Area players land all-state honors after successful hoop seasons
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In their final season on the court, four Messenger-area athletes finished on the biggest stage inside Wells Fargo Arena.
The team success helped bring individual honors on Monday, as Bishop Garrigan seniors Audi Crooks and Molly Joyce were joined by Newell-Fonda senior Mary Walker and Pocahontas Area senior Akaysa Duitscher on the 2023 Iowa Print Sports Writers Association first team all-state list.
Duitscher's PAC classmate, Carly Janssen, was a second team honoree, as was South Central Calhoun's Riley Batta. A pair of juniors were recognized as well from the area, with Newell-Fonda's Kierra Jungers was a Class 1A second teamer, and Bishop Garrigan's Abbie Capesius was on the 1A third squad.
Crooks and Joyce, who reached the state finals all four years of their careers with the Golden Bears, were both four-time 1A first team all-state selections.
"The reason we've won back-to-back state titles is because we have two of the best players in the state," said Garrigan head coach Brandon Schwab. "From Molly's freshman to senior year, her mental toughness has grown so much. She is so much more well-rounded, and knows scoring is just one part of the game.
"Molly can defend, pass and score."
Crooks, an Iowa State University commit, finished as one of the most dominant players in state history as the state's third-highest scorer and third-leading rebounder. She finished her senior season as the state's all-time five player single-season scorer with 889 points, passing Rock Valley's Deb Remmerde (859).
The future Cyclone averaged 32.9 points and 14.3 rebounds for the Golden Bears this winter. Crooks earned all-tournament captain honors this past week after averaging 39 points and 13.3 rebounds in the 2023 tournament.
"There is no ego with Audi," Schwab said. "She would act the same way if she scored 15 instead of 49. Yes, she broke a ton of records, but the last thing on her 'care' list was that.
"All of the records and individual things come with being successful, but the state championships is what she wants."
Joyce, who will play at Truman State, had a standout career as well, finishing as the school's all-time five-player assist leader (505) and three-pointer shooter (249). Her three-point field goals are 17th-most in Iowa history.
Joyce, a four-time all-tournament selection at state and one-time captain, had 1,898 career points, finishing in the top 30 all-time. Her career assists and steals (421) were in the all-time top-40.
Joyce finished her career with 428 points and 194 assists on the way to the school's second straight state title.
"Molly could score 25 a night if we needed her to," Schwab said. "But she did everything else instead.
"Molly is a winner. When she goes to Truman State, she will give the coach what he needs and do what is asked of her. She is a multi-faceted player and can adjust to what she needs to."
Walker, who was part of three state finals teams and on Newell-Fonda's 2020 and 2021 championship squads, had a standout senior campaign in 2022-23 with 425 points and 103 rebounds. She finished her career with 1,074 points, 246 rebounds, 185 assists and 187 steals.
"Mary has really evolved her game,'' said N-F head coach Dick Jungers. "She can score from the outside and she is a great passer. She makes people around her better.
"She is a great communicator on the floor."
Duitscher helped Pocahontas Area return to the 2A state tournament. She had 269 points in her final prep season to go along with 117 assists.
Duitscher closerd her career with 1,152 points and 182 made three-point goals. She had 252 rebounds, 414 assists and 270 steals.
"Akaysa showcased her talent at the state tournament," said PAC head coach Robert Maske. She has the ability to shoot the three and play in any style. She is a catalyst in distributing the ball.
"Her point total is a little bit lower than it could be, given how deep we were."
Duitscher was joined by her teammate Janssen, who was on the 3A third team for the Indians a season ago. Janssen had 302 points this season.
In her Indian career, Janssen had 1,104 points to go along with 258 assists and 341 steals.
"In a word, Carly is consistent," Maske said. "When things obviously get out of sorts, she helped stabilize that tough mentality. She is undersized, but she doesn't let that affect her. She also has the ability to get hot and score in bunches.
"She is so smart on the floor and can identify what they are giving. Defensively, she ended up tying the state tournament record with eight steals in a Class 2A state tournament game. She is really gritty."
Batta is a repeat second-teamer. She had a standout senior run with 473 points and 224 rebounds. She finished her four-year varsity career with 1,539 points to go along with 685 rebounds.
"This was an outstanding accomplishment for a young lady that has put a lot of work into being the best player, teammate and person she could become," said Batta's coach and father, Curt. "People never see the work done when no one else is in the gym. This just highlights the fact that when you put in the work, your dreams are not far off."
With one season to go, Jungers is on her way to the 1,000-point career mark. In three seasons, Newell-Fonda's all-state pitcher has 784 points and 413 rebounds.
In her junior run, Jungers had 340 points and 158 rebounds this winter.
"I feel like she has really elevated her game," Jungers said of his daughter. "Kierra has a good mid-range game and can hit from the outside.
"She is tough on defense and takes on the challenge of guarding the opponents' toughest player. She makes our defense more cohesive."
With one season left, Capesius will return as the leading scorer for the state champion Golden Bears. Capesius had 233 points this season. She has 624 in her career, coupled with 540 rebounds.
"She is the toughest player and is our glue girl," Schwab said. Abbie does all the dirty work on this team. She could average 15-plus points for almost anyone else. She didn't score any in the championship game, but had 12 rebounds. She does the little things.
"On defense, Abbie covers the toughest player. In the first game she held her assignment to two (points), then zero (in the semis) and six (in the finals). She is tough as nails."