Athletes of the week: March 1-6
Here’s our list of seven area athletes who excelled last week. Send your nominee for future Athlete of the Week honors to Paul Kopsky at pkopsky@stltoday.com.
Photo courtesy of Madison High School | Kendall Echols scored 35 points in Madison's double-overtime sectional-championship victory over Nokomis.
Kendall Echols
Madison basketball
A 5-foot-9 senior guard, Echols made key contributions offensively and defensively in the Trojans’ 79-77 double-overtime sectional-championship win over Nokomis. Echols, who finished with 35 points, scored Madison’s last five points of the second overtime hitting five of six free throws, then blocked a desperation 3-point attempt with one second remaining to seal the win. Echols, who is averaging 13.6 points, won the scoring title at the Massac County tournament while leading the Trojans to the title.
Cameron Biedscheid
Cardinal Ritter basketball
A 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, Biedscheid gave the Lions a big spark early in their district title game against Brentwood, scoring 19 points in the first half as the Lions roared to a 57-28 lead at intermission. He finished with a game-high 27 points. Biedsheid was coming off a 25-point, 10-rebound game in the semifinals against Burroughs. He is averaging 19.0 points, 2.6 steals and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
Brandon Book
Breese Central basketball
A 6-foot-6 sophomore forward, Book scored a game-high and career-best 29 points to lead the Cougars to a 69-44 victory over Pana in a sectional championship game. Book, who is averaging 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds, has been named to all-tournament teams at Mater Dei and Nashville.
Melissa Collins
St. Pius X basketball
A 5-foot-10 junior forward, Collins carried the Lancers through the district tournament and finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Lancers’ 68-40 district-title victory over West County. She kicked off district play by scoring a team-high 16 points against Kingston and was a force on the boards in the semifinals against Kennedy, grabbing 13 rebounds. Collins was named to the all-tournament team at Herculaneum this season.
Adam Kassly
Althoff hockey
A 5-foot-8, 115-pound freshman goalie, Kassly starred in the best-of-three MVCHA 2A championship series, leading the Crusaders to victory in three games. Althoff only allowed three goals in regulation — all on the power play — as Kassly stopped 62 of 65 shots. In the third and deciding game, Kassly turned aside 24 of 25 shots in a 3-1 victory. A member of the MVCHA South 2A All-Star team, Kassly finished the season with an 18-5-1 record, five shutouts, a 1.84 goals-against average and .900 save percentage.
Michael Messer
Lafayette basketball
A 6-foot-5 senior guard, Messer surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career and broke Lafayette’s single-season scoring record previously shared by Tyler Griffey (‘09) and Landon Shipley (‘05). In his final four games of the season, Messer averaged 25.5 points and went 42 of 46 from the free-throw line. He led the Suburban West in scoring with an average of 20.8 and was named to all-tournament teams at Meramec and Lindbergh. Messer will continue his basketball career at SIU-Edwardsville.
Yelena Rosado
North Tech basketball
A 5-foot-8 junior guard, Rosado poured in 33 points to lead the Golden Eagles to their first-ever district championship, a 58-50 triumph over host Whitfield. Rosado led the Golden Eagles in scoring in all three district-tournament games. Rosado, who was named all-tournament at Eureka and all-district, averages a team-best 13.9 points to go along with 5.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.2 steals.
