Rifle’s Elly Walters named 4A WSL Player of the Year
After capping off a terrific career at Rifle High School as part of the girl’s basketball team, Rifle senior Elly Walters added another accolade to her long list of accomplishments, earning the 4A Western Slope League Player of the Year award, as voted on by the league’s coaches.
Walters, who helped lead the Bears to the round of 16 in the 4A state playoffs this season, finished the 2017-18 season averaging 16.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.3 steals per game for Rifle (22-3, 11-1 4A WSL). Along with Walters, three other Rifle girls earned first-team all-conference honors, while three Glenwood girls landed on the first team under head coach Rhonda Moser.
Moser, in her third season at the helm of the Glenwood program, helped lead the Demons to a 16-9 (10-2 4A WSL) finish on the season, earning a home playoff game for the second year in a row. This time, Glenwood advanced to the second round of the playoffs under Moser’s guidance.
Locally on the first team, Rifle led the charge with four players, while Glenwood added three. Rifle finished with five total players on the league’s all-conference list, while Glenwood matched with five of their own.
For Rifle, senior guards Katy and Karly Manuppella earned first-team honors for the Bears, while junior forward Masi Smith joined the duo on the first team with Walters.
Katy Manuppella averaged 8.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.3 assists on the year under head coach Kristy Wallner, while twin sister Karly averaged 6.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals for the Bears. Smith finished with 8.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.5 assists per game.
For Glenwood, three seniors landed on the first team, led by center Tatum Peterson, who averaged 11.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.1 steals per game for the Demons.
Senior point guard Maddie Bolitho and senior forward Ellie Moser earned first-team honors as well. Bolitho finished her final season with the Demons averaging 7.6 points, 3.5 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 rebounds per game, while Moser averaged 4.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game, while hitting 30 percent of her 3-pointers on the season.
On the honorable mention list, Rifle senior Peyton Caldwell earned honors for Rifle after averaging 3.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, while Glenwood saw seniors Saylor Warren and Dani DeCrow earn honorable mention honors.
Warren averaged 4.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game, while DeCrow averaged 4.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game for the Demons.
Aside from Glenwood and Rifle, the Palisade Bulldogs landed four players on the all-conference teams, while Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain added three each. Summit had two players and Steamboat Springs added one player.
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