Lady Huskies see six players with postseason honors

The Lady Huskies had a strong showing in the postseason awards with six players receiving all-conference and one receiving all-state honors. Dalley Bassett (second year), Naomi McNiven (second year), Sarah McNiven, Paxton Philpott, Breanne Walker (second Year) and Hailee Winterholler earned all-conference honors. Walker also received all-state honors for the second year in a row. Coach Cheryl Haslam received conference coach of the year for the Northwest Conference.

Walker scored 30 threes in the season and led the team in assists with 60. She averaged 7.7 points a game and had a 68% free throw average. “She did such a good job this year being a leader for us,” said Haslam. “She was constantly cheering on and pushing the other girls. She plays like she’s 7 feet tall. Breanne really had to adjust her playing, due to a volleyball injury. There were games where her shoulder popped out, her mom popped it back in and she came back in the game. That shows true grit and toughness. We are going to miss her for sure next season.”

N. McNiven scored 266 points this season, had 142 rebounds and 108 steals. She averaged 10.6 points and 4.3 steals. “Naomi’s a defensive beast, but also stood out in her offensive game. When there was an offensive threat on the other teams, she was the one in charge of guarding them and she did a great job shutting down several girls. When she had a good all-around game, it was scary for the opponents. She really stepped up in her leadership this season.”

Philpott led the team in scoring and steals for the season with 336 points and 114 steals. She averaged 12.4 points a game. “Paxton did some great things for us. Oftentimes, she was our top scorer. She is so quick that she is hard to stop once she gets a steal or a defensive rebound. Once she gets inside, her shots usually fall. She also stepped up on defense for us. She pushed hard and was constantly giving her all.”

Bassett brought in 160 rebounds this season and led the team with an average of 6.4 rebounds per game. “Dalley improved her inside game a ton this year. She became much more confident in her post moves and did really well rebounding. She is also a great defender. Her and Naomi would take turns guarding the threats from other teams. Dalley didn’t hesitate stepping into a guard position at times. She did a great job adjusting to that and really nailed her 3 pointers at times throughout the season. She does a great job encouraging her teammates.”

Winterholler led the team in defensive rebounds with 87 and total rebounds with 173 and she averaged 6.4 rebounds a game. “Hailee is one of the quieter players on the team, but she’s also very consistent. She is very coachable and she put in the extra time to become a better player. She became a force with second chance points. Hailee sees the court really well and helps others out when they need it. She’s very positive when she’s on the court.”

S. McNiven led the team in offensive rebounds with 87 on the season and blocks with 48. She averaged 3.2 offensive rebounds and 1.8 blocks a game and had 7 blocks versus Cokeville at Regionals. “Sarah really improved over the season. She is tall and once she got inside, there wasn’t much any defenders could do to stop her.  She worked a lot on her post moves and became much better at finishing her shots. She became very consistent in scoring off our out-of-bounds plays. She is going to be a force in the years to come.

“I don’t think we would have received this many all-conference awards if these girls didn’t work so well together.  There were different standout players in each and every game.  It is going to make a big dent not having Breanne on our team next year, but it’s also going to be so much fun to see this group of juniors in their senior year. They’ve got a strong few seasons ahead and I look forward to seeing them grow together and achieve their goals,” ended Haslam.