 104 of them for 78 percent accuracy. She hit 56 three-pointers on the year with 35 percent accuracy and was the Bulldogs' most tenacious defender, as well.

Another key figure in another solid St. Anthony season was Kelly McHugh, whose offensive numbers cannot begin to explain just how much of a game-changer the junior point guard really was.

"Kelly is a very good ballhandler and passer," said Hoene. "Teams had a hard time pressing us due to her ballhandling and passing skills."

McHugh was still the Northsiders' third-leading scorer at just under seven points per game, but she also dished out 94 assists over the course of the year along with snaring 75 steals.

Still, it's difficult to overstate McHugh's ability to single-handedly thwart a full-court press along with her knack for dribble-penetrating and kicking out to open shooters — like Wolke, for instance.

Over on the other side of town, Coach Jeff Schafer's Effingham High School club put together a 15-15 record, but did manage to secure a regional championship with a monumental upset of heavily-favored Charleston.

Obviously the season had its high and low points, but junior guard Tatiana Colclasure figured into many of the highs as she led the team with 14.6 points per game in a breakout year after earning quite a bit of varsity playing time as a sophomore.

"Tatiana can flat out shoot the ball," said Schafer of his emergent star. "She is continuing to become more polished and finding different ways to score. She made strides with her defense and rebounding as the season progressed."

Colclasure, who posted 47 percent field goal shooting and 72 percent free throw shooting, tied a school record with seven three-pointers in a 58-42 win over Dieterich on Jan. 27; she was 7-for-9 from long range and ended the evening with 27 points.

Moving "across the crick", Teutopolis returned to sectional play after having its string of 17 consecutive regional titles snapped the previous year.

While a case can be made for all five of the Wooden Shoes' starters in a discussion of the area's best, no cases were better than those of co-captains Becky Niebrugge and Jessie Wendt.

Niebrugge, a senior point guard, bumped her scoring average to double figures at 10.6, but perhaps her most important contribution to a 27-3 campaign was the fierce, driven attitude with which she led the team.

"Becky is our second-leading scorer, plays great defense and hustles all the time," said Teutopolis coach Laurie Thompson. "More importantly, she is our team leader and a great point guard."

The third-team Illinois Basketball Coaches Association all-stater paced T-town with 88 assists, while just missing the team lead at 80 steals. Niebrugge also hit 36 percent of her three-pointers and earned bids on the NTC all-tournament team along with the all-conference first team.

Wendt, an athletic sophomore and a brilliant scorer rarely resembling an underclassman on the hardwood, led Teutopolis' balanced offense with 13.1 points and converted just a touch over 60 percent of her field goal attempts.

A team-high 26 blocked shots and 5.4 rebounds per game are the six-footer's more impressive numbers; Wendt was named second team IBCA, made the NTC, Charleston Tournament and Highland Tournament all-conference teams and was named an All-NTC first teamer.

"Jessie can play all positions and is extremely athletic," said Thompson. "She's a very unselfish player, plays good defense and sees the floor well."

In honor of Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City's magnificent run to the Class 1A state tournament, two vital members of the program's deepest postseason run are next on the all-area list.

Freshman center Micah Jones grabbed the attention of the entire state with her record-setting weekend at the state tournament, while senior captain Hillary Shelton served as the unquestionable glue that held a predominantly-underclass Hornets team together throughout a 26-6 year and an eventual fourth-place finish at Redbird Arena.

While it was far from a two-person show for Carolyn Wendte's ultra-young CHBC club, it's impossible to ignore Jones' performance down the stretch and in the state tourney itself paired with the cool, collected and controlled play Shelton displayed on the biggest of the season's stages.

Jones, recipient of all-tournament nods at Dieterich, Sandoval and the NTC meet, posted double-doubles in every CHBC postseason game outside the state semifinal and ended the year averaging 11.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. In the third-place game at Normal, the six-footer compiled a triple-double with 13 points, 19 rebounds and 11 blocked shots — breaking or equaling six Class 1A state tournament records in the process.

