Ava Mallar named girls basketball Player of the Year; 2023-24 All-Area Dream Team
HILLSDALE COUNTY — Congratulations to our 2023-24 All-Area Dream Team honorees for this girls basketball season. A total of five honorees were selected for our first team honors and five additional athletes earned second team honors.
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In addition to the honorees, a player each season is selected as our pick for the Hillsdale County girls basketball Player of the Year.
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Pittsford junior Ava Mallar was selected as this year's All-Area Dream Team girls basketball Player of the Year. Now a three-time dream team honoree, Mallar first made the list her freshman season after earning AP D4 all-state honorable mention honors and first team conference honors. Averaging 15 points that season, Mallar posted a season average 19.5 points her sophomore year, earning first team conference honors and then a second team all-state honor for AP D4.
This year, the junior Grand Valley State women's hoops commit earned our Player of the Year award after leading Hillsdale to an 18-6 overall record, a 13-1 SCAA East Championship run and an appearance in a district championship title game. Averaging 19.3 points a game, 5.3 rebounds, 5.8 steals and 3.4 assists per game, the junior Wildcat earned first-team all-conference honors for the third year in a row, including league MVP.
This time, Mallar was recognized as a first-team honoree for the AP D4 girls basketball all-state list for her efforts. The junior tied the school record for 3s in a game against Tekonsha in a 46-point scoring night. The 46 points broke the school record for points in a game that she had previously set last season. She drained eight triples in that game. Mallar neared 50-percent from two-point range this season and 24-percent from three-point range. In addition, the junior passed the 1,000-point career milestone mark this year.
Our Runner-Up Player of the Year honoree was junior Aubree Ervans of Reading. Ervans is now a three-time dream team honoree and a three-time all-conference honoree in the Big 8, two time first-team honoree. The junior went from a 10.7 points a game average last year to a 14.7 this season. She also averaged six rebounds and two assists a game. Shooting 53% from the floor and 78% from the line, Ervans was one of the most reliable shooters in the Big 8.
She scored a total of 339 points this season, leading the Rangers to a 11-12 overall record. For her efforts, the junior earned D4 AP all-state honorable mention honors.
In addition to the Player of the Year honors, two senior honorees are selected as our Dream Team Co-Captains. This year's honors went to Ava King of Hillsdale Academy and Morgan Burk of Waldron.
King led Hillsdale Academy to a 15-9 overall record, earning first-team all-conference honors and BCAM Outstanding Senior Student Athlete honors. This was King's first dream team honor after earning honorable mention honors last season. Burk led Waldron to a 16-8 overall record, earning first-team all-conference honors. This was Burk's third first-team dream team honor and her third first-team all-conference honor.
▶ Ava Mallar - Pittsford - Junior - Player of the Year
▶ Ava King - Hillsdale Academy - Senior - Dream Team Co-Captain
▶ Morgan Burk - Waldron - Senior - Dream Team Co-Captain
▶ Alexis Trine - Jonesville - Junior
▶ Aubree Ervans - Reading - Junior- Runner-Up Player of the Year
Second Team
Lexus Sigler - Camden-Frontier - Senior
Haley Mach - Jonesville - Junior
Addie McLouth - Litchfield - Senior
Halle Clark - Pittsford - Senior
Kailee Kurtz - Waldron - Junior
Honorable Mention
Averil Miller - Camden-Frontier - Junior
Regan Schaedler - Camden-Frontier - Freshman
Lydia Jackson - Hillsdale Academy - Senior
Angela Alvarez - Hillsdale Academy - Senior
Ra'Kell Brown - Hillsdale - Junior
Kelah Hodge - Hillsdale - Junior
Rylee Miller - Hillsdale - Senior
Karsyn Stebbins - Hillsdale - Senior
Gracen Hager - Jonesville - Senior
Lyra Nichols - Jonesville - Senior
Abby Bills - Litchfield - Sophomore
Jenna Miller - Litchfield - Senior
Lydia Little - North Adams-Jerome - Sophomore
Kamryn Wagler - North Adams-Jerome - Junior
Riley McCumber - Pittsford - Junior
Shelby Bryner - Pittsford - Junior
Abby Affholter - Reading - Junior
Ariana McDowell - Reading - Junior
Maggie Santure - Reading - Junior
Makenna Burk - Waldron - Junior
Payton Fuller - Waldron - Freshman
Madison Recob - Will Carleton Academy - Sophomore
Brilynn Padget - Will Carleton Academy - Sophomore
Kherington Ladd - Will Carleton Academy - 8th Grade
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Mallar named All-Area Dream Team Player of the Year; girls basketball
