As I have done the past two years, I will again give my take on the top players in the Northern Plains League after having seen the teams play in 2013-14 and having extensive coverage of the league during the NPL Tournament. Disclaimers: these are just one man’s OPINION on this basketball season. My opinion is also not that of my employer.
Boys 1st Team*
*-This will be the first year that I am not able to separate the fifth and sixth player of my top ten, therefore, I will have 6 on the 1st team and 4 on the 2nd team. It might seem like a cheap way out, but I feel that all six of these young men are deserving of the 1st team honor. Call it a 6th man if you will.
Trey Dubbert, 6’0″, Jr., G, St. John’s/Tipton Blujays
Dubbert averaged a team high 13.2 ppg for the Blujays, who won the 1A-DII State Championship and finished 25-1. At the State Tournament in Hays, he upped his average to 17.7 ppg, with 20 points in each the semifinal and championship wins. He also led the team with 50 made three-pointers, including 8-10 in the last two games of the State Tournament combined. Dubbert shot 84% from the free throw line on the season, going 42-50. He also dished out 2.4 apg, which ranked 2nd for the Blujays. He had a season high 28 points against Thunder Ridge on December 13. This is Trey’s second straight year on my 1st team.
Luke Eilert, 6’4″, Sr., F/C, St. John’s/Tipton Blujays
Luke was the 2nd leading scorer for the Blujays State title team. He put up 11.9 ppg and grabbed a team high 7.7 rpg and led the team with 2.6 apg. He registered four double-doubles on the season for the Blujays and had a season high of 18 points against Tescott on February 21. He averaged 13.3 ppg in the three wins at the State Tournament, and also led St. John’s/Tipton with 1.5 bpg and shot 59% from the floor (120-203). He is on my first team for the second consecutive year, and has been a part of the team all three years.
Nick Lawson, 6’1″, Sr., G/F, Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs
Lawson continued his solid play in 2013-14 after being on my first team a season ago. He averaged just over 20 ppg and had a season high 36 on two occasions, once at Natoma in December and then again on the final night of the regular season in a comeback 55-51 win against Lincoln in Sylvan Grove. Lawson led the team with 2.3 spg and shot 53% from the floor and 42% from three-point land for the Mustangs this season, who finished 2nd in the NPL.
Jackson Stull-Meiers, 5’11”, Sr., G, Natoma Tigers
Stull-Meiers made the most noise this season when he went for 52 points against Tescott on February 24. He shot 23-38 from the floor in that game and 5-7 from 3-pt. land. On the year, he averaged a team high 18.3 ppg and scored 20 or more points 10 times. He also added 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 apg and a team high 49 3-point makes. This is Meiers’ first appearance on my NPL All-League team.
Connor Eilert, 6’0″, Sr., G, St. John’s/Tipton Blujays
Eilert was the third part of the three-headed monster for the 1A-DII State Champion Blujays team. He averaged right at 10 ppg, but had a nose for the basketball, leading the team with 2.6 spg, with five or more steals in six games. He finished the season shooting 50% from the floor and 72% from the FT line. Eilert also added 2.2 apg. He put up a season high 19 points in the season opener at Lakeside on December 10. This is Eilert’s third year on my all-league team, but the first time he has been a first-team selection.
Brandt Wolters, 6’1″, Jr., F, Osborne Bulldogs
Wolters was the leader for a Bulldog team that finished 15-8 and just one win away from the 1A-DI State Tournament. He averaged just under 17 ppg, but came on late in the season, putting up around 23 ppg in the final month of the regular season. In the middle of that run, he put up two 30 point games, once against Trego in Osborne on February 7th and at Smith Center on February 18th, both wins. Wolters also led the team in rebounding with 8.1 per game and shot 47% from the floor and 73% from the FT line. This was Osborne’s first year in the NPL, thus making this Wolters’ first appearance on my all-league team.
