By Matt Turer
mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
With as much girls basketball talent that exists in the Ozarks and inside our coverage area, this was one of the toughest and trickiest projects I’ve had to put together this year.
Obviously there are locks, there always are, such as Hayley Frank, Kelsey Winfrey and the rest of the First Team, but where things get tricky is the Second and Third Team choices. Who belongs on which? And who deserves to make the cut on the Third Team in the first place? There were about 15 also-deserving names I was considering that I had to leave off this list. Lots of close calls, and I want to thank all the coaches who sent their nominations into me and all the players who put up stats so good that they in turn made these decisions so difficult.
When it came down to it, six deserving names were put onto each of the three teams below. Also below is a Player of the Year, an All-Defensive Team and an All-Freshman Team, both of which are made up of names not on the First, Second or Third Teams and both of which are made up of names submitted as nominees by coaches.
Third Team: Cameron Call, Mt. Vernon, Sophomore
20.5 PPG, 3.5 APG, 2.4 SPG, 41% FG
One of the top next-level talents in the region right now is Cameron Call. Already given a scouts grade of 90 on ESPN, Call’s ability to penetrate and finish plays is pretty incredible for a high schooler, let alone a sophomore.
“Cameron works on her game to be the best player she can be,” Mt. Vernon head coach Dusty Killingsworth said. “She has the ability to score from all over the floor and facilitates her teammates as well.”
Call led Mt. Vernon to 23 wins, a district title and led the Mountaineers in a toe-to-toe battle with undefeated state champion Strafford for three quarters of a 61-45 state sectional loss.
She was named MBCA Class 3 All-State, voted Big 8 Conference Player of the Year, first-team all-conference and all-district.
Third Team: Riley Guffey, Newburg, Senior
16.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 5.7 APG, 4.1 SPG, 38% 3PT (51 made). MBCA Class 2 All-State
Guffey didn’t put up the points that many on this list did, but no one up for All O-Zone Basketball averaged more assists (5.7) than the Newburg senior. Known as one of the best ball-handlers in the area, Guffey was a relative unknown outside of the Frisco League, which is nothing short of unfortunate after a fantastic career.
Newburg’s talented senior class won 24 games this season, falling in sectional play to state champion Skyline, 65-54, the closest any Class 2 program played Skyline all season. Guffey was a big part of that, and not just offensively (16.3 PPG), averaging 4.1 steals per outing on the defensive end.
Guffey finishes her career with 1,556 career points and 612 assists. She was named Frisco League MVP and District MVP this season, and was named first-team all-conference and all-district all four years of high school.
Third Team: Annie Noah, Gainesville, Junior
17.1 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.7 SPG, 58.7% FG
One of the best pure post players in Class 2 in an era where you really don’t see too many anymore. Noah really does it all inside, showing the ability to back down defenders, hit mid-range jumpers, and I even think I saw her connect on a handful of skyhooks this season.
What’s so impressive about Noah is she seems to get better and faster every time I see her. She came close to averaging a double-double this season with 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and helped lead Gainesville to a 28-2 record and a district championship. She can also connect from deep, hitting 6-of-12 from beyond the arch this year, but that’s not really her game. Yet.
Noah was named MBCA Class 2 All-State, plus all-conference and all-district first team.
Third Team: Kourtney Shipley, Bradleyville, Junior
24.5 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.7 SPG, 47% FG, 37% 3PT (103-277)
For the second consecutive season, Kourtney Shipley led Bradleyville to a program record wins mark (23) and received an MBCA Class 1 All-State selection.
Shipley improved in every statistical category on the offensive end this season over last, upping her scoring average from 22.9 points per game as a sophomore to 24.5 as a junior, adding a full assist per game over last year’s average and connecting on 19 more 3s, finishing with 103 makes. She surpassed the 1,000-career point mark early this season as well.
Don’t be surprised if Shipley and the Lady Eagles set another wins record next season thanks to a 2016-17 roster with zero seniors.
Third Team: Madi Stokes, Cassville, Junior
18.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3.5 BPG, 71% FG
One of the more underappreciated players in the region has to be 6’3” Madi Stokes.
Already one of the best inside defenders in the region (3.5 BPG), Stokes took a huge step on the offensive end as a junior, averaging a double-double with 18.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game while shooting 71 percent from the floor.
