headline theTHE FANTASTIC FOUR

FREE

MARCH, 2017

Plus...

Jordan Walker is Miss Basketball 2017!

THE FANTASTIC FOUR

Jordan WalkerMona Shores

Jermayne GolidyMuskegon

Riley FairfieldNorth Muskegon

Allyson RichardsFruitport Calvary

LocalSportsJournal.com

Jordan Walker has been the cornerstone of the Mona Shores girls basketball program for the past four years. She brought scoring, defense, determi-nation and leadership, helping her team win four straight conference and three straight district titles. She was elected Michigan’s Miss Basketball this season.

Jermayne Golidy was the leading scorer on a very talented Muskegon team this season. He also led the Big Reds in assists, and his unselfish play helped Muskegon post a perfect 20-0 regular season record and capture its fourth straight conference title and fifth straight district championship.

Allyson Richards played five years of varsity basketball at Fruitport Calvary Christian (which is allowed at very small schools) and developed into a scoring and rebounding machine. She led the Eagles to a 23-2 record this season and league and district titles all five years of her career.

Riley Fairfield has been an impact player since he stepped on the court for North Muskegon as a sophomore. He poured in points from the perimeter and paint and was always strong on the boards. He led the Norse to a district championship in 2015.

The four senior standouts have been named Local Sports Journal’s Class A-B and C-D prep basketball Players of the Year. They headline the first annual All-LSJ basketball teams, which feature 28 top players from area schools who had great seasons in 2016-17. The teams were selected by a vote of area coaches and LSJ reporters.

Coach Brad KurthMona Shores

19-4 recordOK Black champs

Class A district title

Jordan WalkerMona Shores

22.1 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists,

4 steals per game

Alli KeyserGrand Haven

15.9 points, 3.5 assists per game,

45% shooting

Alyza WinstonMona Shores

17.4 points, 2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1 steal

per game

13.6 points, 10.1 rebounds per game,

58% shooting

Delaney BollesReeths-Puffer

Hannah ReinholdOakridge20 points, 5.6

rebounds per game, 75% free throws

Reiko JohnsonSpring Lake

16.7 points, 2 steals, 3 rebounds

per game

Iyana BrownFruitport

CLASS A-B GIRLS

15 points, 10 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.7 blocks per game

CLASS A-B BOYS

14.7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists

per game

Jermayne GolidyMuskegon

15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds per game,

82% free throws

Merritt HamannMontague

23-1 recordOK Black champs

Class A district title

Coach Keith Guy Muskegon

14.1 points, 3.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds,

2 steals per game

Calvin HackertLudington

11.6 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal per game

Anthony Bethea Muskegon

Markell JacksonMuskegon13.3 points, 10

rebounds, 2.6 blocks per game, 75% free throws

15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

per game

Zac HolmanGrand Haven

Lucas SchummWhitehall

18.9 points, 4.5 assists 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 steals per game, 75% free throws

Coach Brad Richards Fruitport Calvary

22-2 recordAlliance League champsClass D district title

Allyson RichardsFruitport Calvary

20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists

per game

Aubrey Goorman WM Christian

18.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks

per game

Jenny BeckmanShelby

22 points, 4 steals, 3 assistsper game

16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists

per game, 58% shooting

Kaitlyn GeersKent City

Talia TylerMuskegon Catholic

13 points, 3 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds

per game 58% shooting

Jakayla AndersonM. Heights

17.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals, 2

assists per game

Mya DuncanNorth Muskegon

CLASS C-D GIRLS

16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists per game 75% free throws

CLASS C-D BOYS

15.8 points, 5.2 rebounds

per game

Riley FairfieldNorth Muskegon

17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds per game,

79% free throws

Kevin SlowikHolton

18-6 recordLakes 8 co-champs

Class C district title

Coach Dale Stewart M. Heights

13 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds,

per game

Antoine JonesM. Heights

14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists

per game

Anthony Jones M. Heights

Fraser WilsonKent City15 points, 5

rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals per game

11.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1

block per game

Daniel RayWM Christian

Spencer BrownShelby

14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks

per game

2ND TEAM GIRLS

Elysia Mattos, Reeths-PufferEsther Byington, Grand Haven

Daz'sha Day, MuskegonJulie Brown, Whitehall

Janaya Ferrell, Orchard ViewSophia Wiard, OakridgeJenna Keson, Ludington

Kelsey Richards, Fruitport CalvaryLexy Wilson, Fruitport Calvary

Tori Mussell, ShelbyDanashia Day, Muskegon Heights

Shelbey Younts, HoltonCassie Kingma, WM Christian

Yasmine Colon, Hart

A-B C-D

2ND TEAM BOYS

Ross Koella, Grand HavenJarvis Walker, Mona Shores

Sam Cornett, MuskegonCameron Ball, Spring LakeSam Johnson, Spring LakeJosh Weesies, MontagueBrandon Rake, Whitehall

Kieshon Watson, Muskegon HeightsVernonell Smith, North Muskegon

Cameron Martinez, Muskegon CatholicNick Morgenstern, Muskegon CatholicLaTommy Scott, Muskegon CatholicRyan Mount, Mason County Central

Kyle Wildfong, Holton

A-B C-D

Honorable Mention: Jacorey Sullivan, Muskegon; Sam LaDuke, Ludington; Noah Laman, Ludington; James Gilbert, Mona Shores; Brady Luttrull, Oakridge; Ryan Geeting, Fremont.

