THE FANTASTIC FOUR - Local Sports Journal€¦ · Local Sports Journal’s Class A-B and C-D prep...
Transcript of THE FANTASTIC FOUR - Local Sports Journal€¦ · Local Sports Journal’s Class A-B and C-D prep...
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MARCH, 2017
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Jordan Walker is Miss Basketball 2017!
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
Jordan WalkerMona Shores
Jermayne GolidyMuskegon
Riley FairfieldNorth Muskegon
Allyson RichardsFruitport Calvary
LocalSportsJournal.com
Jordan Walker has been the cornerstone of the Mona Shores girls basketball program for the past four years. She brought scoring, defense, determi-nation and leadership, helping her team win four straight conference and three straight district titles. She was elected Michigan’s Miss Basketball this season.
Jermayne Golidy was the leading scorer on a very talented Muskegon team this season. He also led the Big Reds in assists, and his unselfish play helped Muskegon post a perfect 20-0 regular season record and capture its fourth straight conference title and fifth straight district championship.
Allyson Richards played five years of varsity basketball at Fruitport Calvary Christian (which is allowed at very small schools) and developed into a scoring and rebounding machine. She led the Eagles to a 23-2 record this season and league and district titles all five years of her career.
Riley Fairfield has been an impact player since he stepped on the court for North Muskegon as a sophomore. He poured in points from the perimeter and paint and was always strong on the boards. He led the Norse to a district championship in 2015.
The four senior standouts have been named Local Sports Journal’s Class A-B and C-D prep basketball Players of the Year. They headline the first annual All-LSJ basketball teams, which feature 28 top players from area schools who had great seasons in 2016-17. The teams were selected by a vote of area coaches and LSJ reporters.
Coach Brad KurthMona Shores
19-4 recordOK Black champs
Class A district title
Jordan WalkerMona Shores
22.1 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists,
4 steals per game
Alli KeyserGrand Haven
15.9 points, 3.5 assists per game,
45% shooting
Alyza WinstonMona Shores
17.4 points, 2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1 steal
per game
13.6 points, 10.1 rebounds per game,
58% shooting
Delaney BollesReeths-Puffer
Hannah ReinholdOakridge20 points, 5.6
rebounds per game, 75% free throws
Reiko JohnsonSpring Lake
16.7 points, 2 steals, 3 rebounds
per game
Iyana BrownFruitport
CLASS A-B GIRLS
15 points, 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.7 blocks per game
CLASS A-B BOYS
14.7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
per game
Jermayne GolidyMuskegon
15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds per game,
82% free throws
Merritt HamannMontague
23-1 recordOK Black champs
Class A district title
Coach Keith Guy Muskegon
14.1 points, 3.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds,
2 steals per game
Calvin HackertLudington
11.6 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal per game
Anthony Bethea Muskegon
Markell JacksonMuskegon13.3 points, 10
rebounds, 2.6 blocks per game, 75% free throws
15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
per game
Zac HolmanGrand Haven
Lucas SchummWhitehall
18.9 points, 4.5 assists 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 steals per game, 75% free throws
Coach Brad Richards Fruitport Calvary
22-2 recordAlliance League champsClass D district title
Allyson RichardsFruitport Calvary
20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists
per game
Aubrey Goorman WM Christian
18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks
per game
Jenny BeckmanShelby
22 points, 4 steals, 3 assistsper game
16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists
per game, 58% shooting
Kaitlyn GeersKent City
Talia TylerMuskegon Catholic
13 points, 3 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds
per game 58% shooting
Jakayla AndersonM. Heights
17.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals, 2
assists per game
Mya DuncanNorth Muskegon
CLASS C-D GIRLS
16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists per game 75% free throws
CLASS C-D BOYS
15.8 points, 5.2 rebounds
per game
Riley FairfieldNorth Muskegon
17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds per game,
79% free throws
Kevin SlowikHolton
18-6 recordLakes 8 co-champs
Class C district title
Coach Dale Stewart M. Heights
13 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds,
per game
Antoine JonesM. Heights
14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
per game
Anthony Jones M. Heights
Fraser WilsonKent City15 points, 5
rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals per game
11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1
block per game
Daniel RayWM Christian
Spencer BrownShelby
14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
per game
2ND TEAM GIRLS
Elysia Mattos, Reeths-PufferEsther Byington, Grand Haven
Daz'sha Day, MuskegonJulie Brown, Whitehall
Janaya Ferrell, Orchard ViewSophia Wiard, OakridgeJenna Keson, Ludington
Kelsey Richards, Fruitport CalvaryLexy Wilson, Fruitport Calvary
Tori Mussell, ShelbyDanashia Day, Muskegon Heights
Shelbey Younts, HoltonCassie Kingma, WM Christian
Yasmine Colon, Hart
A-B C-D
2ND TEAM BOYS
Ross Koella, Grand HavenJarvis Walker, Mona Shores
Sam Cornett, MuskegonCameron Ball, Spring LakeSam Johnson, Spring LakeJosh Weesies, MontagueBrandon Rake, Whitehall
Kieshon Watson, Muskegon HeightsVernonell Smith, North Muskegon
Cameron Martinez, Muskegon CatholicNick Morgenstern, Muskegon CatholicLaTommy Scott, Muskegon CatholicRyan Mount, Mason County Central
Kyle Wildfong, Holton
A-B C-D
Honorable Mention: Jacorey Sullivan, Muskegon; Sam LaDuke, Ludington; Noah Laman, Ludington; James Gilbert, Mona Shores; Brady Luttrull, Oakridge; Ryan Geeting, Fremont.
