Michaela Jewett was named the 2018 Register Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.
The junior averaged 12.5 points and six rebounds per game while leading Brookings to an above-.500 record.
She and the Bobcats were on the brink of a state tournament bid, but eventually fell in overtime in the game to go.
“It was a good season,” said Jewett. “I know in the end it didn’t come out how we wanted to, but we had very good synergy and we all just worked really well together, which helped in our success."
The 6-foot Jewett can score down low or from 3-point range and also was solid on the glass.
“Michaela has a great skill set and that allows her to play multiple positions in the offense,” head coach Lynn Frederick said. “She has a high basketball IQ; she’s passionate; she has great work ethic. And that’s a good formula for success for a player.
“I thought she had a great season considering a lot of teams’ defensive scheme was to try to slow her down. So we had to try to be creative in our approach to try to get Michaela more looks. She did a good job of handling those pressure situations as she grew as a player.”
Coming close to the state tourney could be used as motivation for next year.
“I just think all of us need to come together and try to gure out what our main goal is and then work from there and try to find out what we need to do to get better and get to the state tournament,” added Jewett.
She has a busy summer ahead.
Most notably, Jewett is a member of the South Dakota Attack, traveling the country for tournaments.
She’ll also spend plenty of time competing with the Bobcat basketball and volleyball teams – she’s the setter in the latter.
“She’ll work hard on improving her game; not only improving her game but also doing the things to improve her athletic ability; make her stronger; make her quicker – she’ll do what she needs to do in those areas, which will allow her to do more things on both ends of the floor,” Frederick added. “You’ll see great things out of Michaela next year – she’ll be a leader; she’ll be the type of player that can change the culture of a program moving forward.”
It ought to be a fun 2018-19 campaign.