Honorable Mention: A.J. Johnson, Muskegon Catholic; Dalton Fuller, North Muskegon; Jacob Tanner, Holton; Scott Peters, Hesperia; Alec Cammenga, Fruitport Calvary.

Honorable Mention: Artrese Williams, Reeths-Puffer; Brooke Larabee, Reeths-Puffer; Tierra Williams, Muskegon; Ali Plamondon, Ludington; Nia Miskel, Mona Shores; Claudia Rumsey, Montague; Bre Harris, Fremont.

Honorable Mention: Courtney Slater, Holton; Alicia Dykman, Holton; Rachel Allen, Mason County Central; Kaitlyn Wright, WM Christian; Jeren Smith; Shelby; Jordyn Hamilton, Fruitport Calvary.

By Steve GunnLocalSportsJournal.com

Jordan Walker is, first and foremost, a team player.

She had high hopes this season for her Mona Shores girls basketball team, which returned a ton of talent from the 2015-16 season and seemed like a legitimate state championship contender.

Those hopes were shot down when the Sailors fell to East Kentwood, the eventual state runner-up, in the Class A regional semifinal round.

Mona Shores still had a great season, finishing 19-4 and winning O-K Black Conference and district championships. But Walker’s dream of finishing her prep career in a blaze of state glory came to a painful end.

But a few days later she received one heck of a consolation prize. She learned she had won the Michigan Miss Basketball award, which is presented annually to the top senior high school player in the state.

The award is determined by a vote of the members of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan, in conjunction with the Detroit Free Press.

Walker received 375 first-place votes and totaled 2,482 points. Warren Cousino’s Kierra Fletcher finished second in the voting with 291 first-place votes and 2,382 points.

“It definitely put some sunshine into a cloudy situation,” Walker said about winning the award after the disappointing defeat in region-

als. “I definitely wanted to get keep going on (in the tournament), but that’s not the way it worked out for us.”:

The competition for the award is obviously very stiff every year, but Walker had a very strong resume for the voters to consider.

She put up big numbers over her career, including 1,658 points, 351 assists, 380 steals and 680 rebounds. She was a two-time All-Stater who will almost certainly repeat that feat when the honor teams are announced this season.

She became Mona Shores’ all-time leading scorer during a game in January against Fruitport. She also broke the school career record for assists this season.

Despite all the attention she drew from opposing defenders, she averaged 22.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game as a senior..

With statistics like that, Walker knew she might be a contender for Miss Basketball. But when she actually got the news from her coach, Brad Kerth, she said she was genuinely surprised.

“My mom started crying and hugging me,” Walker said. “I was just jumping up and down. I really was surprised. I felt like I should win, but it was such a dream come true when it happened. It seemed

so unreal. I really won.”She visited the Free Press office to pose

for photographs with the gigantic trophy.After several years of being considered

one of the top players in Michigan, suddenly she was being acknowledged as the very best.

“It was kind of crazy,” Walker said. “You could hear all the cameras clicking. It was really fun.”

Walker’s accomplishment is even more remarkable, considering she suffered a torn ACL in the summer following her sophomore year and had to have it surgically repaired..

She plowed into her rehab regimen as soon as possible, pushed herself as hard as she could, and was back on the court for the opener of her junior season, a full month ahead of schedule.

“Where I’m at now to win this award, it’s all on God because, without Him, I wouldn’t be here,” she told the Free Press. “You take so many things for granted like running up and down the court and shooting the ball and different things like that. You take it for granted every single time you play.

“To have that taken away from me for five months, it’s a huge thing when you really love the game of bas-ketball. I grew to love it deeper during that time.”

Walker was born into a basketball family.Her parents, Jarvis and Danielle Walker, were both stars at Ferris

State University who went on to be inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame.

Her older sister, Jasmyn Walker, was a star player at Mona Shores before moving on to become a standout at Valparaiso Univer-sity. Walker played with her sister for one year as a freshman, and said Jasmyn played a big role in pushing her to improve.

The sisters will get to relive that experience this fall, when Walker joins the Western Michigan Univer-sity women’s basketball team. Jasmyn has trans-ferred from Valparaiso to

WMU and has two years of basketball eligibility left.“I’m really excited about that,” Walker said. “Her senior year and

my freshman year was one of the most fun times I’ve had. Being able to play with her again for two years is going to be an amazing experi-ence.”

While the sisters will be off to college, Mona Shores is not out of Walkers just yet. Their younger brother, Jarvis Walker Jr., led the Sailors varsity in scoring this year as a freshman.

“I remember when he was younger and he couldn’t even get the ball to the basket,” Walker said. “I remember him doing pushups every day so he could get strong enough to get the ball up there." “We really don’t play against each other too much anymore. It gets too competitive. We used to really go at each other all the time.”

Jordan Walker, Miss Basketball 2017

“I really was surprised. I felt like I should win, but it was such a dream come true when it happened. It seemed so unreal. I really won.” - Jordan Walker

Walker and Coach Brad Kurth. Photo/Tim Reilly