Showcase participants announced; boys/girls doubleheader set for June 21 at JWCC

QUINCY — The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase on Saturday, June 21, will pit the top seniors from Illinois and Missouri in a basketball all-star setting. The girls game begins at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center.

Illinois Boys

West Hancock and Illinois boys coach Jeff Dahl will be joined by two of his players — Gavin Grothaus and Lewis Siegfried. Grothaus missed several games with an ankle injury last season, but he provided a steady hand at the point guard position when he was in the lineup. Both Grothaus and Siegfried, one of the purest shooters in the area and a special mention all-state selection by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, will continue their basketball careers at Carl Sandburg College.

Joining the West Hancock duo will be a trio of Quincy High School Blue Devils — Keshaun Thomas, Dom Clay and Kamren Wires. Thomas was a third-team all-state selection and surpassed Michael Payne as the school’s all-time leading rebounder last season. He will head to Drury Universty in the fall. Clay earned a special mention all-state selection last season and will play at North Dakota State next season. Wires, a defensive pest at point guard, will play at Culver-Stockton College.

Quincy Notre Dame guard Alex Dance, the son of Quincy High School girls basketball coach Brad Dance, will put his talents on display, as well. Payson Seymour all-time leading scorer Blake Schwartz will bring his 1,600-plus career points to the showcase. Wartburg College signee Braden Holthaus of Macomb will participate, along with Camp Point Central’s Elijah Genenbacher and Western’s Casen Tobias.

Missouri Boys

Canton and Missouri boys coach Dalton Armontrout will have the luxury of deploying the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 2 Player of the Year Preston Brewer. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 25.4 points and 11.5 rebounds per game for the state runners-up and will take his talents to Quincy University next season. He will be joined by frontcourt mate Tyler Frazier, who averaged 8.7 points and 5.9 rebounds for the Tigers last season.

A pair of Monroe City Panthers — Trey Smyser and Grant Yager — will bring their hard-nosed styles to the showcase. Both members of the Panthers football team, Smyser and Yager led the Panthers basketball squad to a 19-7 record and titles in the Monroe City Tournament and Tony Lenzini Tournament, beating Palmyra in the championship both times. Speaking of Palmyra, guard Mason Smith will share the court with players who would normally be his rivals.

Fellow Clarence Cannon Conference talents Preston Elsen of South Shelby and Harrison Parker of Clark County will participate in the showcase. Marion County’s Joey Lagemann, who will play baseball at John Wood next season and was a three-time all-district basketball selection, and Scotland County’s Vince Dale, an all-district selection last season, round out the Missouri boys roster.

Illinois Girls

Illinois girls coach Matt Long will get one more chance to coach Lauren Miller and Karly Peters, two stalwarts of Central-Southeastern’s success over the last four years. Miller, a three-time all-state selection, recently signed to play basketball at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, while Peters will follow Ali Schwagmeyer-Belger to Quincy University. Miller and Peters led the Panthers to regional titles each of the last three seasons.

Two starters on the Quincy Notre Dame team that finished fourth in Class 3A last season — Sage Stratton and Lauren Hummel — will play in the showcase. Like Miller, Stratton was a three-time all-state honoree and became QND’s all-time leader in made 3-point field goals last season. A state champion in both basketball and soccer in her QND career, Stratton will take her talents to QU’s Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Drury next season. Also an outside hitter on the QND volleyball team, Hummel used her length and athleticism to pester opponents defensively on the basketball court.

Illini West’s Reagan Reed, another school-record holder and dual-sport athlete, will put her scoring prowess on display one more time before heading to Quincy University. Reed finished her Chargers career as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,678 points. She averaged 16.3 points, 7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3 steals per game while shooting 45 percent from the field last season.

Macomb’s Kyle Robinson will bring her unrelenting hustle and crafty play-making ability to the showcase. Robinson was a special mention all-stater last season, averaged 15.3 points and was the Bombers’ second-leading rebounder at just 5-foot-4. The Lincoln Land Community College signee will be joined by Culver-Stockton commit Claire Shaffer of Mendon Unity, Pittsfield’s Lila Simon, West Hancock’s Dee Dee Church, and Payson Seymour’s Ella Archer.

Missouri Girls

Missouri girls coach Kelsey Stuart will have one half of Palmyra’s “dynamic duo” of Clare Williams and Sydney Compton at her disposal. Williams, who will play at Ottawa University (Kan.) next season, developed into one of the most lethal combo guards in the area. She blossomed from a playmaking point guard into a top-notch scorer who averaged 19 points per game and exhibited a fearless, unrelenting motor that showed its true colors in the most important moments.

Compton, a Quincy University commit, will miss the showcase due to an injury.

Joining Williams will be South Shelby multi-sport star Callie McWilliams, who will lace up her basketball sneakers one more time before embarking on her college track and field journey at State Fair Community College. A state champion in the triple jump as a junior and a three-time all-state track and field honoree, McWilliams used her top-notch athleticism on display for the Lady Birds’ basketball program. She averaged 16.9 points, 3.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game in her swan song on the hardwood and holds the single-game program record for most field goals made and the single-season record for most steals.

McWilliams’ South Shelby teammate, Belle Roush, will take the floor with McWilliams one last time. Roush, a John Wood Community College commit, averaged 11 points, a shade under seven rebounds, three assists and three steals per game last season for a Lady Birds team that went 25-4 and won a Class 3 District 6 championship.

A pair of Hannibal Pirates will participate, as well. Mariah Mayfield, Hannibal’s career leader in made 3-point field goals, will team up with Zaria Reese in the showcase before the two continue their college basketball careers at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.

Macy Glasgow, one of three Canton Tigers to receive all-district honors, will participate along with Marion County’s Riley Holt, Highland’s Ellie Goehl and Scotland County’s Kwyn Hamlin.