PRESS RELEASE FROM THE IBCA: A trio of big scorers headlines the winners in this week’s IBCA/Subway Player of the Week program.

               

North Posey junior Josiah Ricketts poured in 42 points in his only game of the week, while Blackford sophomore Luke Brown and Marquette Catholic senior Colin Kenney each topped 40 in a game to pace the honorees in the recognition program coordinated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.

 

                That group is joined by North Judson sophomore Lilliann Frasure, Lawrence North sophomore Jayla Smith and Springs Valley junior Jewel McCormick as recipients for the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 1.

                Kenney and Frasure are respective boys and girls honorees for District 1. Brown and Smith are winners for District 2. Ricketts and McCormick received accolades for District 3.

                The 6-0 Ricketts tallied a career-high 42 points with nine rebounds and five steals as the North Posey boys claimed a 69-63 victory over Mt. Vernon (Posey) in their season opener. Ricketts made 12-of-22 field goals, 4-of-9 3-pointers and 14-of-17 free throws in finishing just shy of the school record of 45 points set by Kelly Williams in the 1978-79 season.

                Brown averaged 38.5 points and 9.0 assists in propelling the Blackford boys to two triumphs. The 6-1 guard scored 33 points with six rebounds and eight assists in a 72-65 victory over Monroe Central. Brown then poured in 44 points with six rebounds and 10 assists as the Bruins (4-0) defeated Blue River Valley 81-61. Over both games, he made 26-50 shots, 6-of-17 treys and 19-of-19 free throws. Against BRV, Brown was 15-of-28, 3-of-9 and 11-of-11.

                The 6-1 Kenney averaged 35.1 points and 3.5 assists as the Marquette Catholic boys won twice. He netted 29 points with five rebounds, four assists and one steal in a 69-66 decision over Crete-Monee of Illinois. Kenney followed with a career- and school-record-tying 42 points with three rebounds, three assists and five steals as the Blazers beat South Bend St. Joseph 80-72. The output – via 16-of-28 field goals, 3-of-7 3-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws – matched Kenney’s 42-point game against SBSJ on Dec. 3, 2016.

                Frasure produced a triple-double of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists as the North Judson girls (5-0) knocked off Morgan Township 75-39 in their only game of the week. The 5-10 guard also had five steals and three blocks while making 13-of-16 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line for the Bluejays.

                The 5-7 Smith averaged 25.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in leading the Lawrence North girls to two 10-point victories. She opened with 32 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 65-55 decision over Carmel. She followed with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals as the Wildcats (9-1) topped Ben Davis 58-48. Over both games, Smith was 14-of-20 shooting, 9-of-14 on 3-pointers and 14-of-16 on free throws.

                McCormick averaged 33.0 points and 13.0 rebounds in propelling the Springs Valley girls to two triumphs. The 6-0 center opened with 32 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks in a 53-44 victory over Barr-Reeve. McCormick later scored 34 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks as the Blackhawks defeated Northeast Dubois 61-54. She was 15-of-17 and 16-of-24 from the field, respectively, the two games. McCormick was 2-of-4 on free throws in each game.

                This is the 11th season for the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Week program and the seventh season it is presented by Subway Restaurants of Indiana, a banner sponsor of the IBCA. Subway, in its seventh season as an IBCA sponsor, encourages athletes to "train hard and eat fresh."

                Winners in the Player of the Week are chosen each week from each of the IHSAA’s three districts. Girls winners will be chosen from now through the week following Feb. 23. Boys winners will be chosen from now through the week following March 23.

 

Other nominees for Week 5 (2018-19)

                District 1 boys – Ali Ali, East Noble; Tanner Behnfeldt, Fremont; Sydney Curry, Fort Wayne Northrop; Benjamin Foster, South Bend Adams; Trevor Franklin, West Noble; Caleb Furst, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian; Jaden Ivey, Mishawaka Marian; J.R. Konieczny, South Bend St. Joseph; Chris Mantis, Lowell; Brandon Newman, Valparaiso; Owen Nifong, Argos; G’Angelo Reillo, Whiting; Brandon Scott, Hammond Noll; Dominique Smith, Lake Station; Marco Stanojcic, Hamilton; Sawyer Stoltz, Huntington North; De’Marcus Vaughn, South Bend Washington; Charlie Yoder, Westview.

                District 1 girls – Izzy Bednarowski, Munster; Jessica Carrothers, Crown Point; Katlyn Cherry, Hebron; Da’Leshia Davis, Fort Wayne Snider; Carissa Garcia, Fort Wayne Concordia; Trinitee Harris, Elkhart Central; Bailey Hartsough, Lakeland; Clare Hunsberger, South Bend Trinity; Destiny Jackson, Fort Wayne Northrop; Sarah Martin, Kankakee Valley; Sophia Nolan, Marquette Catholic; Rylie Parker, Homestead; Alexa Porter, Concord; Molly Ream, Fort Wayne Dwenger; Michaela Schmidt, Highland; Dash Shaw, Gary West; Lindsey Simpson, Knox.

