Andy Amey: Looking back, particularly at girls hoops

Jun. 24—High school sports are officially over for the 2020-2021 school year — or will be on Saturday, depending on how you count Saturday's Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association All-Star Game at Memorial Stadium.

Honors are still coming in, with Sullivan's Wes Kirk named the state Coach of the Year in girls tennis this week — I think the coaches got that one right — and with Jude Sullivan of Paris making the Class 2A baseball all-state team after going 8-0 on the mound and hitting 11 homers.

That's a reminder that it was probably a better high school sports year in Indiana than it was in Illinois, a situation I hope never happens again. Also a reminder that if any school had a better spring in girls sports than Sullivan . . . well, I don't think any did.

I have some catching up to do in basketball, however, beginning with the girls season. The two highlights for me were a second straight state championship for Linton and a team I didn't see (COVID prevented me from doing so once), Riverton Parke. The Panthers may have been hit harder by the uniqueness of the past school year than anybody, but won a Wabash River Conference game late in the season despite its coach and almost its entire roster unavailable; six freshmen did the job, which will be referenced a few paragraphs farther down.

Which means it's time — finally — for the Andy Amey Teams.

Since we don't get players who lead their teams to back-to-back state championships very often, Vanessa Shafford of Linton is certainly going to be one of the captains of the Clutch Team. Also in leadership positions for this team are the two Zs, Zayda Hatfield of Terre Haute South and Zoe Stewart of Terre Haute North, and also Maya Osborn of Marshall.

Their teammates are Caeden Bennett of Riverton Parke; Ally Compton and Courtney Williams of North Central; McKenzie Crowder of North Vermillion, probably the best kicker on this list; Kai Engledow of Marshall; Shaylee Evans of Clay City; Abbey Grange of South Vermillion; Adelynn Harris and Kylee Stepp of West Vigo; Jaylee Hayes of Linton; Jailyn Lundy and Mattie Thrasher of White River Valley; Grace Ramsay and Mady Millspaugh of Parke Heritage; Eva Richardson of Casey; Kylee Shelton of Bloomfield; Jaci Stone of Shakamak; Bailey Straugh and Marisa Zane of Robinson; Macey Timberman of Northview; and Trinity Tingley of Paris.

The Competitors Team will also be led by a Miner — Am I prejudiced in favor of winners? Yes — with Aubrey Burgess setting the example for her team by disregarding her body. There are also the two constants, Delainey and Gracie Shorter of Sullivan; a constant-effort presence for West Vigo in Katelyn Fennell; and the Paris hustler Mady Rigdon.

Their teammates include Tara Arthur and Emily Hyatt of Clay City; Paige Baldwin and Kiersten Padgett of South; Macey Barnes, Bailey Duke and Alyssa Fellows of Riverton Parke; Casey Burris of Shakamak; Carsyn Chambers of Linton; Averi Davidson of North Central; Genny Davidson and Britney Wright of Casey; Lexi Gilman, Chloe Rippy and Natalie Silver of South Vermillion; Katelyn Jones, Lucy List, Catie Newlin and Alexia Zane of Robinson; Katelyn Littleton of Paris; Gracie Lowry and Delaney Richardson of Bloomfield; Ava Martin of North Vermillion; Preslee Michael of North; Parker Mischler of Sullivan; Mercedes Moore and Kylie Palmer of White River Valley; and Audri Spencer of Northview.

The Unsung Team is captained by a pair of teammates from North — A.J. Campbell, who anonymously finds a way to get about eight rebounds and a few steals every game, and Ainslee Michael, who will guard you even when you don't expect her to (she should get this reference). Another leader in that regard was Sullivan's lone senior, Brionna Perkinson.

Others on this list are Gracie Adamson, Niree Evans and Mikayla McAdams of South; Katy Anderson, Hanna Dawson and Tara Pearce of Northview; Mahayla Boram and Morgan Yeryar of Shakamak; Ellie Easton, Maci Easton and Grace Likens of West Vigo; Gwendalyn Eckerty and Chloe Hawkins of Casey; Madison Freed of South Vermillion; Hannah Halt, Mia Marlow and Lexi Strosnider of WRV; Makenzy Haviland and Emma Zimmerman of North Central; Deming Hawkins of Paris; Ilana Horning, Kinley Moody and Ruby Myers of Bloomfield; Lexi Jones, Bethany Wilson, Megan Wittenmyer and Kristen Wood of Parke Heritage; Ady Littlejohn of Robinson; Kaylee Miller of Clay City; Olivia Pearman of North Vermillion; Nolee Sollars of Marshall; Jennica Sutton and Cloe Vanatti of Riverton Parke; and Aliyah Thuis, Izzy Wall and Gentry Warrick of Linton.

