Three of the six players named to the first team of the 2017 Class B All-State Girls’ Basketball Team have been mainstays on the squad for the past several seasons and all three were on the floor during the state Class B championship game.
Myah Selland of Sanborn Central/Woonsocket was selected as the Class B Player of the Year after leading the Lady Blackhawks to a runner-up finish during her senior campaign. It’s the third consecutive season she has been named to the first team and fourth overall selection to the Class B All-State team, which was selected by the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association.
“The accolades that Myah has accumulated throughout her career are most deserving. She has worked extremely hard on her basketball skills and her leadership ability has made the Blackhawk basketball program a success,” SCW co-coach Tim McCain said of the 6-foot-1 guard-forward, who has signed to play basketball at South Dakota State. “A sign of a great player is the ability to make other players around her better and that is the quality that impresses me the most about Myah.”
This past season, Selland had a shooting percentage of 51, connecting on 191-of-372 shots. She was 23-of-75 from 3-point range.
Selland tallied 519 points during her senior season and finished her high school basketball career with 2,219 points. She had 213 rebounds this season and finished with 961 in her career; while having career totals of 532 assists, 368 steals and 211 blocks.
Seniors Chloe Lamb and Racquel Wientjes helped Sully Buttes to back-to-back state Class B titles, with the most recent capping their high school basketball careers this season.
Lamb is making her fourth consecutive appearance on the Class B All-State first team, while Wientjes has received the honor for three straight seasons.
“Chloe and Racquel played so well together; their games complimented each other, which helped them to the success they reach on the court,” Sully Buttes coach Mark Senftner said.
Lamb, a 5-9 guard, averaged 21 points, 5.5 rebounds, six assists and four steals per game this season. She is the all-time leading scorer for the Chargers with 1,913 points during her career, which includes five consecutive trips to the state Class B tournament and title game appearances in the past three.
“Chloe challenged herself every year to become a better all-around player,” Senftner said. “Offensively, Chloe’s scoring average increased each season and she was more aggressive with the basketball, which created scoring opportunities not only for herself, but also for her teammates.
“Defensively, Chloe always looked forward to the challenge of guarding our opponent’s best player. Chloe grew as a leader each year. It was never more evident than this season as she helped lead a young team to a state championship.”
Wientjes, also a 5-9 guard, averaged 20 points per game this season for the Chargers and ranks third on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,787 points. She also had averages of 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and three steals.
“Racquel developed into a great offensive threat. Each season she became more comfortable on the offensive end of the floor,” Senftner said of Wientjes, who are made five straight trips to the state tournament with Sully Buttes. “Racquel’s scoring average increased each year as we counted on her to be a bigger part of our offense.
“Racquel is a great 3-point shooter who became better at attacking the basket and scoring inside. Racquel became a leader this season and it helped her grow into a complete player.”
Also capping their high school basketball careers by being named to the first team All-State squad were Erika Sage of Freeman and Kacey Bartscher of Ethan.
Sage, a 5-6 guard, is a repeat selection to the first team. She finished with 487 points this season for the Flyers and has a career scoring total of 1,709 points, which ranks her second in school history.
Sage also holds school records at Freeman for points in a game with 43, career steals with 296 and career 3-pointers with 205. She also ranks second in school history for steals in a season with 73.
“Erika has been a great leader the past several years for our program. Not only can she score from the outside, but she has the ability to get to the basket,” Freeman coach Curtis Sage said. “She is also a good defender and takes great pride in her defense.
“Perhaps her greatest strength is her work ethic. She takes nothing for granted and looks to improve her all-around ball skills.”
Sage has signed to continue her basketball career at Northwestern College.
Bartscher, a 5-9 guard-forward, helped Ethan to its third straight state Class B tournament during the final season of her high school career. She averaged 14 points per game this season for the Rustlers and finished her career with more than 1,000 points.
