Heelan lands three on All-Northwest Iowa girls basketball team
By Steven Allspach Journal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, March 23, 2008
The old cliche "to the victor belong the spoils'' certainly rings true on The Sioux City Journal's 2008 All-Northwest Iowa girls basketball selections.
Sioux City Bishop Heelan is the main case in point. The Class 3A state champions landed three berths on the eight-player first team, led by first-team all-staters Michelle Lund and Millie Niggeling.
Lund, who has signed with Division I Bradley University of the Missouri Valley Conference, finished her career as Sioux City's five-player career scoring leader with 1,837 points.
The four-year starter scored 45 points in three state tournament games, including three second-half three-point baskets that ushered the Crusaders to a 54-51 win over second-ranked Pella in the 3A title game.
Niggeling, a 6-1 sophomore, enjoyed a stellar state tournament and, after averaging 17 points and 9.3 rebounds, was voted captain of the all-tourney team.
Lund finished the season with an 18.7 scoring average for Coach Doug Moody's 25-2 champs, whose only loses were to Huxley Ballard and South Sioux City's Nebraska Class B state champions. Heelan avenged the loss to Ballard with a victory over the Bombers in the state semifinals.
Joining Lund and Niggeling on the first team is 5-8 sophomore teammate Carli Tritz, who averaged 13.3 points in the state tourney, including 19 in the win over Pella.
Along with the Heelan trio on the first team are Lawton-Bronson senior Katie Sorensen, juniors Jalyssa Ceasar of Sioux City North, Kendra De Jong of Orange City Unity Christian and Amber Kirschbaum of Spirit Lake along with teammate Kaisha Brown, a senior who will play collegiately at Division I Northern Colorado.
Brown averaged 17.5 points and the 6-foot Kirschbaum, a repeat first-teamer, averaged 14.9 points and 9.1 rebounds and also earned first-team all-state laurels for the second straight year.
De Jong, who averaged 19.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in leading Unity Christian to a Class 2A state tourney berth, was also named to the INA Class 2A first all-state team. Sorensen, also a first-team all-stater, was the point guard on Lawton-Bronson teams that reached the Class 1A state tourney semfinals in each of the past two years.
De Jong, a 5-11 guard moved up from the third team, while North's Ceasar and Sorensen were fifth-team selections last year. Ceasar led North's 4A state tourney club with 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.
High-powered scorers are sprinkled throughout the five honor teams.
Second-team selection Marni Jacobsen of Spencer finished her career as the school's all-time leader in points (1,297) and rebounds (585). Another second-team pick, Battle Creek-Ida Grove junior Hannah Redenius, ranked in a tie for fifth in the state scoring derby in statistics reported to Qwik Stats with 23.6 points a game.
Charter Oak-Ute senior guard Kami Kuhlmann was also named to the second team after averaging 23.0 points to rank seventh in the state.
The lone freshman honored, third-teamer Jordan Henningsen of Alta, averaged 21.3 points. She's the daughter of former Buena Vista NCAA Division III All-American Jeannie Demers Henningsen, the third-leading scorer in Iowa collegiate history (all divisions) with 3,171 points.
Second-teamer Miley Hunziker of Okoboji, a 5-11 junior, and third-teamer Brooke Scharn of Sioux Central, a 5-9 sophomore, each averaged 20 points a game. Also on the second squad is fiery Newell-Fonda sophomore Susan Kies, a 15.5 scorer and the catalyst of a young Mustang team that lost in the 1A state title game to Springville.
Sioux City Bishop Heelan is the main case in point. The Class 3A state champions landed three berths on the eight-player first team, led by first-team all-staters Michelle Lund and Millie Niggeling.
Lund, who has signed with Division I Bradley University of the Missouri Valley Conference, finished her career as Sioux City's five-player career scoring leader with 1,837 points.
The four-year starter scored 45 points in three state tournament games, including three second-half three-point baskets that ushered the Crusaders to a 54-51 win over second-ranked Pella in the 3A title game.
Niggeling, a 6-1 sophomore, enjoyed a stellar state tournament and, after averaging 17 points and 9.3 rebounds, was voted captain of the all-tourney team.
Lund finished the season with an 18.7 scoring average for Coach Doug Moody's 25-2 champs, whose only loses were to Huxley Ballard and South Sioux City's Nebraska Class B state champions. Heelan avenged the loss to Ballard with a victory over the Bombers in the state semifinals.
Joining Lund and Niggeling on the first team is 5-8 sophomore teammate Carli Tritz, who averaged 13.3 points in the state tourney, including 19 in the win over Pella.
Along with the Heelan trio on the first team are Lawton-Bronson senior Katie Sorensen, juniors Jalyssa Ceasar of Sioux City North, Kendra De Jong of Orange City Unity Christian and Amber Kirschbaum of Spirit Lake along with teammate Kaisha Brown, a senior who will play collegiately at Division I Northern Colorado.
Brown averaged 17.5 points and the 6-foot Kirschbaum, a repeat first-teamer, averaged 14.9 points and 9.1 rebounds and also earned first-team all-state laurels for the second straight year.
De Jong, who averaged 19.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in leading Unity Christian to a Class 2A state tourney berth, was also named to the INA Class 2A first all-state team. Sorensen, also a first-team all-stater, was the point guard on Lawton-Bronson teams that reached the Class 1A state tourney semfinals in each of the past two years.
De Jong, a 5-11 guard moved up from the third team, while North's Ceasar and Sorensen were fifth-team selections last year. Ceasar led North's 4A state tourney club with 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds a game.
High-powered scorers are sprinkled throughout the five honor teams.
Second-team selection Marni Jacobsen of Spencer finished her career as the school's all-time leader in points (1,297) and rebounds (585). Another second-team pick, Battle Creek-Ida Grove junior Hannah Redenius, ranked in a tie for fifth in the state scoring derby in statistics reported to Qwik Stats with 23.6 points a game.
Charter Oak-Ute senior guard Kami Kuhlmann was also named to the second team after averaging 23.0 points to rank seventh in the state.
The lone freshman honored, third-teamer Jordan Henningsen of Alta, averaged 21.3 points. She's the daughter of former Buena Vista NCAA Division III All-American Jeannie Demers Henningsen, the third-leading scorer in Iowa collegiate history (all divisions) with 3,171 points.
Second-teamer Miley Hunziker of Okoboji, a 5-11 junior, and third-teamer Brooke Scharn of Sioux Central, a 5-9 sophomore, each averaged 20 points a game. Also on the second squad is fiery Newell-Fonda sophomore Susan Kies, a 15.5 scorer and the catalyst of a young Mustang team that lost in the 1A state title game to Springville.
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