Stokes was already a huge defensive threat as a sophomore, averaging 2.7 blocks per game last year, but her continued improvement turned into a career-high 13 blocks in a win over Lamar and was a big reason Cassville held opponents to just 29 percent shooting and 41.5 points per game this season, winning 17 games and advancing to the district championship. Those 17 wins are the most for Cassville in at least nine years.
Third Team: Elle Williams, West Plains, Senior
18.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.0 SPG, 53% FG, 79% FT, 39% 3PT (40 makes)
The growth of Elle Williams was relatively unexpected out of West Plains this year. Williams was already a talent on the offensive end and on the boards coming into her senior season, averaging 13.5 points and seven boards as a junior, but most thought she’d take a backseat to Drury commit Payton Richards.
That wasn’t the case. Williams found something offensively, allowing Richards to take advantage of her facilitating skills at the point and turning into an 18 points-per-game season for Williams. She did it efficiently, too, shooting 53 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range, connecting of 40 treys.
She scored in double figures in 27 of 29 games, earning herself a Class 4 MBCA All-State selection, plus first-team all-conference and all-district selections. Williams put up 19 points and nine rebounds in West Plains’ district title win over Rogersville.
Second Team: Payton Curley, Salem, Senior
21.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.5 SPG
One of the best players ever at Salem, Curley was again one of the purest and most versatile guards in the region this year. While the offensive stats are pretty to look at, Curley’s 5-foot-11 frame makes her equally as impactful on the defensive end, consistently disrupting passing lanes and shots.
She leaves Salem with 1,749 career points, a school-record 407 assists and over 400 rebounds. Plus, she shot 93 percent from the free-throw line this season.
“Payton has grown into an incredible player,” Salem head coach Jake Reardon said. “She has been a major contributor and team leader all four years of her career. We have leaned heavily on her for a long time and she has not shied away from that pressure over the past two seasons.”
Second Team: Kaylee DaMitz, Skyline, Junior
14.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.7 SPG
The Class 2 Player of the Year award belongs to Kaylee DaMitz, an honor awarded for her defense as much as her offense. DaMitz is one of if not the best on-the-ball defender in the region, and that shows in both her stats (3.7 SPG) and her team’s as Skyline gave up just 29.3 points per game in the playoffs on its way to its first state title since 2008.
Running the point for the Lady Tigers, DaMitz averaged a team-best 14.1 points per game this year, shooting 49 percent from the field, 42 percent from 3 and 81 percent from the line.
Second Team: Alana Findley, Fair Grove, Sophomore
19.7 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 4.3 SPG, 51% FG
A double-double machine, Findley averaged double-digit points (19.7) and rebounds (11.3) per game for the second consecutive season after averaging 12.9 PPG and 11.4 RPG as a freshman. This year, her offensive production exploded, finishing with 19 double-doubles and leading the Lady Eagles to 18 wins.
“She is a great athlete and a great competitor,” Fair Grove head coach Jennifer Talbert said. “She has a motor that never stops. She is very coachable and is also a great teammate. Alana was one of the biggest cheerleaders for her teammates when she wasn’t on the floor. We are lucky to have so many talented players in SWMO and Fair Grove is lucky to have one of the best on our team.”
Findley finished in double figures in all but two games and averaged over four steals per game (4.3), yet was somehow overlooked on the Class 3 all-state team (but was named first-team all-district and all-conference). Through two years at Fair Grove, Findley sits at 894 points and 624 rebounds.
Second Team: Piper Francis, MV-BT/Liberty, Sophomore
26.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.3 APG, 3.4 SPG, 42.5% FG, 38.7 % 3PT, 75% FT
Unofficially, Piper Francis became the quickest player in MSHSAA girls basketball history to 1,000-career points this year, hitting the mark in just 44 games (three games quicker than Strafford’s Hayley Frank).
The night Francis scored her 1,000th was also a career night, finishing with a career-high 38 points and helping erase a 12-point deficit in a win over Alton back on Jan. 21.
Francis finished with the highest points-per-game average in the region this year (26.8), also bringing in impressive rebounding (4.6 RPG), assist (4.3 APG) and steal (3.4 SPG) totals. Somehow this season wasn’t good enough for all-state honors, but that takes nothing away from Francis’ historic career pace.
Second Team: Madi Sutt, Wheatland, Sophomore
21.2 PPG, 11.0 RPG
The face of Wheatland’s basketball renaissance is Madi Sutt. The sophomore led a talented and young group to a program-record 24 wins this season and a second consecutive district title.