“Kacey is an extremely hard worker with a very high basketball IQ,” Ethan coach Tom Young said. “She improved her whole game this past year after fully recovering from an ACL tear her sophomore year.
“She has always been a great shooter, but this year her hard work in the offseason has made her a complete player on both ends of the floor. She is a 4.0 student and is an outstanding person off the court.”
Rounding out the first team is sophomore Laurie Rogers of Warner.
Rogers, a 6-1 center, averaged 16.4 points per game this season for the Lady Monarchs, while pulling down an average of 9.3 rebounds and recording an average of two assists.
“Laurie has worked very hard to improve her game. She certainly has earned this award through her constant desire to help her team win,” Warner coach Stewart Bohle said. “She was our go to girl when we needed a hoop. She has great footwork and she does a great job finishing as the rim.
“While Laurie is a very good basketball player, she is an even better person.”
Selected to the All-State second team are sophomore Karly Gustafson and senior Rachel Hawkins of Ethan, senior Brianna Philipsen of New Underwood, sophomore Mattilynn Reiner of Tripp-Delmont-Armour, sophomore Lauren Sees of Avon and senior Joie Spier of Oldham-Ramona-Rutland.
Spier averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds per game for the year, adding four assists, four steals and four blocks per contest. She led the Raiders to the District 7B title by scoring a school-record 38 points in the championship game.
Spier holds every scoring and rebounding record (game, season and career) in ORR history, along with having the most assists in a season and career.
She totaled 1,627 points, 1,259 rebounds, 287 assists and 279 blocks in her career.
Third-team honorees are senior Ahna Vander Pol of Andes Central-Dakota Christian, sophomore Kamryn Heinz of Ipswich, senior Lauren Hunstad of Parker, junior Shannon O’Malley of Irene-Wakonda, senior Shannon Poppen of De Smet and senior Savana Johnston of Wall.
2017 CLASS B ALL-STATE GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Selected by the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association
First Team
Player of the Year – Myah Selland of Sanborn Central-Woonsocket (6-1 senior guard-forward): 19.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 4.7 apg, 3.7 spg, 2.8 bpg.
Chloe Lamb of Sully Buttes (5-9 senior guard): 21 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 6 apg, 4 spg.
Racquel Wientjes of Sully Buttes (5-9 senior guard): 20 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 3 spg.
Erika Sage of Freeman (5-6 senior guard): 18.4 ppg; 4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 3.3 spg.
Laurie Rogers of Warner (6-1 sophomore center): 16.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2 apg.
Kacey Bartscher of Ethan (5-9 senior guard-forward): 14 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.5 apg.
Second Team
Karly Gustafson of Ethan (6-0 sophomore center): 14.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2 apg.
Brianna Philipsen of New Underwood (6-1 senior center): 16.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.4 apg.
Mattilynn Reiner of Tripp-Delmont-Armour (5-10 sophomore guard-forward): 18.5 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 4 apg, 3.3 spg.
Lauren Sees of Avon (5-9 sophomore guard): 16.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2 spg.
Joei Spier of Oldham-Ramona-Rutland (5-11 senior forward): 22 ppg, 14 rpg, 4 apg, 4 spg.
Rachel Hawkins of Ethan (5-8 senior guard): 9 ppg, 3 rpg, 5.4 apg.
Third Team
Ahna Vander Pol of Andes Central-Dakota Christian (5-8 senior guard-forward): 19 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 apg.
Kamryn Heinz of Ipswich (5-8 sophomore guard): 20.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.1 apg.
Lauren Hunstad of Parker (5-8 senior guard): 13.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 2.1 apg.
Shannon O’Malley of Irene-Wakonda (5-7 junior guard): 19 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.2 apg, 3 spg.
Shannon Poppen of De Smet (6-0 senior center): 13.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 3.1 apg.
Savana Johnston of Wall (6-1 senior forward-center): 15.7 ppg, 10 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.5 spg.
