Marion County College Report

Young Wins Final GLVC
Player of the Week Award

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Daniel L. Chamness

If Ellen Young had her way, personal honors would not be a part of the game of basketball. But it simply is not that way, and Young has been, and continues to be, the focus of such individual awards.

During the final week of February the Salem grad was once again named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week. She has earned the honor twice this year and earned the final GLVC POW that will be named for the 2009-10 campaign.

"I would not be able to be honored if not for the actions of my teammates," Young said. "More than any other sport, basketball players have to work together. I wish they would give a team award for the way a particular team played that week."

In a way, that’s just what the GLVC did.

Not surprisingly, the award was one of a number of pieces of good news for the USI women's basketball team. First, USI has been selected to play in the NCAA Division II Tournament, even though they lost a 56-54 decision to Lewis University in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament.

Young scored 16 points by nailing 6-of-14 field goals and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Young, who struck three times from beyond the arc, also had five rebounds and two assists in her 35 minutes of play.

The other piece of good news was that Young was named to the GLVC all-conference squad, earning second team honors. In conference play, Young finished with 296 points and 85 rebounds, respective averages of 16.4 and 4.7 per game. She also had 38 assists and 35 steals. Young was over 40 percent from both the field and 3-point land, hitting 101-228 field goals and 41-of-98 from beyond the arc. She also made 53-of-64 free throws this year.

USI (22-8, 13-5 GLVC) will play Drury in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. They are scheduled to play in Houghton, Mich., at 11 a.m. on March 12. USI enters the regional as the sixth seed, while Drury enters with the third seed and a 26-6 mark. They were 15-3 in the GLVC and defeated USI 70-51 in the only meeting between the two teams.

"I hated waiting for the phone to ring to find out if we made it," Young said. "We knew our chances were pretty good, so it was not as tense as it could have been. On our team, we seem to take turns having great games. We beat Indianapolis this year and they are a great team. If we can play like that, we should be fine."...

Danielle Miller, a Centralia grad, scored nine points in Dominican University's 82-55 win over Mount Mary College. The Dominican sophomore also had eight rebounds in DU's final game of the year. Dominican finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 9-16 overall record and a 4-14 mark in the Northern Athletics Conference. ...

Golf

Southern Illinois-Carbondale's Jeffery Miller, a Centralia grad, had his best outing as a college golfer this past week. The Salukis freshman shot a 230 to take 28th in the 54-hole Grover Page Classic, which was held at the Jackson Country Club in Jackson, Tenn. Miller shot a low round of 76 in the final round.

Miller joined former Orphans teammate Michael Fowler at the Jackson event. Fowler, who now plays for Maryville, finished 61st with a 246. Fowler opened with a low found of 80. SIUC took sixth with a 920, while Maryville took 12th with a 956. University of Central Arkansas won the outing with an 847. ...

Salem grads Mallorie Cummings and Taylor Landers helped the Rend Lake College women's golf team finish sixth at The Shootout at the Aguila, which was held at the Aguila Golf Course in Phoenix, Ariz. Cummings, who shot a low round of 84, carded a 174 over 36 holes.

Five spots behind Cummings was Landers, who shot a 178 to take 30th. Her low round was an 87. Rend Lake finished with a stroke count of 679. Drury University finished first with a 613. ...

Men's Basketball

Lindenwood and McKendree have each earned trips to their respective conference tournaments. Lindenwood punched its ticket with solid wins over Missouri Valley College (72-59) and Central Methodist (57-51).

Former Centralia player Joey Parker, a Lindenwood senior, scored 12 points in the win over Missouri Valley. Parker had four assists and drained 4-of-8 field goals including a pair of 3-pointers. In the semifinal win over Central Methodist, Parker finished with seven points, six assists and four rebounds. Lindenwood is scheduled to play William Jewell for the HAAC Tournament Title. They are 23-9 overall and 13-7 in the HAAC. ...

At McKendree, the Bearcats will meet Park University for the third time this year in the American Midwest Conference Tournament title game. The two teams met during the regular season twice and McKendree won both meetings. The Bearcats thumped William Woods University (79-53) and Columbia College (72-44) to earn the title date with Park. Andy Wolff, a McKendree junior and Centralia resident, scored four points, doled out a team-leading eight assists, pulled down seven rebounds and two blocked shots in the win over WWU. The Metro East Lutheran grad finished with two points, three rebounds and three assists in the semifinal win over Columbia. McKendree will enter the title game with Park with a 26-6 mark. They finished the AMC season with a 13-1 mark. ...

Illiabum Clube professional player Matt Shaw scored 29 points as Illiabum Clube defeated Fisica Desportiva De Torres Vedras 81-61. The Centralia grad drained 9-of-11 from the field and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, adding nine rebounds, three steals and two assists. ...

Blackburn College sophomore Dakota Tucker poured in 17 points as Blackburn lost a 73-60 decision to Spalding College. Tucker drained 6-of-10 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws, also had seven rebounds and two assists. Blackburn finished the year with a 4-20 mark. They were 2-14 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. ...

Salem grad John Fischer scored three points as his college team, Greenville College, won a 91-88 decision over Eureka. Fischer played 16 minutes in the contest. Greenville finished the season with a 13-12 overall record and 9-7 mark in the SLIAC. ...

Softball

Amanda Brendel, a Salem grad and Southern Indiana junior, has started every softball game this season. Brendel has four hits (one double, two homers). She also has seven RBIs, six walks and four runs scored. In of USI's 5-1 win over Maryville, Brendel finished 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, a double and a walk. She drove home four and scored two. USI is 4-6 overall and 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. ...

Baseball

Brian Deadmond, a Greenville College player, was 1-for-2 in Greenville's 10-2 win over Cornell College. The Odin grad doubled and scored twice in the victory. Greenville is 3-1. ...