Lowe Named Co-MVP as 3 Chargers Earn All-Arrowhead Honors
Aaron Frey
Tuesday, March 7, 2017 5:46 PM
Athletics
Galesburg
Carl Sandburg College women’s basketball freshman Maddy Lowe (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap) was named the Arrowhead Conference co-Most Valuable Player, highlighting three Chargers who earned all-conference honors.
Lowe shared MVP honors with Illinois Valley’s Daniela Pavlovich on the first team, while Sandburg sophomores Sabrina Clay (Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) and Kara Caldwell (Washington, Ill./Washington) each earned second-team honors. Additionally, Chargers coach Mike Bailey shared the Coach of the Year award with IVCC’s Tom Ptak after guiding Sandburg to its second straight league championship.
Lowe, a 5-foot-8 guard/forward who was named first-team All-Region IV last week, is the first Charger to be Arrowhead MVP since Heather Larson in 2008. The only freshman on the first team, Lowe averaged a team-best 15.3 points in Arrowhead play and pulled in 4.4 rebounds per contest. She shot 45 percent (40 of 88) from the field against league opponents and went 17 of 50 (34 percent) from 3-point range. Lowe averaged 21.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in the Chargers’ second half of the conference schedule, highlighted by a season-best 23 points in back-to-back games against Black Hawk and IVCC.
Clay, a 5-10 forward who was named second-team All-Region IV last week, averaged 8.4 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds in Arrowhead action. She had 15 points and a career-best 11 rebounds in the Chargers’ win Feb. 7 at Highland, and she also averaged 2.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game in league play.
One of the top 3-point shooters in the league, Caldwell, a 5-7 guard, averaged 7.0 points and 3.1 rebounds against Arrowhead opponents. Her 17 3s in conference play tied Lowe for the team lead, and she shot 36 percent (17 of 47) from long distance. Caldwell drained at least one trey in each of the Chargers’ eight conference matchups and hit at least half of her long-distance attempts in three contests.
The trio helped lead the Chargers to a 6-2 conference record in the conference, tying IVCC for the league title. It was Sandburg’s second straight conference championship and 13th in program history.
The Chargers will play fourth-ranked Kankakee for the Region IV District D tournament championship at noon Saturday on the campus of Waubonsee Community College.
2016-17 All-Arrowhead Conference Women’s Basketball Team
First team: Maddy Lowe (Sandburg, freshman, co-MVP), Daniela Pavlovich (Illinois Valley, sophomore, co-MVP), Dabriona Williams (Sauk Valley, sophomore), Kristina Antonenko (Highland, sophomore), Mikaylin Bent (Black Hawk, sophomore).
Second team: Sabrina Clay (Sandburg, sophomore), Kennedy Kykendall (Sauk Valley, freshman), Julia Pohar (Illinois Valley, freshman), Hannah Wolfe (Illinois Valley, sophomore), Kara Caldwell (Sandburg sophomore).
Co-Coaches of the Year: Mike Bailey (Sandburg) and Tom Ptak (Illinois Valley).