Postseason honors continue to pour in for the newly crowned Class 1 state champion Mercer Lady Cardinals, with four seniors, and Coach Dan Owens, receiving recognition from the HDC Conference.
Senior starters Bailey Owens, Nicole Kost, and Lindsay Wyatt are first-team All-HDC Conference selections, joined by fellow seniors Hailey Burrows of Gilman City and Payton Craig of North Harrison.
While all five of the first-team selections, the HDC Conference’s youthful core shows up in the second-team, where East Harrison sophomores Natayla Selby and Lauryn Waddle are joined by Grundy R-5 freshman Jandie Peterson, Winston sophomore Sophie Pliley, and North Harrison junior Brandy Rivet.
Mercer senior shooting guard Emily Sample was named to the All-HDC Honorable Mention squad, along with Gilman City junior Megan Cottrell, Grundy R-5 senior Matana Munday and junior Zoe Littleton, and North Harrison senior Krissi Cox.
Dan Owens of the state champion Lady Cardinals is the HDC Conference Coach of the Year.
On the boys side, the Winston High School backcourt of senior Craig Lewis, and his younger brother, sophomore Jacob, lead the first team, in addition to the Mercer senior tandem of Cash Hartley and Bryer Noe, and East Harrison junior Ethan Claycomb.
Boys second-teamers are Winston senior Griffen Harris, North Harrison senior Randy Rinehart, Gilman City junior Cornelius Peery, Grundy R-5 senior Bryson Gann, and Mercer sophomore Hunter Shipley.
Four boys earn Honorable Mention status, in Winston sophomore Cy Uthe, East Harrison junior Justin Roberts, North Harrison sophomore Logan Craig, and Newtown-Harris sophomore Andrew Garcia.
Eric Lewis of the Winston Redbirds is the boys Coach of the Year in the HDC Conference.
The Redbirds finished unbeaten in the regular season and won the HDC regular season and tournament titles, before being upset in the Class 1, District 13 championship game by Braymer on Saturday, February 25th.