Sutt has now averaged over 20 points per game for each of her two seasons in high school, averaging about 21.2 per game this year after 20 per game as a freshman. She also improved her rebounding totals from last season, pushing herself to a double-double average this year with about 11 boards per game and earning a Class 1 all-state selection because of it.
There’s a 2,000-point career in the works here if Sutt, who is dangerous both inside and outside, stays on this path.
Second Team: Jordan Wersinger, Kickapoo, Junior
19.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.0 SPG
Wersinger took one of the biggest jumps of anyone on this year’s All O-Zone Team. The junior guard added over five points per game to her sophomore year total (14.0 PPG) to finish at 19.4 points per night, turning that into a Class 5 all-state selection. Her 16.3 points per game career average is the highest ever for a Lady Chief.
One Ozark Conference coach I heard from listed Wersinger as the toughest he faced this season to gameplan for on a list of five players, which speaks wonders to her ability to both get to the rim and shoot the 3. Wersinger’s ability to create off the dribble shows up in her free-throw stats. She tied a 26-year-old Kickapoo record this season with 20 free-throw attempts against Waynesville and took second on that same list with 16 from the line against Olathe East. At one point this season she connected on 22 consecutive free throws, the second highest streak ever at Kickapoo, and had another stretch of 16 in a row.
Wersinger was also named First Team All-Ozark Conference, first-team all-district and First Team All-Academic Ozark Conference.
First Team: Hayley Frank, Strafford, Sophomore
24.0 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 6.5 APG, 3.0 SPG, 2.2 BPG, 68% 2PT, 54% 3PT, 86% FT
Two years and two state championship rings. Life is good for Hayley Frank at Strafford. The 6’1” sophomore whatever-you-want-her-to-be was the best player in the state this year. Comfortably averaging a double-double in points (24.0) and rebounds (13.0), Frank led Strafford in every statistical category—stats actually limited by frequent running clocks and substitutions due to the Lady Indians beating opponents by an average of 37 points per game on their way to that 33-0 record.
The back-to-back all-state selection and Class 3 MBCA Player of the Year shot 68 percent inside the arch this season and 54 percent outside of it and had a 30-point 20-rebound double-double against Class 5 Willard. She bodied herself to the free-throw line as well, over 150 times, hitting 86 percent of those.
“She’s the smartest and most versatile player I’ve coached in my last 26 years,” Strafford head coach Steve Frank said.
First Team: Bayley Harman, Walnut Grove, Junior
24.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.4 APG, 4.0 SPG, 39% 3PT (93-240)
One of the most consistent scorers in the region (24.0 PPG) is also one of the better defensive point guards around (4.0 SPG). She plays at another level than pretty much anyone Class 1 teams can throw at her, so it’s no surprise that George Mason head coach Nyla Milleson was in attendance for Harman’s sectional win in Webb City over Bronaugh.
Harman, who was named MBCA Class 1 Player of the Year, PCL MVP, first-team all-state, all-conference and all-district, surpassed the 1,500 career points on Jan. 31 against Dadeville, scored 37 points in a big win over Class 2 Purdy and averaged 22.3 points per game in the playoffs.
The Lady Tigers have averaged over 27 wins per season in Harman’s career and taken three trips to the Final Four, winning a title her freshman season.
First Team: Amanda Kearney, Branson, Senior
23.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 4.0 APG, 100+ steals
Kearney became a Branson legend this year, if she wasn’t one already. The senior led the Lady Pirates to their best season in program history, winning 25 games and advancing all the way to the Class 5 quarterfinals.
Kearney received her second consecutive all-state selection following a season that saw her surpass the 2,000-career point mark (and finish with over 2,100) and average almost nine more points per game (23.0) than anyone else in the COC-Large, where she was unanimously named Player of the Year.
Kearney was at her best in Branson’s district championship dethroning of 2016 Class 5 state champion Kickapoo, scoring 32 points in that 58-54 thriller.
First Team: Abby Oliver, Strafford, Senior
21.0 PPG, 3.5 APG, 51% 2PT, 52% 3PT (151-288), 83% FT
A handful of 3-point specialists may approach Abby Oliver’s 3-point percentage, but no one in the state has ever connected on such a high percentage at the volume Oliver did this year (151-288, 52%).
It took 33 games to get there, but Oliver (who finishes her career as Strafford’s all-time leading scorer with 1,788 points) set the all-time single-season state record for 3-point makes with 151, connecting on six (five in the first half) in Strafford’s state-title win over Whitfield to break the old record of 149.
