Rosenbery, Evens and Wheeler leave legacy to build upon
By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
When the girls’ basketball season ended on Thursday with a loss in the Class 3A regional championship game at Decatur MacArthur, Mahomet-Seymour was able to reflect on the season that was.
For the 18-14 Bulldogs, it was the most wins in 13 years.
Though three seniors will graduate, 14 athletes who logged varsity minutes were underclassmen.
While head coach Nathan Seal acknowledged some tears from the finale – a 68-32 loss to MacArthur – he has plenty of optimism for the years to come.
“It’s always tough,” he said, “when you say goodbye to really good leaders. (Seniors) Makayla (Rosenbery), Faith (Evens) and Ashley (Wheeler) all served important roles.
“That leadership and maturity will be missed. Somebody will replace them, but I don’t know if we can fill their shoes. They meant a lot.”
The Bulldogs’ success this season came without major contributions from one player expected to fill a prominent role. Sophomore Haylie Orton suffered a season-ending injury in the team’s fifth game.
She had led the team in rebounding in two of those games.
From there, it was a season for a myriad of young athletes – including three freshmen – to gain varsity experience.
Sophomore Nichole Taylor led the Bulldogs in rebounding in 20 games. In 12 of those contests, she reached double figures in rebounding.
In the season’s final 12 games, no player was hotter than Savannah Orgeron. She scored 130 points in that stretch and was the team’s top scorer in seven of the games.
“We will miss the seniors and appreciate what they brought,” Seal said, “but their legacy will be that this is the launching pad for what we hope will be a string of good seasons.
“We hope this will be the springboard for what is to come.”
In the final analysis, eight squad members posted double-figure scoring games this season.
Rosenbery topped the 20-point mark twice and Taylor hit that standard once.
Others with 10, or more, points in a game were Sammie Beyer, Ashley Campbell, Cayla Koerner, Orgeron, Durbin Thomas and Wheeler.
Taylor was the team’s scoring leader in 10 games. Orgeron and Rosenbery each led eight times, followed by Koerner (six games), Thomas (two games) and Wheeler (one game).
Seal said an indication of the team’s progress could be seen in the last month.
Urbana came to M-S and won by 15 points. Two weeks later, on a neutral court, the Bulldogs won by 20 points in the regional semifinals.
“Urbana beat us pretty good, but we were able to respond,” Seal said. “One thing I am proud of is the growth.
“We were young, but the steps we took and the things we learned are reasons the future is bright. I’m pretty excited about what’s in store.
“We have a lot of talented kids and talented kids make the coaches look good.”
The team’s balance was demonstrated by final statistics.
Koerner made the most total field goals (89), Rosenbery made the most three-pointers (36), Taylor hit the most free throws (66) and Campbell made the highest percentage of her baskets from three-point range (18 of 30, or 60 percent).
For the season, Taylor was the leading rebounder in 20 games. Orgeron led in four games and was followed by Thomas (three games), Wheeler (three games), Koerner (two games), Orton (two games) and Rosenbery (one game).
In the regional title-game loss, all three seniors scored baskets. The trio of Rosenbery, Wheeler and Evens accounted for half of the team’s points (16 of 32).
Rosenbery had a team-high eight points and Wheeler scored six points.
“MacArthur is a very good team,” Seal said. “They have balance inside and outside.
“We hung with them in the first quarter (trailing 23-14).”
MacArthur led 39-20 at halftime and pulled away, using a 23-8 third-quarter run to put the game out of reach.
Thomas had five rebounds and three assists. Taylor also had three assists.
Rosenbery, Thomas and Orgeron ended with two steals apiece.
The M-S girls’ junior varsity team ended the season with a 21-3 record. The freshmen squad finished the year at 16-2.
