Poll results: Mascoutah star forward Girls Player of the Week in southwestern Illinois

Ahmad Lathan, Garen Vartanian
·3 min read

Sophia Loden of Mascoutah High School is the winner of this week’s Belleville News-Democrat Girls Player of the Week high school basketball poll, as selected by readers of bnd.com.

In recent action, Loden, a senior forward, posted 15 points and 14 rebounds in a 45-38 win over Belleville East along with 26 points and 32 rebounds in a 68-63 victory against Waterloo.

Loden — who won the Player of the Week poll for the second-straight week — also recently became the all-time leading scorer in Mascoutah girls basketball history while grabbing her 1,000th career rebound. Loden, who tallied 65% of the votes, entered the weekend averaging 23.4 points, 13.2 rebounds 2.56 assists and 2.44 steals per game. She’s also shooting 76.2% from the free thrown line.

Here were the other candidates for the week of Jan. 23-28:

  • Shannon Dowell, O’Fallon High School, senior, G. Dowell posted 20 points and 9 rebounds in a 37-22 victory over Edwardsville along with 12 points in a 51-38 win against previously undefeated Alton.

  • Norah Gum, Waterloo High School, senior, F. Gum posted 17 points and 16 rebounds in a 47-45 win over Columbia. She also put up 24 points and 15 rebounds in a 68-63 loss to Mascoutah.

  • Natalie Peterson, Freeburg High School, senior, F. Peterson posted 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 57-46 victory over Columbia.

  • Briley Rhodes, Okawville High School, senior, G. Rhodes scored 22 points and grabbed 5 rebounds while shooting 57% from the field — 44% from 2-point range, 80% from 3-point range — in a 53-36 victory against Nashville. She then posted 16 points and 4 rebounds while shooting 70% from the field — 100% on 2-point shots and 40% on 3-pointers — in a 61-27 victory against Chester.

  • Jenna Scheller, Collinsville High School, senior, C. Scheller posted 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 57-36 victory against Belleville West along with 10 points and 8 rebounds in a 49-43 loss against East St. Louis.

  • Emilee Travnecik, Althoff Catholic High School, junior, C. Travnecik recently posted 26 rebounds and 21 points in a 65-38 victory against Gibault and 10 points and 12 rebounds in a 61-38 victory against Carbondale.

The poll ended at 8 a.m. Friday.

To be clear, this poll is not scientific. In fact, we invite you to vote as many times as you want. It’s all for fun, BND readers.

The next poll will appear on the BND’s website — www.bnd.com — at 5 a.m. Wednesday. Please email nominations to gvartanian@bnd.com.

Previous poll winners: Taylor Smith of Belleville East High School; Cole Stuart of Freeburg High School; Dylan Murphy of Columbia High School; Clareece Davis of Althoff Catholic High School; the Freeburg-Columbia Holiday Tournament; Jordan Lewis of Althoff Catholic High School; Karsen Jany of Columbia High School; David Marshall Jr. of Belleville West High School; Marshall Jr.; Addi Dilley of Red Bud High School; Chase Lewis of Breese Central High School; and Loden.

For the second-straight week, Sophia Loden of Mascoutah High School is the winner of the Belleville News-Democrat Girls Player of the Week high school basketball poll, as selected by readers of bnd.com.
For the second-straight week, Sophia Loden of Mascoutah High School is the winner of the Belleville News-Democrat Girls Player of the Week high school basketball poll, as selected by readers of bnd.com.