GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Trojans highlight all-SWC team

WORTHINGTON — Worthington’s girls’ basketball team cruised to a 12-0 record in the Southwest Conference this season en route to its second consecutive league title and its fifth in the past seven years.

The Trojans again finished on top when the all-conference team was announced.

Holli Aggen, Gabby Boever and Kaitlin Gerber each were named to the all-Southwest Conference team.

Jackson County Central’s Ashley Kruse and Brooke Burmeister; Redwood Valley’s Kelsey Guetter and Jess Fischer; Pipestone Area’s Bailey Bouman and Megan VanderPoel; and Luverne’s Liberty Robinson also were honored.

Aggen, a senior guard, averaged 18 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, and she totaled 70 steals and 75 assists for Worthington in all games this season.

Aggen, who shot 45 percent (106 of 234) from the field and 36 percent (49 of 134) from beyond the arc, recently committed to play basketball at the University of Sioux Falls (S.D.).

Boever, a junior guard, averaged 13.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. She recorded 126 steals and 108 assists this season.

Boever recently committed to play basketball at South Dakota State University.

Gerber, a junior guard, shot 51 percent from the field and averaged 12.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She also tallied 63 steals and 72 assists.

Burmeister, a senior forward who was named to the all-conference team for the second consecutive season, led Jackson County Central this season in points (16.7), rebounds (9.6) and steals (3.5) per game.

Burmeister is the program’s all-time career leader in each category, finishing her four-year varsity career with 1,400 points, 840 rebounds and 252 steals.

Burmeister, who helped JCC (20-8, 8-4) to a third-place finish in the SWC, committed to play volleyball at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Kruse also finished a four-year varsity career at JCC. The senior forward is the program’s all-time leader in career assists (367), and she ranks No. 5 all-time in scoring (915). She averaged 14.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game this season.

Kruse signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Iowa Central Community College.

Bouman, a junior forward, and VanderPoel, a senior forward, led Pipestone Area to a second-place finish in the SWC and to a berth in the Class AA state tournament. Bouman averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. VanderPoel averaged 12.9 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

Robinson, a junior guard, was the leading scorer for Luverne, which finished seventh in the SWC this season.

Worthington’s Martha Alwal, who set single-season program records for rebounds (288) and blocks ( 100), highlighted the list of all-Southwest Conference honorable mentions.

Pipestone Area’s Bree Woelber, Windom’s Makenzie Lovell, Marshall’s Kayla Wallerich, and Redwood Valley’s Laura Houghton also received honorable mention honors.

Tags: jackson county central, pipestone area, sports, prep, basketball, worthington, trojans, jcc, luverne, windom