Shelton was the Hornets' only senior starter and by far the most prolific on-court contributor of the team's three seniors; she averaged 7.7 points per game, but contributed to at least twice that many tallies thanks to her four assists per contest. She made the Dieterich and NTC all-tourney teams along with garnering first-team All-NTC recognition.

Unlike CHBC, Neoga had won a handful of regional prior to this year, but sophomore Erica Hotze led the charge to the Indians' first sectional appearance since 2007 with 11 points and 8.6 rebounds per game along with 2.1 blocks and 2.1 steals.

Hotze, an all-tourney pick in the NTC, Effingham and Monticello tournaments, led Neoga in both scoring and rebounding, while she was second in the other two categories mentioned. The Indians finished 20-10, their first 20-win campaign since that same 2006-07 season and also their second under fourth-year coach Kevin Haarman.

Jessica Zavoral, a senior from Altamont, is one of three all-area selections gracing the EDN roster for a second year.

At just 5-5, Zavoral still snared four rebounds per game, but her most impressive numbers include 15 points, three assists and three steals per game along with 79 percent foul shooting.

"Zavoral can do many things when the ball is in her hand," said Altamont coach Nikki Bloemer, whose Indians finished 16-7 in her first year at the helm.

The Cumberland duo of senior Macy Shupe and junior Kennedy Gabel are also joining the all-area field for a second time, although Gabel's last inclusion was her freshman year.

How can you keep either player off the list this year? Shupe was the area's leading scorer at 17 points per game, while Gabel chimed in at 14.5 and also led the Pirates with 190 rebounds, 158 steals and 150 assists. Shupe was second on the team in steals (72) and assists (63), while Cumberland equaled a school record with 24 wins against just five losses.

Finally, we turn our attention to Dieterich freshman Candace Niemerg.

Niemerg began what looks to be a long, prosperous career with the Movin' Maroons by posting season averages of 11.4 points and 11.8 rebounds. Both were team bests, and a 23-point, 25-rebound outing against Centralia was far and away the six-footer's most mind-boggling performance.

"Candace gave the team a great inside game with her remarkable rebounding, excellent defense and post moves," said Dieterich coach Donetta Ohnesorge. "Other contributing factors include her ability to handle the ball and her good court awareness."

Niemerg was an all-tournament selection at Dieterich and Effingham along with the NTC meet, while she was a second-team all-conference selection.

Dustin White can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 123 or dustin.white@effinghamdailynews.com.

Honorable Mention

Lena Grunloh (St. Anthony), Hillary Collins (Effingham), Holly Koester (Teutopolis), Allison Windell (Teutopolis), Kerry Phillips (Altamont), Faith Wendte (CHBC), Bailey Doty (CHBC), Amy Koebele (Newton), Molly Tarter (Neoga), Olivia Deters (Neoga), Abby Hill (Brownstown/St. Elmo), Audrey Matheny (South Central), Alyssa Fender (North Clay)

Special Mention

Sam Zerrusen (Effingham), Hayley Jamerson (Effingham), Karly Earleywine (Effingham), Brittney Niemerg (Dieterich), Megan Kroeger (Teutopolis), Gabi Deters (Teutopolis), Terra Flowers (Newton), Grace Ziegler (Altamont), Abbey Jones (South Central), Ashley Pollard (South Central), Brooke Maxey (Brownstown/St. Elmo), Ashlyn Beasley (Brownstown/St. Elmo), Shelby Holsapple (Cumberland)

Participating Coaches

Mike Hoene (St. Anthony), Jeff Schafer (Effingham), Laurie Thompson (Teutopolis), Donetta Ohnesorge (Dieterich), Carolyn Wendte (CHBC), Nikki Bloemer (Altamont), Kevin Haarman (Neoga), Katie Lurkins (Newton), Roy Clapp (Cumberland), Katy Heckert (Brownstown/St. Elmo), Curtis Thompson (North Clay), Keith Senior (South Central)

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