Honorable Mention: A.J. Johnson, Muskegon Catholic; Dalton Fuller, North Muskegon; Jacob Tanner, Holton; Scott Peters, Hesperia; Alec Cammenga, Fruitport Calvary.
Honorable Mention: Artrese Williams, Reeths-Puffer; Brooke Larabee, Reeths-Puffer; Tierra Williams, Muskegon; Ali Plamondon, Ludington; Nia Miskel, Mona Shores; Claudia Rumsey, Montague; Bre Harris, Fremont.
Honorable Mention: Courtney Slater, Holton; Alicia Dykman, Holton; Rachel Allen, Mason County Central; Kaitlyn Wright, WM Christian; Jeren Smith; Shelby; Jordyn Hamilton, Fruitport Calvary.
By Steve GunnLocalSportsJournal.com
Jordan Walker is, first and foremost, a team player.
She had high hopes this season for her Mona Shores girls basketball team, which returned a ton of talent from the 2015-16 season and seemed like a legitimate state championship contender.
Those hopes were shot down when the Sailors fell to East Kentwood, the eventual state runner-up, in the Class A regional semifinal round.
Mona Shores still had a great season, finishing 19-4 and winning O-K Black Conference and district championships. But Walker’s dream of finishing her prep career in a blaze of state glory came to a painful end.
But a few days later she received one heck of a consolation prize. She learned she had won the Michigan Miss Basketball award, which is presented annually to the top senior high school player in the state.
The award is determined by a vote of the members of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan, in conjunction with the Detroit Free Press.
Walker received 375 first-place votes and totaled 2,482 points. Warren Cousino’s Kierra Fletcher finished second in the voting with 291 first-place votes and 2,382 points.
“It definitely put some sunshine into a cloudy situation,” Walker said about winning the award after the disappointing defeat in region-
als. “I definitely wanted to get keep going on (in the tournament), but that’s not the way it worked out for us.”:
The competition for the award is obviously very stiff every year, but Walker had a very strong resume for the voters to consider.
She put up big numbers over her career, including 1,658 points, 351 assists, 380 steals and 680 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Stater who will almost certainly repeat that feat when the honor teams are announced this season.
She became Mona Shores’ all-time leading scorer during a game in January against Fruitport. She also broke the school career record for assists this season.
Despite all the attention she drew from opposing defenders, she averaged 22.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game as a senior..
With statistics like that, Walker knew she might be a contender for Miss Basketball. But when she actually got the news from her coach, Brad Kerth, she said she was genuinely surprised.
“My mom started crying and hugging me,” Walker said. “I was just jumping up and down. I really was surprised. I felt like I should win, but it was such a dream come true when it happened. It seemed
so unreal. I really won.”She visited the Free Press office to pose
for photographs with the gigantic trophy.After several years of being considered
one of the top players in Michigan, suddenly she was being acknowledged as the very best.
“It was kind of crazy,” Walker said. “You could hear all the cameras clicking. It was really fun.”
Walker’s accomplishment is even more remarkable, considering she suffered a torn ACL in the summer following her sophomore year and had to have it surgically repaired..
She plowed into her rehab regimen as soon as possible, pushed herself as hard as she could, and was back on the court for the opener of her junior season, a full month ahead of schedule.
“Where I’m at now to win this award, it’s all on God because, without Him, I wouldn’t be here,” she told the Free Press. “You take so many things for granted like running up and down the court and shooting the ball and different things like that. You take it for granted every single time you play.
“To have that taken away from me for five months, it’s a huge thing when you really love the game of bas-ketball. I grew to love it deeper during that time.”
Walker was born into a basketball family.Her parents, Jarvis and Danielle Walker, were both stars at Ferris
State University who went on to be inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.
Her older sister, Jasmyn Walker, was a star player at Mona Shores before moving on to become a standout at Valparaiso Univer-sity. Walker played with her sister for one year as a freshman, and said Jasmyn played a big role in pushing her to improve.
The sisters will get to relive that experience this fall, when Walker joins the Western Michigan Univer-sity women’s basketball team. Jasmyn has trans-ferred from Valparaiso to
WMU and has two years of basketball eligibility left.“I’m really excited about that,” Walker said. “Her senior year and
my freshman year was one of the most fun times I’ve had. Being able to play with her again for two years is going to be an amazing experi-ence.”
While the sisters will be off to college, Mona Shores is not out of Walkers just yet. Their younger brother, Jarvis Walker Jr., led the Sailors varsity in scoring this year as a freshman.
“I remember when he was younger and he couldn’t even get the ball to the basket,” Walker said. “I remember him doing pushups every day so he could get strong enough to get the ball up there." “We really don’t play against each other too much anymore. It gets too competitive. We used to really go at each other all the time.”
Jordan Walker, Miss Basketball 2017
“I really was surprised. I felt like I should win, but it was such a dream come true when it happened. It seemed so unreal. I really won.” - Jordan Walker
Walker and Coach Brad Kurth. Photo/Tim Reilly