                District 2 boys – Cameron Alford, Brownsburg; Braxton Barnhizer, Lafayette Jeff; Jalen Blackmon, Marion; Sam Brenneke, Seton Catholic; Zeke Brown, Central Christian; Josh Bryan, Delta; Luke Bumbalough, New Castle; Carson Dolezal, Tipton; Gus Etchison, Hamilton Heights; Jalen Johnson, Indianapolis Manual; Lucas Kroft, Richmond; Landon Newmum, Parke Heritage; Tayson Parker, Northwestern; Tony Perkins, Lawrence North; Allen Plunkett, South Putnam; Isaiah Thompson, Zionsville.

                District 2 girls – Allison Bosse, Brownsburg; Shelby Caldwell, Jay County; Maggie Cora, Tri-West; Hannah Farrell, Greenfield-Central; Adria Hartley, Kokomo; Madison Jones, Western Boone; Toniyah Langston, Indianapolis Howe; Maddie Lawrence, Winchester; Madison Layden, Northwestern; Heather Paulter, Daleville; Averi Phelps, Tri; Hannah Puent, Indiana Deaf; Zakia Rasheed, Bishop Chatard; Leah Seib, New Palestine; Sammie Shrum, Cloverdale; Jazmyn Turner, Marion; Aniya Washington, Tindley; Ilani Williams-Harris, Covenant Christian.

                District 3 boys – Cobie Barnes, Floyd Central; Paxon Bartley, Wood Memorial; Drew Buhr, Austin; L.T. Hatton, North Harrison; Alex Hemenway, Castle; Trayce Jackson-Davis, Center Grove; Jake Johnson, Oldenburg Academy; Jackson Kabrick, Jasper; Jace Kelly, South Spencer; Zach Kuhn, Shelbyville; Logan Laster, Morristown; Ty Lawson, Paoli; Shawn Michaelis, Eminence; Treyton Owens, Scottsburg; Austin Rager, Evansville North; Jaysce Skinner, Eastern Greene; Sam Thomas, Mt. Vernon (Posey); Joey Wiseman, Corydon Central; Gavin Yoon, Lawrenceburg.

                District 3 girls – Kyrstin Bond, South Dearborn; Taylor Browning, Rushville; Lauren Conner, Bloomington South; Averi Davidson, North Central (Farmersburg); Mariah Day, Jac-Cen-Del; Abbey Guidrey, Rock Creek Academy; Lilly Hatton, North Harrison; Piper Hensley, Crothersville; Allison Horn, Henryville; Brooklyn Jones, Loogootee; Macee Lange, Vincennes Lincoln; Jenny Lundy, Northview; Brilan McCory, East Central; Makinzi Meurer, North Knox; Molly Niehaus, Vincennes Rivet; Gracie Shorter, Sullivan; Malea Toon, Bloomfield.

 

2018-19 winners

                Oct. 29-Nov. 3 – District 1 girls: Darliesha Reed, Hammond Gavit. District 2 girls: Madison Jones, Western Boone. District 3 girls: Addy Blackwell, Bloomington South, and Amani Brown, Terre Haute South.

                Nov. 5-10 – District 1 girls: Sydney Freeman, Central Noble, and Dash Shaw, Gary West. District 2 girls: Maggie Cora, Tri-West.District 3 girls: Hannah Sisk, Princeton.

                Nov. 12-17 – District 1 girls: Sophie Bussard, Tippecanoe Valley. District 2 girls: Alaina Omonode, West Lafayette, and Cameron Tabor, New Castle. District 3 girls: Lilly Hatton, North Harrison.

                Nov. 19-24 – District 1 boys: Sam Skaggs, Logansport. District 1 girls: Mila Reynolds, South Bend Washington. District 2 boys:Colton Brown, Covington, and Luke Brown, Blackford. District 2 girls: Ella Collier, Danville. District 3 boys: Drew Buhr, Austin. District 3 girls: Nan Garcia, Jeffersonville.

                Nov. 26-Dec. 1 – District 1 boys: Colin Kenney, Marquette Catholic. District 1 girls: Lilliann Frasure, North Judson. District 2 boys: Luke Brown, Blackford. District 2 girls: Jayla Smith, Lawrence North. District 3 boys: Josiah Ricketts, North Posey. District 3 girls:Jewel McCormick, Springs Valley.