Shetley, Flora Earn Top All-Conference Honors

Going into this past season, Sullivan was turning over their roster and their coaching position.

They didn’t skip a beat.

Mallory Shetley took over as a two-way player who could do everything on the court. Head coach Jordan Flora inherited a roster in transition that went on to win a share of the Four Rivers Conference championship.

Shetley was honored last week as the FRC Player of the Year and Flora took home co-honors as Coach of the Year with Hermann’s Andy Emmons.

Shetley was a big part of Sullivan’s district championship teams her first two seasons, but she got even better as a junior, averaging 17 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks per game.

Despite other teams throwing everything they had to stop her, she still shot 51 percent from the floor. The increased attention also sent her to the free throw line more where she continued to improve.

Kya Harbour was Sullivan’s other all-conference selection. Harbour was named to the second-team after averaging eight points, three rebounds and two assists. She also had more than a steal per game. Over the final 16 games of the season, Harbour averaged 10 points as she emerged as a reliable scorer.

Flora didn’t lower expectations entering the season. Sullivan knocked off Rolla 51-42 in the season opener, then entered late January with an 11-4 record. After dropping a close contest to Nixa on January 25, the Lady Eagles went 6-2 down the stretch. Their only conference loss came against St. Clair in a game where they fell behind early and couldn’t quite catch up. 

First Team

Hermann’s Allison Stiers and Quincy Erickson; St. Clair’s Haley Buscher and Alohilani Bursey; Union’s Taylor Seely and Emily Gaebe and Owensville’s Breanna Diestelkamp were the other first-team selections.

Erickson and Stiers led the Lady Bearcats in scoring with 15 and 14 points per game respectively. Buscher and Bursey both led St. Clair in scoring with Buscher averaging 11.5 points per game and Bursey 10. Gaebe averaged 14 points per game for the Lady Wildcats and Seely just over 10. Diestelkamp averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game for Owensville. 

Second Team

St. James’ Hannah Marcee and Savanna Ricetti; Owensville’s Liana Miller and Anna Finley and Pacific’s Maddie King and Grace Burrows were the other second-team selections. St. James’ Riley Whitener was Sixth Man of the Year.