Before we get started please note this is NOT the LSWA (Louisiana Sportswriters Association) all state team but solely Louisiana Girls Rankings thoughts. Again with our platform we are only trying to help keep the conversation going about OUR girls so this is just another way of doing that. Each day for the next ten days we will release an all state team for one of the divisions. The Division III Select was a classification that saw two teams that won quarterfinal games on the road compete for a state championship just to give you a little insight to how wide open this division ended up being. The 5 seed in Parkview Baptist took down the 6 seed Episcopal as everyone (LGR) wrote both teams off in the quarterfinals much less that state championship games. Hats off to both coaching staffs and programs as these teams just continued to get better throughout the season and were clearly playing some great basketball down the stretch! The all state selections for Division III Select classification is listed below:
Division III Select
MVP
Addyson Bernhard - Parkview Baptist - Junior
Addyson is the type of player any coach would love to have on a roster! She does a lot of things that won't show up in the stat sheet and a lot of that is leading by example doing whatever her teams needs to help improve their chances of winning! She can of course score the basketball as she's one of her teams leading scorers night in night out but its the communication, the defense and the confidence she helps provide her team that lands her as our MVP for this division. She helped lead Parkview Baptist to a win on the road in the quarterfinals on their way to claim only its schools second state championship. Addyson came up big under the bring lights in the semifinals scoring a game high 17 points but again it was the ability to make an impact when her shot wasn't falling that made the difference her team coming home with the hardware in the state championship game. Congratulations on a great year Addyson! We're looking forward to following this program next year.
1st Team (Alphabetical Order Last Name)
Sanaa Bean - Isidore Newman - Sophomore
Addyson Bernhard - Parkview Baptist - Junior
Anna Richerson - Parkview Baptist - Freshmen
Blair Smith - Episcopal - Senior
Anaya Yunusah - Isidore Newman - Junior
2nd Team (Alphabetical Order Last Name)
Sophia Geisler - STA - Senior
Taylor Jordan - Glen Oaks - Sophomore
Marilyn Seeling - Menard - Senior
Caroline Watson - Episcopal - Freshmen
Natalie Yancey - Glenmora - Junior
Honorable Mention (Alphabetical Order Last Name)
Abigail Atherton - Menard - Junior
Carly Meynard - Menard - Freshmen
Destiny Pierce - Houma Christian - Junior
London Wells - Glenmora - Junior
Devasia Williams - STA - Freshmen
Coach of the Year: Brett Shelton / Parkview Baptist High School
- Coach Shelton has helped rebuild the Parkview Baptist program that for a time was worried if a player fouled out or got hurt if they would have enough players to finish the game. Fast forward a couple of years later and he has won a state championship only the second one in programs history. We were excited to see the run Parkview took us on as the more people we talked to the better understanding we got about how much this team had continued to improve throughout the season. They saved their best basketball for last as they were playing well enough to go on the road and get a road quarterfinal victory to advance to the state semifinals before beating the number one seed Newman as well as Episcopal in the state championship. The style of play is fun to watch and what's even more exciting is a state championship team that only loses one senior and has two juniors. I think it's safe to say Parkview Baptist will be a team to follow for the next several years in this division. Congratulations to Coach Shelton and his staff on the great playoff run this year!