Most Improved Team? Let's start with Linton's Haley Rose, the mistress of mental attitude, who made this team last year and still continued to get better. Play her for the 3-point shot and she'll drive around you to the hole, which she proved against Tipton a few months ago. Marshall's Adi Scott was considered the most improved player in the entire Little Illini Conference, and Sullivan's Klaire Williams could be heading for a high ceiling too.

Also getting better all the time are Ariana Barker of WRV; Zoe Boatman and Avery Lasecki of West Vigo; Emma Booher of Shakamak; Kaitlyn Coombes and Sara Mills of Paris; Halie Gilbert and Karson Hart of North; Katie Jones of North Central; Kaylee Mathas and Lexi Nowicki of Riverton Parke; Callie Naylor and Cami Pearman of North Vermillion; Hannah O'Brien of Parke Heritage; Elizabeth Perkinson of Sullivan; Hannah Ping of South Vermillion; Heaven Rayhel of Marshall; and Elizabeth Shea of Robinson.

The Promising Team is loaded — thanks largely to Riverton Parke — but for its captains I'll pick Kenley Minor of South Vermillion, Reaghan Benjamin of Riverton Parke, Kendra Young of Paris and Bradie Chambers and Sydney Jerrells of Linton, just in case people are expecting the Miners to fall off the face of the earth.

Others to watch for are Lailynn Bigger, Kylee Higgins, Kenzye Knopp and Kaylee Rogers of West Vigo; Sarah Brown, Mia Bunner, Jerra Nelson, Kayleigh Nowicki and Ariel Wright of Riverton Parke; Brianna Bucher, Jacenyia Godoy and Jaeden Mietus of Bloomfield; Mya Clark of Marshall; Braxtyn Dunham and Lauren Ellis of North Vermillion; Brooklyn Eldridge of Northview; Lilli Gaines-Schimmel, Kimber Ladson, Grace Scott and Maggie Scott of North Central; Lexi Grindstaff, Jocey Wible and Avery Wiltermood of Sullivan; Natalie Hardesty of Shakamak; Jetta Harmon, Hallie Hayes, Mallory Millington and Payton Strange of North; Harley Jean and Kam Smith of Casey; Lexi Kinzer, Lilly Merk, Indi Nichols, Adi Speth and Presley White of South; and Kaylyn Kirkling and Lulu Koehler of Clay City.

Almost by definition it's tough to pick a captain for the Unselfish Team, but no one I've talked to would keep Riverton Parke's Lindsey Peterson off the list. A good number of Miners are here too, simply because a tournament roster is just 12 players deep.

The rest of the team-first players are Maycee Antibus and Katryna Zimmerly of WRV; Abby Brownfield, Ally Brownfield, Kylie Cooksey, Lydia McCammon and Audrey Warrick of Linton; Lauren Craighead of Sullivan; Emily Dawson, Maisie Eldridge and Sydney Maurer of Northview; Claudia Dorado of Bloomfield; Ella Florkowski, Katie Hartke and Bri Robb of Robinson; Livy Gilman and Claire Kendrick of South Vermillion; Abby Jo Grupe of Clay City; Lexi Hanks of Parke Heritage; Kenzie Hutchings and Grace Sullivan of Paris; Macy Roberts of Caseyl; Sandy Shepard of North; and Lilli Steelsmith of Riverton Parke.

And my Lefthanded Team is small, but hopefully mighty, and includes Abby Brownfield and Izzy Wall of Linton; Callie Dickerson of Robinson; Madison Freed, Livy Gilman and Hannah Ping of South Vermillion; and Jacoba Harcar of Paris.

Andy Amey can be reached after 4 p.m. at 812-231-4276; by email at andy.amey@tribstar.com; or by mail at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN, 47808. Follow TribStarAndy on Twitter.