You gotta dig these Miners
Photo by Josh McDonald Wallace Lady Miners Sarah Johnson, Maggie Howard, Catie Sheppard and Jaden House were all named to the North Star All-League team.
WALLACE — A quartet of Lady Miners nabbed North Star All-League awards after guiding the Miners through a long, fun season.
Seniors Maggie Howard and Catie Sheppard, along with junior Sarah Johnson and freshman Jaden House, were all the recipients and it couldn’t have happened to a more in sync group of ball players.
“It’s going to be weird not playing a sport with Maggie next year,” Sheppard said. “We have been playing together for years and have always been together.”
The underclass(wo)men spoke highly of their departing teammates, who displayed leadership throughout the season while also keeping the season fun even when the team was struggling.
“These guys always made sure to help me when I needed to make adjustments,” Johnson said. “But they also made sure to keep things fun. We are really going to miss having them on the floor and as part of the team.”
Howard waxed sentimental as she discussed the parts of being a Lady Miner basketball player that she is going to miss the most.
“Playing games was a lot of fun,” Howard said. “But I think I’m going to miss the other things like before and after practice and our goofy locker conversations, or the bus rides. I really enjoyed all of those team things that we did outside of just playing the game.”
Johnson and House are now looking at very prominent leadership roles for the future Miner squads and despite a few nerves, they appear to be ready.
“I’m excited and kind of nervous,” Johnson said. “It’s going to weird to be on the floor without these two (Howard and Sheppard). They were great examples of how to be good leaders.”
House bloomed as a freshman and her scoring load is only going to get bigger with the departure of Howard and Sheppard.
Unanimously the girls had two highlights from this season that they’ll hold onto forever.
Late in the season House hit a game-winning free throw to beat Genesis Prep on the road and then the barn burner overtime loss to Lakeside (on Lakeside’s senior night no less).
“Just to play in those kinds of environments was cool,” House said. “Those are the games I always enjoy the most, win or lose.”
With the passing of the torch, a new generation of Lady Miners looks set for next season.