Kaylee Karels (second from right) was chosen by the Valley Conference coaches as one of the 15 girls basketball players from conference teams to earn an All-Conference award.
Karels and her teammates were honored at an awards banquet, held in the school commons on Thursday evening.
The junior led the team in points and all the categories underneath: 2-point baskets (105), 3-point baskets (37) and free throws (65). She completed 25 assists. Her 66 steals were the most for the Clippers. She had 132 rebounds, 46 deflections and six blocks.
“Kaylee definitely from outside the three-point line was the girl we wanted to have shoot the ball,” said head coach Joe Remiger, who presided over the banquet.
Karels also took home the Offensive Player of the Year award and the and one of two Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Named the Clippers’ Most Valuable Player was senior Emily Kern (center).
“This young lady always had a great attitude, always came to practice ready to work hard, and was always willing to teach others by example and taking that leadership role,” Remiger said. “Out on the court it started to flow her the second half of the season. We’re just sad it’s her last year.”
Kern also received an award for having the most rebounds (270) on the team.
“She was always working hard on the glass, never quitting,” Remiger said. “If it meant getting down to the other end of the floor, she was going to be the first one down there. You could tell at the end of the game, she was tired.”
Kern had the second most 2-point baskets (90) and free throws made (51). She had 10 blocks, 42 deflections, 36 steals and 26 assists. For her efforts she also earned an All-Valley Conference Honorable Mention.
Junior Sarena Remiger (second from left) was also an All-Conference Honorable Mention and earned the other Defensive Player of the Year award.
She pulled down 208 rebounds and led the Clippers in blocks (22) and 2-point field goal percentage (43.6%). She made 78 2-point baskets and 30 assists. She had 27 steals and 23 deflections.
Coach Remiger said that the Clippers were struggling down low for the first few games, but Remiger and Kern settled into their roles, and the Clippers beat Martin County West on the road.
“Sarena and Emily had almost 500 rebounds between them. If a shot went up, the other team was going to have to work if they were going to get the basketball.”
Freshman Ava Hahn (left) was named the Most Improved player. She led the Clippers in assists (36). She had 78 rebounds, five 3-point baskets and 29 2-point baskets. She had 37 deflections and 35 steals.
“This is someone who when we started out the season we were like ‘yeah, we see some stuff in her, but we are not sure how that’s all going to play out,’” Remiger said. “When it came to the basketball court it just kind of flowed well for her. She is just a natural at things. If I said this is what I need done, it happened. It was encouraging to see. I am excited for her and her future.”
The Coaches Award went to senior Emma Treanor (right). While all the girls had great attitudes, Remiger said, Treanor was a sublime example of sportsmanship.
“I got this a lot from other coaching staff: ‘your girls work hard; they never quit.’ You look at all of our players. If Chris (assistant coach Chris Seely) or I need something from them or had to get on them for something, it was never an attitude back. It was always ‘I’m here to learn and make our team better.’ But this player for me—there was a time we sat down on the bench, and I am like ‘here’s where we are and here’s where we could be,’ but she just said ‘I love basketball. I love to play, but I want to do what’s best for the team.’ The team was always number one for her.”
Treanor had 27 rebounds and a dozen assists. She made 20 deflections and came up with 16 steals.
Other stats to note, Greta Hahn had 27 assists and had a 2-point field goal percentage of 31.8 with 36 of them made. She had the best three-point percentage (25.7%) with nine shots made from behind the arc. She had 42 deflections and 28 steals.
Besides the award winners, earning letters were the rest of the team: Greta Hahn, Mariah McCabe, Sam Wondra, Micah Peterson, Addi Holden, Asia Kern, Lacey McCabe and Ava LaFrance.
With a GPA of over 3.5 during the season, the entire team earned Valley Conference Academic awards.
“That is a huge deal,” Remiger said. “Especially because these girls have a lot of things going on besides basketball. Kudos to them to not only keep their grades where they need to but excel in those grades.”
During the banquet, Remiger expressed his gratitude to those who helped with the program, either directly or indirectly.
“I want to thank my family and my wife. It is a season that goes on and on, so it takes a crew to make it work.”
He thanked assistant coach Seeley.
“Just his work ethic…and it’s not ‘do this or else.’ It’s ‘we do this and here’s why and how do I teach this so they are able to do it?’ I couldn’t do it without him. There are times in the season when it is the hardest time to be away from work, so if I couldn’t get there in time or get there at all, I had zero worries on what was going on in practice. He took care of all of it and to his wife and crew too because they all deal with it.”
Remiger expressed his gratitude to Greg Davis, Dean Koppelman and Brady Hahn for keeping the scoreboard and book and, for Kopelman, driving the bus. He thanked athletic director Rich Kern for making needed changes to the game schedule and to the Booster Club, which got them a coach bus for a 2-hour one-way ride to their playoff game.
He said next year’s eighth graders will move up to JV or C-squad basketball if they chose to.
“The plan is to get them more involved with the game speed and getting them to learn some of the things we want them to learn quicker and getting the numbers built up.”
Remiger urged the returning players not to wait until November to pick up a basketball. He is planning a couple of summer tournaments with a few practices in the mix.
The entire team earned Letters and Academic All-Conference awards. They are, from L-R, Addi Holden, Ava Hahn, Sarena Remiger, Kaylee Karels, Emily Kern, Greta Hahn, Emma Treanor, Maria McCabe, Asia Kern, Sam Wondra, Lacey McCabe and Micah Peterson. Missing is Ava LaFrance.
Earning All-Conference Awards were Sarena Remiger, Kaylee Karels and Emily Kern.