The 2023-24 Southern Hills Athletic Conference All-Conference Girls Basketball Team. Front row, from left, Katelynn Boerger, North Adams; Harlee Brand, North Adams; Lilly Carlier, Fayetteville; Faith Donley, Fairfield; Macy Etienne, Lynchburg-Clay; Payton Johnson, Peebles; and Ryley Kleemeyer, Fayetteville; Back row, from left, Kenlie Jones, North Adams; Brooklyn Manning, Ripley; Jade Massey, Lynchburg-Clay; Jaylie Parr, Whiteoak; Tabby Schumacher, Eastern; Abigail Smalley, Peebles; and Addison West, Lynchburg-Clay. Absent from the photo was Kelsey Clark, Fairfield. (Photo provided by the Southern Hills Athletic Conference)
The 2023-24 Southern Hills Athletic Conference All-Conference Boys Basketball Team. Front row, from left, Grady Barber, Eastern; Weston Blair, Whiteoak; Alex Bradshaw, Fayetteville; Denver Clinton, Lynchburg-Clay; Bransyn Copas, North Adams; Connor Darnell, Manchester; Larkin Friend, Fairfield; and Luke Haney, Eastern; Back row, from left, Trey House, Fairfield; Drew Kennedy, Manchester; Logan McIntosh, Fairfield; Carson Reed, Peebles; Jayce Rothwell, North Adams; and Breestin Schweickart, North Adams. Absent from the photo was Caleb Tipis, Fayetteville.(Photo provided by the Southern Hills Athletic Conference)
Peebles senior Payton Johnson was honored as the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Girls Basketball Player of the Year during the 2023-24 SHAC winter sports banquet. (Photo provided by the Southern Hills Athletic Conference)
The Southern Hills Athletic Conference selected two Girls Basketball Coaches of the Year for the 2023-24 season in Fayetteville head coach Tory Rummel and Peebles head coach Sidney Pell. Fayetteville was the Division II champion with a 10-3 conference record. Peebles finished third in Division I, also with a 10-3 record. (Photo provided by the Southern Hills Athletic Conference)
A father-son duo earned the top boys basketball honors in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference during the SHAC’s winter sports banquet. North Adams head coach Nathan Copas was named 2023-24 SHAC Boys Basketball Coach of the Year, and North Adams senior Bransyn Copas was named the Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The Green Devils earned the Gold Ball with a perfect 13-0 SHAC record this season. (Photo provided by the Southern Hills Athletic Conference)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
In the annual vote of the conference coaches, the Southern Hills Athletic Conference recently honored the 2023-24 All-Conference Girls and Boys Basketball Teams, the Players of the Year and the Coaches of the Year. All of the honorees were recognized at the SHAC Winter Sports Awards, held at Eastern Brown High School on Sunday, march 10.
As always, Adams County was well represented in the basketball awards, with eleven girls/boys named as All-Conference players. Adams County also had two Players of the Year and two Coaches of the Year.
The 2023-24Girls Basketball All-Conference Team includes five young ladies from Adams County schools: Katelynn Boerger, Harlee Brand and Kenlie Jones from North Adams, plus Payton Johnson and Abigail Smalley from Peebles. Johnson was named the SHAC Girls Player of the Year and Lady Indians’ head coach Sidney Pell, was named Co-Coach of the year, sharing the honor with Fayetteville’s Tory Rummel.
The remainder of the Girls All-Conference Team includes: Lilly Carlier and Ryley Kleemeyer (Fayetteville); Kelsey Clark and Faith Donley (Fairfield); Macy Etienne, Addison West and Jade Massey (Lynchburg); Brooklyn Manning (Ripley); Jaylie Parr (Whiteoak); and Tabby Schumacher (Eastern Brown).
There are six young men from Adams County included on the roster of the 2023-24 SHAC Boys All-Conference Team: Bransyn Copas, Jayce Rothwell and Breestin Schweickart from North Adams, Connor Darnell and Drew Kennedy from Manchester and Peebles’ Carson Reed.
Rounding out the Boys All-Conference Basketball squad are: Brady Barber and Luke Haney (Eastern Brown); Weston Blair (Whiteoak); Alex Bradshaw and Caleb Tipis (Fayetteville); Denver Clinton (Lynchburg); and Larkin Friend, Trey House and Logan McIntosh (Fairfield).
