Five local players earned first team all-conference honors in girls basketball this winter to cap this year’s action on the court.
Whitehall and Reeths-Puffer led the way with two first-teamers each. Vikings Kendall Osborne and Lexi Daggett were named to the first team of the West Michigan Conference Lakes, and Brooklynn Tornes and Irelyn Niklasch were part of the first team in the O-K Green Conference.
Osborne enjoyed a solid bounce-back campaign after missing almost all of her junior season at Montague due to a knee injury. Transferring to Whitehall this year, Osborne led the Vikings in rebounds, assists and steals while ranking second to Daggett in scoring. She averaged 10.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, as well as over three steals.
Daggett was Whitehall’s top scorer in 2023-24 and top long-distance threat, connecting on 45 percent of her three-point attempts. She posted 12.4 points and five rebounds per game and was also the team’s best free throw shooter, at 71 percent.
For Reeths-Puffer, Tornes was the driving force, leading the Rockets in scoring every game she played. Despite being the main focus of every team’s defense, Tornes proved efficient and relentless in guiding the Rockets to competitive showings throughout the season, even against the elite teams on the schedule.
What Tornes was for R-P scoring, Niklasch was for rebounding. The senior forward often posted double digits on the boards and was at times a strong second scoring option for the Rockets as well.
Montague’s Addison Pranger earned first team all-conference accolades too, and was the Wildcats’ leading scorer for the season. She scored as many as 19 points, doing so against strong opponents Fremont and Manistee, and posted multiple double-doubles on the year.
Braylyn Bultema picked up honorable mention in the WMC Lakes, battling back from an early-season injury to become a reliable scoring and rebounding option for the Wildcats.
