SIOUX FALLS – Several Central South Dakota girls players were given All-State honors by the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association.
Caelyn Valandra-Prue of White River, the eighth-leading girls scorer in state history, was named Player of the Year in Class B. In leading the Tigers to the girls program’s first state championship, Valandra-Prue, a senior, averaged a state-high 27.1 points a game, 8 rebounds and 3.4 assists. She hit 75 three-pointers and 81 percent of her free throws. She also had 73 steals and 48 blocked shots.
Ipswich senior Halle Heinz also made the first team in Class B. Heinz averaged 20 points, four and a half rebounds and four and a half assists per game.
White River junior Mayleigha Estes made the second team. Estes averaged 20.6 points per game and six rebounds. She also had 50 steals. Estes hit the winning shot in the last seconds to give the Tigers a 52-50 state semifinal win over Corsica-Stickney, the night before White River ran past Castlewood for the state championship.
Herreid/Selby Area senior Rachel Fielder also made the second team. Fielder averaged 18 points a game and hit 46 three-pointers as the Wolverines made the state tournament for the first time since the forming of the co-op.
Jones County sophomore Jadyn Jensen landed on the third team in Class B. Jensen averaged 19.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3.1 steals for the Coyotes.
Also on the Class B third team is Kennedy Leiferman, a senior at Kimball-White Lake. Leiferman averaged a double-double, with 17.8 points and 10.8 rebounds a game.
Junior guard Bella Swedlund of Winner was named to the girls all-state first team in Class A. Swedlund scored 22.5 points per game, hit 58 three-pointers and averaged 8.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game.
Another Warrior, senior guard Kalla Bertram, was named to the second team. Bertram talled 19.3 points a game, with 5.5 rebound and 3.3 assist per game averages. She also had 96 steals.
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