Boys 2nd Team
Justin Underwood, 6’2″, Sr., G/F, Lakeside (14.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 73% FT)
Casey Jensen, 6’6″, Jr., C, Pike Valley (15.5 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 5.0 rpg, 11 DD, 1 TD)
Kenton Ubelaker, 5’8″, Sr., G, Osborne (9.2 ppg, 3.2 apg, 2.7 rpg)
Ryan Perkins, 6’0″, Sr., G, Southern Cloud (15.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.9 apg, 3.4 spg, 71% FT)
Boys 3rd Team
Parkes Wolters, 6’0″, Jr., G, Osborne (10.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 40% 3’s)
Marcus Denham, 6’0″, Sr., F, Wilson (11.5 ppg, 7 rpg)
Garrett Krueger, 6’1″, Sr., F/G, Thunder Ridge (16.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3 apg, )
Elijah Holmes, 5’11”, Sr., F, Natoma (11.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 57% FG)
Marko Vignjevic, 6’7″, Sr., F/C, Sylvan-Lucas (11.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg, 76% FT)
Girls 1st Team
Jessica Princ, 5’9″, Sr., F, Osborne Bulldogs
Princ was a force for the Lady Bulldogs team that made it to the 1A-DI State Tournament in Emporia and finished 21-4. Princ led the team with 15.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 2.7 apg. She had six double-double’s, with a season high of 24 points against Lakeside on January 28th and pulled down a season high 21 rebounds against St. John’s/Tipton on December 14. Princ finished 54% from the floor and 75% at the FT line (76-101) in her final season. This is Princ’s first time on my all-league team, with Osborne being in their first season of NPL play.
Caitlyn Miller, 5’9″, Sr., F, Osborne Bulldogs
Miller was solid for the Lady Bulldogs as well in their 1A-DI State Tournament season. She was second on the team with 15.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.8 apg, and added 1.8 spg. Miller had three double-doubles this season and registered a career-high 27 points against Wilson in the NPL Tournament Semifinals on January 21. She finished the year shooting at a 76% clip from the FT line (96-126). As was the case with Princ of Osborne, this is Miller’s first appearance on my NPL All-League team.
Courtney Freed, 5’7″, Sr., G, Pike Valley Panthers
Freed makes her first appearance of her career on my all-league team this season. She was the leader for a Pike Valley team that finished 15-9 and one win from the 1A-DI State Tournament, falling to Osborne in the Sub-State Championship. She averaged around 15.5 ppg and led the team with 3.3 apg and 2.4 spg, while also hauling in 3.5 rpg. She scored 20 or more points on four occasions, with her season high being 26 against Lakeside in Courtland on February 21.
Kirsten Burger, 5’10”, So., G/F, Thunder Ridge Longhorns
Burger helped lead Thunder Ridge to a 21-2 Sub-State Runner-up finish and NPL regular season (11-0) and tournament championships. She averaged 16.1 ppg for the Lady Longhorns. Her season high was 27 on February 14 at Chase. As a Sophomore, this is Burger’s second selection to my all-league team and the first time she has been on the 1st team.
Kellan Niewald, 5’9″, Sr., G, St. John’s/Tipton Blujays
Niewald led St. John’s/Tipton in every category except scoring in her final season in a Lady Jays uniform. She was a key factor in helping St. John’s/Tipton qualify for the 1A-DII State Tournament. She finished the season with an average of 11 ppg and led the team with 7.8 rpg, 4.1 spg and 2.5 apg, all while battling a wrist injury she suffered in January. She had a season high 21 points against Thunder Ridge at the Lakeside Preseason Tournament on December 13. Niewald registered six double-doubles. This is Niewald’s second year on my all-league team after being a 3rd team selection a year ago.
Girls 2nd Team
Brenna Eilert, 5’8″, Fr., G, St. John’s/Tipton (13.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.7 spg)
Regan Casey, 5’6″, So., G, Natoma (15.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.1 spg)
Taylor Noel, 5’5″, Sr., G, Osborne (11.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.7 spg, 44 3’s)
Shania Steinike, 5’10”, Sr., G, Wilson (12.5 ppg, 6 rpg)
Adrianna Florke, 6’0″, Jr., C, Wilson (13 ppg, 6.5 rpg)
Girls 3rd Team
Michaela Merchant, 6’1″, Sr., C, Sylvan-Lucas (10.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1 bpg)
Jaid Runft, 6’1″, Sr., C, Pike Valley (8.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
Courtney Batchman, 5’6″, So., G, Sylvan-Lucas (10.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.1 spg)
Brittni Harlow, 5’4″, So., G, Lincoln (11.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.3 spg, 99-172 FT)
Sawyer Pittenger, 5’6″, Sr., G, Lincoln (7.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.9 spg)
dusty40 