No boys or girls basketball teams from Waukesha made runs at conference titles this year, but there were still some stellar individual performances across the area.
And they were rewarded for their efforts when the all-Classic 8 conference teams were released recently.
On the boys side, two Waukesha players were named to the first team: Waukesha West senior Joe Schobert and Waukesha North senior Jake Ricciardi.
It’s a repeat selection for Schobert on the first team. Schobert, who is going to North Dakota to play football, averaged 12.3 points per game for the basketball squad this past winter.
Ricciardi was also named honorable mention all-state by the Associated Press. He was second in the conference in scoring at 17.7 points per game behind the Classic 8 Player of the Year Carrington Love from Pius XI.
Three other seniors were recognized on the second team. They were Catholic Memorial’s Ryan Taugher (14.5 ppg) and Waukesha West’s Brandon Kranz (12.8 in 17 games before going down with a season-ending injury) and Eric Solberg (11.3).
Girls Team
On the girls side, four of the six first-team spots are players from Waukesha schools. And each represents a different school.
The players are Catholic Memorial senior Alison Mueller, Waukesha South senior Eileen Van Horn, Waukesha West junior Michelle Farrow and Waukesha North freshman Jessica Kelliher.
Kelliher was second in scoring in the Classic 8 at 15.5 points per game behind Arrowhead senior Jenny Smith.
Mueller (15.2 ppg), Van Horn (14.4) and Farrow (13.4) were third, fourth and sixth in scoring, respectively. Mueller and Van Horn are repeat selections on the first team.
Second-team honors went to Waukesha West junior Kianna Keller, who finished with 10.6 points per game and helped West score an upset over Greater Metro Conference Champion Sussex Hamilton in the WIAA Division 1 playoffs a couple of weeks ago.
Allen at Penn
Last year’s Classic 8 Player of the Year was Waukesha South graduate Katy Allen.
Allen continued her basketball career at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school. The 6-foot-1 forward played in all 28 games for the Quakers and started the last 18.
Overall, Allen finished third on the team in scoring (5.5 ppg), field goal percentage (39.3 percent) and field goals made (55). The Quakers finished 13-15 in Allen’s first year.