A winning boys basketball season and numerous Academic All State selections highlighted the North Nodaway Athletic Banquet Wednesday.
Cross Country had three participants, Andrea Jenkins, Casey Wray, and Carlos Rohner, an exchange student. There were only three of them, but the camaraderie lasted a lifetime. Andrea doubled as a volleyball player, and at one meet, the volleyball team came to one of her meets to cheer her on. Both Jenkins and Wray qualified for state, while Rohner improved his time by 6-10 minutes over the course of the season. Both Jenkins and Wray were Academic All State.
The Volleyball squad only had eight players, so their players had to wear a bunch of different hats. Named to the Academic All State squad were Lacy Riley, Lauren Herndon, Andrea Jenkins, Addalea Barcus, Emily Keho, Lily Blane, and Kila Miller.
The Character Award, given to a player who was always willing to help, went to Andrea Jenkins. The Most Improved award, for showing her versatility during the year, went to Kila Miller. The Rising Star award went to Lily Blane, who was the team leader in digs with 177. The Coaches Award went to Lacy Riley, who coach Cari Cline said was a joy to coach every day.
The Heart of a Mustang award went to Lauren Herndon. The team’s record didn’t show it, but she was among the area stat leaders on the squad. She had 409 kills, 93 aces, 37 blocks, and 537 digs for her career. Cline said that she led by example, took the younger players under her wing, kept battling, and improved on her serve percentage and became one of the leaders this year.
Flag Corp members were Sydney Whipple and Aryanna Jimenez, who worked on a lot of new moves this year.
The Cheerleaders were next. Most Improved was Aryanna Jimenez, who had never cheered before, but got better every single time. Most Energetic was Olivia Renfro, who was constantly cracking people up. Outstanding Leader was Amy Richards, who set a good example for the other cheerleaders.
Girls Basketball was next. Coach Sami Jackson said that she knew going into this season that they had a young squad, and if they got to .500 this year, it would be good. The Mustangs exceeded expectations this year, winning 11 games and improving on their record after this group found wins hard to come by in junior high and didn’t finish their season.
During the middle of the season, the team fell into a prolonged losing streak and was struggling. But the day before the Mound City game, Sami said that Saryn Brown came up to her and talked to her before the game and said everything would be OK. Sure enough, North Nodaway played one of their best games of the year in beating Mound City, a game Jackson said was one of the most fun games she’s coached.
In districts, North Nodaway was counted out, seeded sixth in a loaded district against Rock Port, who had beaten them by 20 earlier in the year. They dug themselves into a hole, but came back and got the lead in the third and tied it up in the fourth before they fell by four.
Saryn Brown was given the Offensive Award. She had 12.7 points per game, 2.0 offensive rebounds per game, and 2.0 assists per game and was awarded Honorable Mention All Conference.
Lauren Herndon was named the Defensive Award. She had 2 steals, 3 tips, 4.5 offensive rebounds, and only one foul per game, showing the ability to play without fouling.
The Hustle Award went to Angie Parker, who was outsized in the post, but never backed down from anyone, got a broken nose in the first DeKalb game, but came back and was just as aggressive as before.
The Most Improved Award went to Jackie Wray. She started the season slow, but then gave the team a lot of quality minutes when Angie Parker went down. When Angie came back, Jackie became her biggest cheerleader on the bench and still came off the bench to give people a break. She was almost too unselfish, like the time she passed on a wide open layup to make an extra pass.
The Leadership Award went to Lauren Herndon. Coach Jackson said that you could make a good argument for any of the three seniors, Herndon, Brown, or Parker. They all took someone under their wing and never showed negative body language.
The Heart of a Mustang award went to Kila Miller. She was a true team player, always wanted what was best for her teammates, never asked for anything, and was always was the first to pick up stray balls or go fill up water.
The Boys Basketball Team was next. They went from 1-23 their freshman year, to 1-22 their sophomore year, to 5-17 last year, to 15-11 this year. They were 6-2 at home, their best record since 2015. They were 3-4 on the road, their best since 2019.
A lot of their games were an adventure, as they scored 48 points per game and gave up 46 per game. They made it to two championship games, won their first district game since 2016, and threw a scare into Platte Valley before losing.
They finally started off the season with their full contingent of players, and they got their first win under their belt, a 48-41 win over North Harrison, another team that showed a lot of improvement from last year. They won their first game of the year for the first time since 2019.
There were a lot of highlights for the year, like Ethan Fry going off and hitting seven 3-pointers against DeKalb, the long and grinding tournament at Gilman City, in which they placed second and showed they could play with a lot of different teams, the North Andrew game, in which the whole team showed a lot of unbelievable energy in a hard-fought win, the second King City game, in which the only thing that went wrong was Owen Martin missing a dunk, and Aydan Blackford getting his 1,000th point despite missing almost half his career with injuries.
Aydan Blackford got the Offense Award. He averaged 15.4 points per game, shot 57% from inside the arc, made 79% of his free throws, played nearly every minute of the season that North Nodaway was involved in, and had two assists per game and had a 1.5-1 assist to turnover ratio.
Mason Casner won the Defense Award. He was always tasked with guarding the other team’s toughest player, whether it was Tyler New or Talan Holt. He still got 26 tips, 24 steals, drew three charges, got 4.2 rebounds per game, and got 12 points per game.
Owen Martin won the Hustle Award. He had 51 tips and 39 steals and was one of the hardest workers on the team. He cut down on his fouls this year, and was rarely in foul trouble after battling it for much of his career.
Brice Trimble was the Most Improved. Coming into this season a lot more confident this year, he had 40 three pointers. He also improved on his defense, and stole the ball five times against Stanberry.
The Newcomer Award went to Ridge Clements. He was quiet until he got to know people, but turned into a good teammate and always put the team first.
The EGB Award, or Energy Giving Behavior Award, went to Trevin Wyllie, who began to earn minutes in the varsity rotation as the season progressed. He always had a smile on his face, even when he was in trouble.
The Heart of a Mustang Award went to Aydan Blackford. “When you think of North Nodaway, you think of this kid,” said his coach, Cody Jenkins.
Students who went out for a sport all four years were recognized. They were Lauren Herndon (Volleyball, Basketball), Saryn Brown (Basketball), Angie Parker (Basketball), Aydan Blackford (Basketball), Brice Trimble (Basketball), Ethan Fry (Basketball), and Sydney Whipple (Color Guard). Aydan Blackford was given the Letterman’s Award for doing three different sports, Football, Basketball, and now Baseball for four years.
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