When a prep basketball player reaches 1,000 points in his or her career, the school typically recognizes the milestone by hanging the player’s jersey in the gym.
Grandview already has Anna Belle Wakeland’s uniform on display. The 2023 graduate rang up 1,195 points in her four-year varsity career. Her sister, Catherine, will have her jersey placed alongside after she reached 1,000 points in a 45-33 loss at Perryville Jan. 14.
“(The Pirates) made it hard for me,” said Catherine, a senior point guard. “There was about one minute left and it was a layup (for the milestone). I was nervous but excited. It was a relief to make it.”
The Wakelands played together for two seasons.
“I always looked up to her,” Catherine said. “I’m glad my number will be next to hers. After hers was hung up, I’d see it on the wall and I hoped mine would be, too, someday.”
Two nights later, the Eagles traveled to Perryville again, falling 68-22 to St. Vincent in a Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools game. Wakeland was held to four points.
But Grandview bounced back the following week, defeating Crystal City 63-35 at home and beating host Collegiate School of Med-Bio Science/Central Visual Performing Arts 46-32 in St. Louis. That left the Eagles at 4-7 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
The Hornets, who came in with a five-game winning streak, dipped to 9-6 and 0-1.
“We were ready for them,” Catherine said. “(Head coach Kristi Smith) told us to be aggressive and we worked really well at that and it was our best game of the season.”
Crystal is led by freshman point guard Addison Bova, averaging 18.5 points per game; senior center Carly Roussin (13 per outing); freshman guard Molly Reiter (10.5 points and 2.5 assists per night) and junior forward Maya Hankins, who is pulling down 10 rebounds per game.
But Wakeland put up 19 points and senior forward Sydney Riddle led the Eagles with 21 points. Senior forward/center Brooke Patterson tangled with Roussin and Hankins inside and finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
“She was incredible,” Smith said of Patterson. “Our defense was the key to that win. (Sophomore) Madi Nahlik was our front defender causing havoc. It was a great team win. We tried to rush Crystal and not ourselves.”
Grandview had played four consecutive road games before facing the Hornets.
“We were ready for a home game,” Smith said.
With 10 games left before the Class 3 District 3 tournament next month, Catherine had 1,044 points, in striking distance of her sister’s record. The school will officially honor Wakeland at the home game against Valley of Caledonia Feb. 5.
“She does so much for us,” Smith said. “Every game, she has three or four steals and six or seven assists. Defensively, she’s good at deflections, the way she can get to the ball. She’s a quiet leader and always the hardest-working person on the court.”
And she’s already thinking ahead to the track season. Wakeland holds school records in the 400-meter run (1:01.3), 100 hurdles (15.6 seconds) and 300 hurdles (45.5) and as part of the 4x200 (1:48) and 4x400 (4:15) relay teams.
“I want to get more (records),” she said. “I’m running in the open 100 and 200 and I’ve been doing strengthening. I’m very excited about that.”
Grandview had four games scheduled this week. The Eagles played St. Paul Lutheran (Farmington) and West County (Park Hills) after the Leader deadline before hosting Bourbon tonight (Jan. 30) and heading to Viburnum on Friday.
“I’m excited about that (part of the schedule),” Smith said.
Hawks back on track
The Hillsboro girls lost 57-56 at home to Festus (14-3, 4-0) on Jan. 16. As the defending champion of the JCAA large-schools division, the Hawks had to swallow a bitter pill with the narrow loss, which left them at 11-2 overall and 1-1 in league play.
But they gulped hard and went on the road to knock off De Soto (8-8, 0-2) 60-32 Jan. 20 and Seckman 41-30 the next night. The Jaguars (6-8) had won five in a row but now have lost three straight.
Sophomore guard Carlei Clubb played her first game for Hillsboro against the Dragons, coming off the bench to score seven points and make two steals. Clubb transferred from St. Pius X, where she was a starter for the Lancers last season when they finished fourth in the state in Class 3.
“She can hit shots and makes us a dangerous team because of our depth,”
Hillsboro head coach Andrew Hubbard said.
For the seventh time this season, junior forward Ashley Hilton topped 20 points against De Soto. A first-team all-JCAA large-schools selection in 2024, Hilton averages 19 points and three steals per game and is closing in on 1,000 career points.
Against Seckman, Hilton traded elbows with Jaguar freshman center phenom Mollie Bailey (17 points per game) in a defensive tussle. Bailey dominated the boards with 16, but was held to four points while Hilton finished with 10 points. Seckman also features Czech foreign-exchange student Bara Kolarova (6-1) and guards Payton Bantle (5-9) and Julia Pfau (5-10).
“We knew it was going to be tough; they’re enormous,” Hubbard said. “They are 6-3, 6-1 up front with two tall guards. They’ve been playing really well. They’re young, so I knew they are still progressing. We doubled Bailey and some possessions had three girls around her. The officials allowed both teams to be physical or we could have gotten into foul trouble. We had struggled on defense the last couple of games.”
Hillsboro is the No. 1 seed for the Hawks’ 44th annual girls tournament, which started Monday against No. 8 Herculaneum. Freeburg (No. 2), North County (3), St. Charles (4), Sullivan (5), Fox (6) and Pacific (7) also are in the tournament, which wraps up Saturday.
The Hawks have a rematch at conference-leading Festus Feb. 6. The two teams could meet a third time in the Class 5 District 1 tournament in Cape Girardeau. Festus picked up another large-schools win in Perryville 60-49 Jan. 23.
“We won our tournament last year by beating Freeburg (in the final),” Hubbard said. “We hope to be in the championship again. After losing to Festus, the girls are trying to get back on track. I’m hoping it drives them and at end of season we look back and say it was a turning point for us.”