On the all-time 3-point percentage list, only two of 10 shooters attempted over 200 3s in a season, with the second highest total coming in at 248 and 48.4 percent, done by Atlanta’s Tatum Thurman in 1995-96. When Chadwick’s Maddie Hursh set the old single-season record (149), she attempted a record 405 3s at a 36.7-percent clip, nearly 15 percentage points below Oliver.
That record-setting season earned Oliver all-state, all-district and all-conference selections. It’s easy to typecast her as a one-tool player or a “specialist” due to the 3-point numbers, but don’t. Oliver attacks the basket with the best of them, just ask her coach.
“Abby’s ball-handling skills are incredible along with her quickness,” Steve Frank said. “She is so explosive off the dribble, can pull up and drain the 3 and is one of our top defenders.”
First Team: Jordan Sanders, Kickapoo, Senior
21.6 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 4.0 SPG, 74% FT
Sanders finishes off her Kickapoo career nearly averaging a double-double in points (22.0) and rebounds (9.0) per game while playing in the state’s toughest Class (5). An offensive power and defensive standout who averaged four steals per game as a forward, Sanders was awarded Kickapoo’s Defensive Player of the Year award and led the Chiefs to a perfect Ozark Conference record.
Her points per game average (21.6) ranks as the highest in Kickapoo’s decorated history and her 1,686 career points places her third all-time at Kickapoo and sixth all-time on the Springfield Public Schools career scoring list.
She set single-game scoring records this year against Joplin, where her 39 points and 16 field goals were the most in school history in those categories, and her 35 points against Aurora was the third-highest single-game Kickapoo total. Sanders also set Kickapoo’s single-season 2-point field goals made record this year (240) and her 359 career made free throws is second all-time for the program. All that translated into a Class 5 all-state selection and the Player of the Year award for the OC.
First Team: Kelsey Winfrey, Lebanon, Senior
21.6 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.6 APG, 4.9 SPG, 53% FG
Lebanon says goodbye to the greatest girls basketball player in school history when Kelsey Winfrey graduates this spring and heads off to continue her career at Mizzou.
“She has shown that if you really want something and you are willing to put in the time and make the sacrifices you can make it happen,” Lebanon head coach Brendan Kelley said. “One of her first days as a freshman we sat [down] and I asked ‘what do you want to do after high school?’ and she said, ‘I want to play at Mizzou.’ That was her goal from day one. A lot of kids will say stuff like that, but most won’t put in the time and make the sacrifices to make something like that happen.”
Winfrey led the Yellowjackets in points (21.6), rebounds (7.4), assists (3.6), steals (4.9), blocks (1.1) and 3-point percentage (42%) this season, leading Lebanon to a district championship and earning a Class 5 all-state selection. She finishes her career as the program’s all-time leading scorer, putting up 2,039 points to go with more than 780 rebounds, 450 steals and 300 assists.
O-Zone Player of the Year: Hayley Frank, Strafford, Sophomore
All O-Zone Defense (Reserved for those not on the All O-Zone Teams)
Kalena Asbill, Reeds Spring, Sophomore (5.7 SPG, 3.9 RPG, 10.3 PPG)
Baylee Bilyeu, Salem, Junior (3.5 BPG, 1.2 SPG, 8.4 RPG, 12.0 PPG, 3.0 APG)
Kayley Frank, Strafford, Sophomore (6.3 RPG, 9.0 PPG)
Michelle Gabani, Bolivar, Junior (4.6 SPG, 1.7 BPG, 10.3 RPG, 16.2 PPG, 4.5 APG)
Ashley Ingram, Licking, Senior (3.1 SPG, 90 deflections, 13.8 PPG, 4.2 RPG)
Megan Scott, Carl Junction, Junior (2.2 SPG, 1.9 BPG, 6.1 RPG, 11.5 PPG)
All O-Zone Freshman Team
Allie Clevenger, Clever, Freshman (12.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 50% FG)
Karlee Holland, Licking, Freshman (15.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.1 APG, 3.3 SPG, 42% FG, 32% 3PT)
Aubrie McRoberts, Warsaw, Freshman (12.2 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.5 SPG)
Khonnar Patton, Blue Eye, Freshman (18.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.6 APG, 3.1 SPG)
Gracie Shipley, Bradleyville, Freshman (9.9 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.6 SPG, 51% FG)
Abi Southard, Fordland, Freshman (16.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 2.6 SPG, 48% FG)
