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Burton captains All-Union list
Highland senior leads small school girls basketball team; Columbus’ Keltner coaches
The 2024 high school girls basketball season saw balance restored to the Union coverage area.
The winter months featured plenty of tough conference races. Columbus and Highland both finished Top-3 in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division and Mid-Prairie took third in the River Valley North.
The Union coverage area didn’t have any teams make it to the 2024 state tournament, but there were plenty of highs this season, and that reflects in this year’s All-Union squad.
The 2024 squad is coached by Columbus’ Kasey Keltner. The team features two seniors, two juniors and three sophomores.
Coach: Kasey Keltner, Columbus
It was a banner year for the Columbus girls basketball team in 2023-24.
Coming into this winter, the Wildcats had won a total of 15 games since the start of the 2017-18 season. In 2023-24, the Wildcats matched that number in just 23 games, going 15-7 for their highest win total in almost 10 years.
Columbus made its first trip to the SEISC finals, playing in the No. 2 game at SCC during this year’s shootouts. The Wildcats knocked off West Burlington 45-39 in the Class 2A Region 6 quarterfinals before getting knocked out in the regional semis.
Keltner’s Wildcats have plenty to look forward to. Columbus didn’t have one senior on the roster this winter, meaning the whole team is due back when the season rolls back around.
Captain: Sarah Burton, senior, Highland
Columbus’ Burton earns captains honors this year after yet another stellar year on the hardwood. The Wildcats’ star post player continued to put up numbers in both scoring and rebounding, finishing the year with 16.2 points per game and 14.2 rebounds per game to lead the Huskies.
Burton paced Highland in nearly every category. She ended the season with a team-leading 2.8 assists per game, 3.8 steals per game and 2.5 blocked shots per game.
Along with being a captain on the All-Union team, Burton was named to the 2024 Class 1A All-State team, selected by the Iowa Print Sports Writers Association after the season.
Lily Coil junior, Columbus
Columbus’ junior standout did a little bit of everything for the Wildcats this season.
Coil led the team in almost every category, pacing Columbus with 14.9 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game, 3.2 assists per game, 5.7 steals per game and 0.8 rebounds per contest.
Coil was knocked out for the year with injury just over midway through the season, but luckily, the Wildcat star has one year left, and promises to be a force to be reckoned with when she returns to the court.
Madisen Kellogg, sophomore, Winfield-Mount Union
Winfield-Mount Union couldn’t duplicate last year’s magical season after the vast majority of the team was lost to graduation, but a certain sophomore stepped up to make sure the Wolves were still putting up some impressive numbers.
Kellogg lept to the top of the score sheet for the Lady Wolves this winter. She put up 15.8 points per game this year and grabbed 9.1 rebounds per game, both of which led WMU by a wide margin.
Kellogg was also great on the defensive side of the ball. She paced her squad with 2.1 steals per game.
Claire Withrow, sophomore, Hillcrest Academy
The Hillcrest Academy girls are seeing big leaps in their basketball program, and a major part of that is due to leading scorer Claire Withrow.
Withrow put up 14.3 points per game in her sophomore season. She was deadly from behind the 3-point line, knocking down 66 3-pointers this season.
With Withrow and fellow standout Malia Yoder (12.5 ppg) coming back next season, along with a heap of young talent behind them, the Ravens look to be in great position when basketball season comes around next school year.
Anna Hadley, sophomore, Pekin
It’s not easy to average a double-double in high school basketball, but that’s exactly what sophomore Anna Hadley did for the Pekin Panthers this basketball season.
Hadley was a menace down low, scoring 12.4 points per game for Pekin. She grabbed 10.0 rebounds per game, and also led the team with 0.6 blocked shots per game, setting her up for more dominance down low in the upcoming years.
Emma Wagler, senior, WACO
WACO’s senior leader down low did everything she could for the Warriors this season, earning her a much-deserved spot on this year’s All-Union squad.
Wagler dominated in the paint all season, scoring 12.7 points per game and yanking down 12.1 rebounds per game.
Defensively, Wagler led the Warriors with 3.3 steals per contest. She also collected 0.6 blocked shots per game, second-most on the team.
Callie Huber, junior, Mid-Prairie
Mid-Prairie’s junior leader had to step up in a big way this season, leading a team that has had plenty of success down low in recent memory.
Huber led a balanced Golden Hawks squad with 10.5 points per game this winter. She also yanked down 9.0 rebounds per game in an extremely tough River Valley conference.
Huber had things working on defense all year. She finished the season with 1.5 steals per game and 0.7 blocks per game, anchoring a tough group of Golden Hawk rim defenders.
