By Mark Carpenter-
The varsity girls coaches from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference gathered together recently for their annual tradition of casting their voted for the 2018-19 All-Conference team. When the final votes were tallied, six young ladies from Adams County earned All-Conference honors, with a total of 16 girls from the SHAC recognized.
The Manchester Lady Greyhounds placed second overall in the small school division of the SHAC with a 7-6 conference mar and placed two girls on the All-Conference team. sophomore Brooke Kennedy and senior Darrington White. After earning the same honor in her freshman season, the multi-sport talented Kennedy had a strong sophomore campaign on the hardwood, averaging a double double of over 13 points and 11 rebounds per game, and putting up an impressive double double in 15 of the team’s 24 outings.
In her final season as a Lady Hound, White averaged over 9 points and 7 rebounds a game and was solid on both ends of the court, providing the team the senior leadership that a young squad requires.
In a very tough big school division of the SHAC, a 9-4 conference mark earned the North Adams Lady Devils a third place finish and a pair of players on the All-Conference Team, senior Grace McDowell and sophomore DeLaney Harper.
The quiet leader McDowell completed her North Adams career with a season where she averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds a game and was named the Most Valuable Player of the McDonald’s Holiday Classic. The sophomore Harper was a force inside that opponents had to plan for and averaged 12 points and 9 rebounds a game for the Lady Devils, who finished with an overall record of 16-6.
The Peebles Lady Indians finished with an 8-5 mark in the SHAC, good enough to be crowned champions of the small school division. With an overall record of 19-8 and an Elite Eight appearance in Division IV, the Lady Indians placed two players on the All-Conference Team, junior Tatum Arey and sophomore Jacey Justice.
One of the most improved players in the conference in the 2018-19 season, Arey averaged over 10 points game, becoming another potent offensive threat for a young Lady Indians’ squad. After averaging 19 points a game as a freshman and earning All-SHAC honors, Justice came back this season to put up 24 points a game and also notched her 1,000th career points in a record-breaking sophomore year.
The remainder of the Girls All-Conference Team included: Brianna Barnes and Samara Cannon (Fairfield), Olivia Crawford and Cecilia Murphy (Fayetteville), Carlee Daulton (Ripley), Zoe Fittro and Peyton Scott (Lynchburg), and Alexa Pennington, Camryn Pickerill, and Morgan Reynolds (Eastern Brown).
The SHAC Coach of the Year was Eastern Brown’s Kevin Pickerill and the Player of the Year was Lynchburg’s Peyton Scott.
All of these honorees were recognized at the SHAC Winter Sports Awards, which were held on March 10 at North Adams High School.
