Congratulations to the Girl's Basketball team and Coach Gilbert
March 28, 2011
Jeffersonville High School- Jeffersonville's Lakin Roland is our player of the year. Joe Ullrich
- Jalynn McClain is on our All-Area first team. C.E.Branham
- Brooke Valentine C.E.Branham
- Kamaren Cole Greg Mengelt
By MATT KOESTERS http://null/redir.aspx?C=2a94303a70714817b3714ca8f99ddd9c&URL=http%3a%2f%2fnewsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Fri Mar 11, 2011, 12:27 AM EST
> SOUTHERN INDIANA - Jeffersonville's Lakin Roland has been named the recipient of this year's Sonya Wahl Award, awarded to the best girls' basketball player in Clark and Floyd Counties.
Simply put, Roland was the most versatile player on the best team in the state. Despite towering over most opponents at 6-foot-1, Roland is listed as a guard on the Jeff roster.
It's not a misprint.
"Lakin can play one through five," Jeffersonville coach Chad Gilbert said. "She can handle the ball, she can shoot the ball, she can pass the ball, she can rebound the ball - she does everything. She's a throwback Magic Johnson, Larry Bird-type player."
On a team packed to the brim with talent, Roland's performance consistently stood out throughout the season.
"Lakin is so versatile," Gilbert said. "If she gets sombody big on her, she can take her out in the court. If you get someone small, she takes them down the blook. She's just a tough match-up for teams to go against."
When contacted with news of the accolade, Roland was surprised and humble in receiving the honor.
"I'm very thankful," the Jeff junior said, "and I couldn't have done it without my team, though, because they get me the ball when I need it."
Along with Roland, three other Jeff players were named to our first-team All-Area Team of the Season.
Jeffersonville senior forward Brooke Valentine, senior guard Jamice Williams and junior forward Jalynn McClain were all named to our first team.
"They all deserve it," Roland said. "We worked so har this year. I'm not surprised at all that they're all on that team because they're great team members and we all did this together."
New Albany guard Kamaren Cole - the only non-Red Devil - rounds out the first team.
Additionally, Gilbert has been named the 2010-11 Coach of the Year, again by a unanimous vote.
"It's a great honor," Gilbert said, "because there's so many good coaches in our area. But more than anything, it's a reflection upon our program - our kids, our coaching staff, our parents, our administration, our community. That's what makes coaching and playing for Jeff so special.
"When you've got those things, you feel like you need to live up to that every year and it makes you want to be the best coach you can possibly be."
TEAM OF THE SEASON
FIRST TEAM
Lakin Roland, Jeffersonville
""She's such a nice kid. As the season went on, she finally realized how good she is. She took advantage of that and really exploited teams in our tournament run."
- Jeffersonville coach Chad Gilbert
Brooke Valentine, Jefferosnville
"Brooke's just so athletic. She gets those tough rebounds in traffic just because she just goes up another level. The one thing about Brooke is, she's just so unselfish on the court and has such a great understanding of how to play. She really made her teammates better."
- Gilbert
Jalynn McClain, Jeffersonville
" Jalynn is a fierce competitor. She wants to win at all costs, and I thought she really played the last 15-16 games as well as any time she's played in her career. She rebounded the ball extremely well. She took her time and finished her shots inside, and then stepped up and hit her free throws. That was something she worked on and concentrated on, and she just really bought into what we were trying to accomplish here. I'm really proud of the season that Jalynn had."
- Gilbert
Jamice Williams, Jeffersonville
"Jamice is someone who I thought did a great job of running the show. She improved every year that she played for us, handled the ball wonderfully and distributed the ball. Her and Brooklyn (Kinnaird's) unselfish play, passing up a good shot in order to take a great shot was key to our team's success."
- Gilbert
Kamaren Cole, New Albany
"Kamaren really matured as a basketball player as the year went on. She stepped up and became our go-to kid, our playmaker whenever we needed to make something happen. We would not have made the progress that we did as a basketball team without her leadership on and off the floor. The attitude that she brought to practice and to games made everyone around her better. She has added more dimensions to her game which has made her a very dangerous player."
- New Albany coach Amanda Carmichael
SECOND TEAM
Erin Mikel, Borden
Morgan Rookstool, Floyd Central
Brooklyn Kinnaird, Jeffersonville
Tanner Marcum, New Albany
Emily Clayton, Silver Creek
