The two most amazing numbers revealed at the Chesterton girls basketball banquet: 94% and 4.67

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com
Before getting to which players won what awards at the Chesterton girls basketball postseason banquet after a a 15-9 season, consider how automatic one young player has become shooting free throws.
Coach Candy Wilson was a day behind when she announced how high freshman Lindsi McGuffey already had set the bar in the program postseason free throw competition tracked online that includes girls from elementary and middle school, should they decide to enter.
Wilson informed an impressed crowd that McGuffey had made 93 of 100 free throws. Later in the banquet, McGuffey let her coach know that she had just improved her own mark by hitting 94 of 100.
Not surprisingly, McGuffey took home the free throw award from the banquet for making 71.4% from the line during the season. That’s not the only percentage Wilson expects McGuffey to improve significantly by next season.
McGuffey shot 29% from 3-point range, but freshmen seldom shoot a high percentage when adjusting to the speed of the varsity game and to the length, strength, savvy and quickness of defenders. That’s why a freshman shooting percentage very often isn’t as good a forecaster of future performance as another method: watching the net on the 3s the shooter makes. It barely moved when McGuffey’s shots fell through it. She’s a pure, pure shooter with a soft, soft touch.
Wilson called McGuffey “one of the hardest-working kids I have ever coached. Those are going to start falling in games for you because I know how good a shooter you are. I have no doubt you are going to see a lot of great things coming from her.”
Seven of the 10 awards went to four players who will return next season. Seniors Isabelle Connors, Hailey Geiser and Liz St. Marie each won an award apiece.
No player handled as many tasks for the team as junior Kenedi Bradley, the leading scorer, distributor and defender for a team that averaged 14 steals per game.
Bradley had her hands full again when the awards were passed out. After leading the team in scoring (14.8), field goal percentage (49), assists (3.1) and steals (3.3), she also led the team in awards. She was named MVP and won the assists award and the steals award.
“Kenedi really expanded her game this season. I felt like she always had the capability to shoot 3s but didn’t look to do it a lot in games. This season she added that component to her game. Her 3-point shot was lights-out, and she also started using her jump shot a lot so that she could score at all three levels,” Wilson said of her best player. “She became much more disciplined in her defense. We always knew she was quick, but to get steals and not foul, and then be able to capitalize, it was huge for us. Her anticipation skills are incredible.”
Since Bradley also won the assists award, Wilson addressed that part of her game as well: “Her floor vision is also incredible. She’s a true point guard. That’s not an easy job at the varsity level. There is a lot of pressure in that, a lot of double-teams but she did an outstanding job and was able to find a lot of open teammates.”
A three-time All-DAC selection, Bradley received all-state honorable mention.
“She’s been a rock at both ends of the court for us all season with her consistency and her motor,” Wilson said.
Lest anyone doubt the strength of next year’s team will be the backcourt, another guard, sophomore Novea Brandon, was called to the front of the room to receive the “Todd Talbert Memorial Award,” which Wilson said goes to “a returning player who exemplifies an unwavering commitment to improving her game, coachability and a passion on the court.”
Wilson called Brandon “very driven” and recounted the two charges she took from Valparaiso’s much bigger, three-time DAC MVP in the sectional final.
Wilson addressed Brandon and said, “You took your licks, came back the next day and wanted to watch film. You became a student of the game. You turned it on. Great job this season.”
Junior Allison Van Kley was the only player besides Bradley to win multiple awards. She took home one of the two most improved trophies handed out, and also won the Kurt Ruoff Memorial Award, given to a player, Wilson said, “who leads by example, demonstrates hard work, love of her school and athletics and demonstrates academic excellence while also working to achieve athletic excellence.”
A speedy player who runs both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays for the track team, Van Kley used her quick burst to step into passing lanes and was called the team’s “defensive stopper” by Wilson. She averaged 2.1 steals and is responsible for the most mind-blowing numbers, even more so than McGuffey’s free-throw numbers, mentioned all night. Those would be the numbers that reflect Van Kley’s cumulative GPA: 4.67.
The seniors all delivered speeches, but before they did, each received an award.
The coveted Mental Attitude Award went to St. Marie, who battled back from ACL surgery and made big contributions down the stretch. Wilson called her, “one of the most determined people I’ve ever met in my life. She was the voice of the team, the team mom. She was so diplomatic about how she would go about things with me: ‘Coach, can we have a talk?’ ‘Sure.’ So we’d talk things through and she’d shake her head and say, ‘That’s fair.’ That was her big saying with me: ‘That’s fair.’ Then she’d lead into something else: ‘But ...’”
The voting for most improved was so close, according to Wilson, that Van Kley and Geiser both received trophies.
“Hailey is a fantastic athlete,” Wilson said. “She kind of looked at me funny when I first told her that. I said, ‘You’re such a great athlete. You have such good length and athleticism,’ and again she kind of looked at me like I was nuts. And I said, ‘You’re a high jumper. That takes a lot of athleticism.’ She finally started to gain some confidence, like, ‘Yeah, I am kind of athletic.’ When she did that, she realized what a presence she was. She was working on some post moves late in the season that I didn’t even know she had. She really came on at the end of the season.”
Connors came to Chesterton as a perimeter player who had a size advantage on most of her opponents and left as an inside player who overcame a size disadvantage with non-stop hustle and a physical approach that helped to soften the blow of losing Tenley Davis to a season-ending injury.
“This girl never missed a day of anything that I can remember,” Wilson said. “She worked tremendously hard. She really stepped it up, on the boards especially, for us in the post, scoring, she got after it.”