Shull, Ashton named SEC players of the year

Mt. Pleasant took the top conference honor in both girls? and boys? basketball this season, as Taylor Shull was named the girls? Player of the Year and Jordan Ashton received the same honor on the boys? side.

Both Panthers were first team all-conference selections, along with Blake Vandenberg and Nick Lyon.

Four other Panther girls were honored by conference coaches, as well as two other Panther boys.

Shull, a senior, claims her third straight Player of the Year title. This year, she led the Mt. Pleasant girls? team to it?s first winning season (12-9) since her freshman year.

?Basketball is a skill sport,? Mt. Pleasant girls? basketball coach, Joanna Settles, said. ?Taylor has put in time since she was an elementary player mastering (those) skills. That, along with her focus, determination and compeitiveness, have allowed her to rise above.?

The point guard broke the school?s all-time scoring record in the third game of the year, and ended her career with 1,439 points, 410 of which she scored this season.

She led the Southeast Conference and tied for second in Class 3A with 19.5 points per game. She was second in the conference with 69 assists (3.3 per game) and second in the conference with 63 steals (three per game). She also ranks third in the conference with 32 3-pointers made this season.

Shull will attend NCAA Division I Bradley University next year and play basketball for the Braves.

Shull was the lone Panther girl to take first team all-conference honors.

For the Mt. Pleasant boys? team, Ashton played a key role this season in guiding the Panthers to a regular-season record of 20-1, as well as their third straight state tournament appearance.

?I?ve been involved with Jordan since ... he came to camp as a fifth grader,? Mt. Pleasant boys? basketball coach Paul Rundquist said. ?I knew at that time that he?d be a talented player. He?s been playing varsity since his sophomore year, and at that time he was just a shooter ? he has really developed into a scorer.

?He?s (also) one of our team captains, a team leader, and he?s taken on that role really well.?

Ashton is tied for seventh in Class 3A with 442 total points scored this season.

The senior point guard averages a conference-leading 18.4 points per game and has an SEC-high 148 field goals made this season. He is second in the conference with 97 free throws made.

He is fourth in the conference with 61 assists and is tied for seventh in the conference with 34 steals.

Seniors Vandenberg and Lyon also received first team all-conference honors for their efforts this season.

Lyon averages 11.7 points per game. He shoots 69 percent from the floor, leading all SEC players who have played in at least 10 games.

Vandenberg averages 8.5 points per game. He is the SEC?s leading rebounder with 215 on the season (nine per game), which ranks him third in Class 3A. Lyon is third in the conference with 167 rebounds (seven per game).

Vandenberg leads the SEC in blocks with 36. Lyon is second in the conference with 31 blocks this season. Lyon is tied for third in the conference with 41 steals, and Vandenberg is tied for 12th with 30 steals.

Landing on the second team all-conference for the boys was Cameron Frank.

Frank, a junior, leads the conference with 47 steals and is second in the SEC with 74 assists. He averages 7.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game for Mt. Pleasant.

Two Panther girls were also chosen second team all-conference: Taryne Shull and Kelsi Phipps.

Phipps, a freshman, is fourth in the conference in rebounds with 133 (6.3 per game). She was fifth in the SEC with 11 points per game.

Taryne Shull, a sophomore, is seventh in the SEC with 116 rebounds (5.5 per game). She is eighth in the conference with 9.8 points per game, is tied for ninth with eight total blocks and is 10th with 31 assists.

Five Mt. Pleasant players earned an honorable mention all-conference: for the boys, junior Dalton Conrad, and for the girls, senriors Natalie Booton and Katelyn Fry, junior Grace Lutovsky and sophomore Leslie Taylor.