For a second consecutive year, Spirit Lake basketball standout KJ Veldman has been named to the Class 3A All-State First-Team by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association. The junior led the entire state of Iowa in scoring this season, averaging 23.0 points a game, while also leading the Indians in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Veldman became the third member of the 1,000-point club during the season, eventually passing Kaisha Brown for second on the all-time scoring list, and will enter her senior season just thirteen points shy of equaling Amber Kirschbaum’s grand total of 1,259 points. Spirit Lake finished the year with an 18-6 record, took third in the Lakes Conference, and reached the regional finals where they fell to eventual state runner-up MOC-Floyd Valley. The Dutch were led this season by sophomore Alexis Conaway, who was also named to the IGCA Class 3A First-Team.
In Class 2A, Estherville-Lincoln Central boasts a pair of all-state players. Senior Alyssa Johnson was a first-team all-state honoree. The UNI-recruit averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and a team-high 3.9 blocks per game to help the Midgets earn a share of the Lakes Conference crown and a second trip to the state tournament. Her teammate, junior Allie Sievert, made second-team all-state. Sievert led ELC with averages of 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds this season. Also earning all-state recognition was Western Christian junior Brooke Wolterstorff, who was selected to the first-team.
And the Siouxland Conference placed two more of its top performers on the all-state teams in Class 1A. Boyden-Hull senior Whitney Vander Maten earned second-team all-state accolades, while Central Lyon junior Lexi Ackerman garnered third-team recognition.
