Jackson's Blake Reynolds named SEMO Conference boys basketball POY

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo -- Melanie McKuin continued the Dexter Lady Bearcats' recent run of Bob Gray Award winners Wednesday night while Blake Reynolds became the first Jackson player since 1987 to win the John Gibbs Award.

Both were among the honorees at the 57th annual Poplar Bluff Letter Club Basketball Banquet at the Black River Coliseum, which started off the festivities with a keynote address by University of Missouri men's basketball coach Kim Anderson.

"It's awesome and a great feeling," McKuin said. "The girls before me that won it, I got to play with Brittany and Hannah both. They both helped me to get to where I am today. I'm so thankful that I got to be with them."

McKuin is the third Lady Bearcat in a row to be named the most outstanding player in the SEMO Conference, following Hannah Noe last year and Brittany Harris in 2013. Dexter's Katelyn Heil won the first Gray Award in school history in 2008 when she shared it with Jane Morrill of Notre Dame and then Heil won it on her own the following year.

Dexter coach Chad Allen was proud to see another one of his players grab the conference's top honor.

"We've been fortunate to have some real good players come through Dexter," he said. "Melanie is one of them. She's an exceptional player on the court, and she's an exceptional student off the court. She has great parents. I think she's only going to get better."

McKuin led Dexter in scoring at 15 points per game. She averaged 3.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game and shot 37 percent from the floor. She made 32 3s on the year.

"Coming into this year since we lost quite a few players with graduation, her and Dakota Reynolds knew they had to step up this year," Allen said. "I thought she did a great job really taking the bull by the horns."

Reynolds, who will play at Yale next year, brings the Gibbs Award back to Jackson for the first time since Mike Lewis shared it with Cedric Rogers of Charleston 28 years ago.

"I think it's good for the program," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "I'm happy for (Reynolds). He's worked really hard and had a really good year. It's kind of a tribute to our team that they played well with him, shared the ball with him."

With Charleston's Delfincko Bogan, who won the Gibbs Award last year, along with talents like New Madrid Central's Willie Jimerson, Notre Dame's Quinn Poythress and Poplar Bluff's Chris Stocks in the conference, Reynolds was surprised to win the honor.

"Coming in here I knew that we had a great conference and a ton of great players," he said. "I didn't know what to expect coming down here, but I'm very grateful that I was able to win this award. It's definitely something I feel like I put the work into to achieve."

Since 2009, a different school has been represented with the Gibbs Award each year.

Reynolds averaged nearly a double-double per game with 20.3 points and 9.6 rebounds. He dished out 3.6 assists per game and had 2 steals per game as well. He was a 58 percent shooter from the floor.

Reynolds' two best offensive games this season came at Charleston's expense. The 6-foot-7 forward poured in 39 points for his season-high the third game of the season against the Bluejays on Dec. 12 and then had 31 points in the second meeting on Feb. 3.

"Just being able to take on the role of being a leader on my team," Reynolds said of what he improved at over the years. "I feel like Coach Scott has really implemented that the past couple years, and I feel like I've really grown to become a good leader for my team."

The Indians reached the Class 5 state quarterfinals in each of his three varsity seasons.

Reynolds ended his career with 19 points and 14 rebounds in a Class 5 quarterfinal loss to St. Louis University High.

"I feel like in the past few years we were able to get Jackson back on the map and relevant in this conference," Reynolds said.

New Madrid Central coach Travis Day, who led the Eagles to a third place finish at the Class 3 final four, was named Coach of the Year along with Sikeston girls coach Matt Schonhoff. The Lady Bulldogs reached their first district title game since 2002 and set the program record for wins in a season with 20 along with a share of the conference title with Dexter.

Jimerson was the top scorer in conference games, averaging 26.7 points per game. Freshman Krysten Garrison made a splash at Dexter with a scoring average of 17.4 points per game, which gave her the girls scoring title.

Austin Chesser of Dexter was tops in free-throw shooting at 87.7 percent while Kaitlyn Slaughter of Poplar Bluff was an 84 percent shooter to lead the girls.

The SEMO Conference also recognized longtime Poplar Bluff girls basketball coach Kirk Chronister with the Tom Hoover Lifetime Achievement Award. Terry Turlington also took a few moments earlier in the night to reflect on the career of longtime Kennett coach Don Tomlinson, who passed away in February.

Anderson's keynote speech touched on a variety of topics like playing hard and acting right.

"I know there are some tremendous basketball players in here that accomplished a lot," Anderson said. "To think that this is the 57th annual event like this is unbelievable. For me to be here tonight is special."

Anderson took the time applaud Three Rivers College men's coach Gene Bess, who was in attendance. Bess surpassed the 1,200 career win mark this past season.

"For me to be here to be in the presence of one of the greatest coaches of all time in Coach Bess -- I'm just so happy to see him," Anderson said.

All-Conference selections

Boys

Willie Jimerson, NMCC, Sr.

Delfincko Bogan, Charleston, Sr.

Blake Reynolds, Jackson, Sr.

Quinn Poythress, Notre Dame, Sr.

Fred Thatch, Sikeston, Fr.

Al Young, Cape Central, Jr.

Braden Wendel, Jackson, Sr.

Andre Statam, Cape Central, Sr.

Corbyn Blissett, Sikeston, Sr.

Chris Stocks, Poplar Bluff, Sr.

Grant Ressel, Notre Dame, Sr.

Honorable Mention

Javarcus Word, NMCC, So.

Rantrell Caruthers, Kennett, Jr.

Asten Newsom, NMCC, Sr.

Ethan Flowers, Dexter, Jr.

Landon Vaughan, Kennett, Sr.

Tanner Shively, Notre Dame, Sr.

Patrick Tillman, Poplar Bluff, Sr.

Girls

Madison Daum, Cape Central, Sr.

Melanie McKuin, Dexter, Jr.

Krysten Garrison, Dexter, Fr.

Heidi Shetly, Kennett, So.

Cassidi Tomsu, Jackson, Jr.

Rachel Crites, Jackson, Sr.

Hayli Chapman, Notre Dame, Jr.

Kaitlyn Slaughter, Poplar Bluff, Jr.

Erica Peet, Sikeston, Jr.

Tyeshia Mitchell, Sikeston, So.

Dakota Reynolds, Dexter, Jr.

Honorable Mention

Sydney Tollison, Cape Central, So.

Hannah Thurnman, Dexter, Fr.

Kate Shetley, Kennett, Sr.

Tyra Bonner, Sikeston, Jr.

Dominique Roach, Sikeston, Sr.