ALL-AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL FIRST TEAM

Makenna Baker (Highland)

Freshman guard

Stats (per game): 10.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.3 steals, 3 assists

The lowdown: Baker did not let her small frame dissuade her from driving to the hoop to collect double digits in points, night after night. Her inexperience did not turn into a crux either. The freshman scored 22 points in a win that sent the Rams to the state tournament.

Quotable: “She’s just got really good ball-handling skills. ... She can kind of maneuver her way through traffic and she’s quick.” — Pocatello coach Brock Gunter

Kira Marlow (Shelley)

Senior wing

Stats: 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.5 blocks

The lowdown: The reasons behind Marlow’s success on the hardwood were her athleticism and length. The combination allowed her to have an edge over most defenders she faced, blowing by taller players and shooting over smaller opponents.

Quotable: “She was huge for us scoring wise. ... She got a lot stronger this year. She was kind of able to take more punishment going to the basket.” — Shelley coach Trevor Elordi

Alyssa Crumley (Snake River)

Junior forward

Stats: 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2 steals, 47.4 field goal percentage

The lowdown: Crumley became a highly efficient contributor in her junior season. Snake River’s best player had a knack for knocking down big shots in the flow of the offense, which allowed her cohorts to succeed offensively as well. Another way she helped the team was with her defense, which she improved from last season. The forward collected as many as five steals in one game.

Quotable: “She was our everything. ... She can guard and run the point and run the post.” — Snake River coach Rich Dunn

Sarah Grinnell (Century)

Senior forward

Stats: 10.2 points, 4.8 rebounds

The lowdown: Grinnell often brushed off her success, saying she was just set up for it because of her edge in length over opponents. She still capitalized on her advantage all the way to the state title game when she had a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds to help her team defend its championship.

Quotable: “She had a great game against us almost every time we played her... She’s got a great 10-to-12 foot jumper.” — Pocatello coach Brock Gunter

Katie Anderson (Marsh Valley)

Senior forward

Stats: 9.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks

The lowdown: Anderson was a behemoth on the boards, while also coming close to double figures in points per game. The 6-foot-2 forward shined the brightest in Marsh Valley’s first-round win in the state tournament that jump-started its runner-up finish. She scored 27 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, including 13 on the offensive end.

Quotable: “She’s just a force inside. She’s so darn tall. She had a nice touch around the basket. Of course, she got every stinkin’ rebound that was ever put up.” — American Falls coach Tim Wilson

ALL-AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL SECOND TEAM

Stefani McClanahan (Rockland)

Senior guard

Stats: 15 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.3 steals, 4.1 assists

The lowdown: McClanahan etched her place into Rockland history by eclipsing 1,000 career points this season, one of two Rockland girls basketball players to accomplish the feat. The 5-foot-4 guard used a combination of basketball IQ and skill to load up in the stat column and make up for her size.

McKenzie Gunter (Marsh Valley)

Junior guard

Stats: 9.8 points, 2.7 steals, 2.5 assists

The lowdown: Gunter sliced through defenses because of her ball-handling skills. The point guard displayed how well she could really dribble at the end of Marsh Valley’s state semifinal win when Shelley deployed a full-court defense and she was a one-woman press breaker.

Kia Pokibro (Highland)

Junior guard

Stats: 10.4 points, 51 3-pointers made

The lowdown: Pokibro thrived from beyond the arc. The highlight of her season was when she made a Highland-record eight 3s in a regular-season win against Madison.

Ashley Wheatley (Highland)

Senior wing

Stats: 9.8 points, 5 rebounds

The lowdown: Wheatley was asked to do more than she ever did before, with the exit of a ton of talent from Highland’s 2015 roster. She was able to step up numerous times, including in a win against Century when she torched the Diamondbacks, tallying 22 points on drive after drive to the basket.

Callie Gronning (Soda Springs)

Senior wing

Stats: 7.6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals

The lowdown: Gronning was the most consistent player for the 2A state runner-up. She recorded an astounding 2.9 assist/turnover ratio. The senior led Soda Springs to a district title win over West Side, scoring 10 points in a four-minute span.

ALL-AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL HONORABLE MENTION

Katie Hiller (Century)

Junior guard

Stats: 6.1 points, 3.2 steals

Hannah Hanson (Shelley)

Senior guard

Stats: 7.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.8 steals

Makenna Schritter (Aberdeen)

Junior guard

Stats: 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.5 steals, 2.5 assists

Mattie Creager (West Side)

Senior wing

Stats: 14.2 points, 6.9 rebounds

Taya Batts (Marsh Valley)

Sophomore wing

Stats: 9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals

All-area girls basketball coach of the year: Chris Shuler, Century

Before Chris Shuler took over as Century head coach, the Diamondbacks had never won a state title.

Now, they have two banners hanging in their gym. Because of the one earned this past season, Shuler is the Idaho State Journal Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

Shuler coached a team with a greatly different makeup than the 2014-15 team, as two longtime players in Henny Hearn and Sarah Holt departed.

But Shuler made it work, with the team gelling by the end of the season. The Diamondbacks sprinted to the finish, winning games in the state tournament by an average score of 50-38.