Sanders County players shine in basketball showcase

Sanders County was well represented in the 23rd annual Mission Mountain All-Star showcase Thursday night at the Ronan Events Center.

Plains had several Horsemen and Trotters that competed in the showcase that was selected by coaches around the Mission Valley, Flathead and Sanders region.

“I thought it was a great night and obviously they picked the All-Star players for a reason,” one of the original organizers and current Ronan Maidens’ head coach Steve Woll said. “It was fun to see all of the kids who have played with each other their whole career play against each other.”

This year marked the first year the All-Star showcase boasted of a representative from two state championship basketball teams in both Class C and Class B with Arlee and Bigfork.

“I don’t think that has ever happened before,” Woll recalled. “It tells you a little bit about the kind of conferences that we are playing in and what an amazing conference. All of the conferences were represented well.”

The Trotters players were represented by Lindsay Laws, Jessica Thompson, who didn’t play but was selected, and Kara Altmiller for the girls team. McKenzie Cannon was also selected to represent the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat.

The Horsemen, who fell one game shy of qualifying for the Class C MHSA state tournament, had Jay VonHeeder, Tanner Ovitt and Kyle Weeks. Junior Tyler Carr represented Hot Springs and and sophomore Brandon Knutson also represented the Savage Heat.

Well, who returned to coaching this season, said he felt the All-Star game was a “great way to end the season.”

“It really puts a stamp that it’s spring time now and what a way to put a stamp on the end of the season,” Woll said. “This is one last time for the fans and parents to see their kids play against each other.”

The Mission Valley All-Star teams are carefully selected by a panel of coaches.

“Our panel meets, go through the matches and place kids that are similar size, strength and ability level,” Woll said. “We match them up 50-50 and obviously the coaches need a pat on the back because both games were tightly contested.”

The following are a list of the Mission Valley All-Star basketball players selected for the All-Star Game (NOTE: Sanders County players are in bold):

GIRLS 2018 ALL-STAR

TEAM A (Light)

1. Alyssa Vanderburg (JR) Arlee

2. Lindsay Laws (SR) Plains

3. Karolyna Buck (SOPH) Mission

4. Noelle West (JR) Arlee

5. Jessica Thompson (SR) Plains

6. Jaelyn Askans (SR) Ronan

7. Sydney Brander (FRESH) Mission

8. McKennzie Cannon (SOPH) Hot Springs

9. Kyra Aimsback (SR) Two Eagle

10. Sakoya Gaustad (SR) Charlo

11. Kara Altmiller (SR) Plains

12. Quinn Motichka (SR) Polson

TEAM B (Dark)

1. Jaime Berg (SR) Bigfork

2. Micalann McCrea (SR) Ronan

3. Kaelyn Smith (SR) Polson

4. Rakiah Grende (JR) Bigfork

5. Olivia Perez (JR) Polson

6. Shae Anderson (SR) Bigfork

7. Kaitlyn Cox (SR) Charlo

8. Kianna Finley (SR) Ronan

9. Stacy Gray (SR) Hot Springs

10. Tyrah Hammond (JR) Charlo

11. Nellie Desjarlais (JR) Arlee

12. Leila Marsh (SR) Mission

BOYS 2018 ALL-STAR

TEAM A (Light)

1. Zeke Misa (SR) Ronan

2 Logan Taylor (SR) Bigfork

3. Beau Santosteven (SR) Bigfork

4. Jay VonHeeder (SR) Plains

5. Will Mesteth (SR) Arlee

6. Brendan McDonald (SR) Two Eagle

7. Wacey McClure (JR) Mission

8. Robin Erickson (JR) Polson

9. Landers Smith (JR) Charlo

10. Tyler Carr (JR) Hot Springs

11. Levi Alexander (SR) Mission

12. Greg Whitesell (JR) Arlee

TEAM B (Dark)

1. Phillip Malatare (SR) Arlee

2. Shade Main (SR) Polson

3. Anthony Camel (JR) Ronan

4. Chase Chappuis (SR) Bigfork

5. Tyson Petticrew (SR) Charlo

6. Brandon Knutson (SOPH) Hot Springs

7. Tanner Ovitt (SR) Plains

8. Connor Lanier (JR) Polson

9. Toby Odom (SR) Charlo

10. Jacob Hugs (JR) Mission

11. Dallas Durheim (JR) Ronan

12. Kyle Weeks (SR) Plains