This AlWood senior will pursue degree in ag, play basketball in college. Meet Hannah Maher

WOODHULL — Hannah Maher is focused on becoming a better basketball player.

And the AlWood High School senior, who hit the hardwood for Ridgewood — a co-op between AlWood and Cambridge — also wants to learn more about agriculture.

The 18-year-old will do both at Black Hawk College. Maher plans to attend classes at the school's East campus, which is located outside Kewanee and has a Galva mailing address, but Black Hawk no longer fields athletic teams out of the branch.

At the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, Black Hawk nixed all of the Warriors' programs. The college's Moline campus still has athletics, and Maher will suit up for the Braves.

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"I think it's just the best option for me for both school and for basketball. They have a really good basketball program, and I really like the coaches," Maher said of Black Hawk. "My parents and I went and watched a couple of games and they just seemed like a good fit for me.

"I'm going into the agriculture transfer program. I'll be doing my classes at the East campus in Galva/Kewanee," Maher added. "Typically the athletes go to the Moline campus, so that was another reason why I wanted to go there because they were really accommodating for what I wanted and what worked best for me."

Maher was 'heart' of the Spartans

Maher, a 6-foot post player, netted an average of 12.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game for Ridgewood in 2021-22, and she provided leadership for the Spartans.

"Hannah was just a great leader for our team. She led by example," Ridgewood coach Maggie Molek said. "Every day at practice, she was one of the first people there. She was always shooting. She worked really hard in the offseason. Her work ethic and everything she put in every single day really showed the other girls what it looked like to work hard and the results you get from working really hard.

"At the end of the day, she was just kind of the heart of our team," Molek added of Maher, who made nearly 78% of her free throws this winter. "She was always happy to be there. She put everybody in a good mood and just made it kind of light hearted during practices."

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Maher was just enjoying her final time repping Ridgewood, and the Spartans had a good season on the court, as they went 19-11 overall and 8-3 in Lincoln Trail Conference play. Ridgewood ended the 2021-22 season with a 53-47 loss to ROWVA/Williamsfield in Class 1A regional quarterfinal action on Sat., Feb. 12.

"It was really just a fun season. We had a lot of success, and I think we did a lot of good stuff," Maher said. "I know obviously teams improve throughout the year but I think we really really had a lot of improvement. You could see people start working together a lot better.

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"I learned a lot from this year and it especially helped having (fellow senior) Paige (Leander)," Maher added. "We were pushing each other to be better."

Maher's not partaking in track & field

Before this spring, Maher was a member of the Spartans' girls track and field team. However, Maher, whose specialties were the throwing events (discus and shot put), decided not to compete for Ridgewood in track and field this school year.

Instead, Maher chose to instead focus on honing her basketball skills before she plays for the Braves.

"I've been doing a lot of workouts to stay in shape for basketball because we'll start this summer," Maher said. "I need to be stronger in the post position. I need to have more post moves. I need to get more confident, too. I'm working on being a better player all the way around. There is a lot of improvement I can have all the way around.

"I need to be consistent and adapt better to different situations," Maher added. "In some games — depending on what team we were matched up against — I'd do really well and other nights not as much.

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"I need to be quicker at recognizing things."

Why is Maher majoring in ag?

Farming is in Maher's blood, so pursuing a degree in agriculture was an easy choice for her.

"I grew up on a farm," Maher said. "My family has a row crop operation — corn and beans — and we farm a lot of acres around this area so obviously I've worked in the fields and helped my parents and grandparents a lot and since I was little little.

"I also show horses nationally," Maher added.

Once she wraps up her studies at Black Hawk, Maher plans to pursue a bachelor's degree at likely either the University of Illinois or Oklahoma State University.

"I haven't decided which one I wan to go to yet but I'll get there," Maher said. "I think I want to do Ag Business or like Crop and Soil Sciences."

Matthew Wheaton can be reached at (309) 315-6073 or at mwheaton@register-mail.com. Follow him on Twitter @matthewlwheaton

This article originally appeared on Galesburg Register-Mail: NJCAA Women's Basketball: Ridgewood's Maher to play for Black Hawk