ALL-ECC GIRLS BASKETBALL - Mann is an obvious All-Eastern Cloverbelt first-team selection

ALL-ECC GIRLS BASKETBALL

For the past two seasons, the Gilman girls basketball team has had just one senior on its roster. In both years, that senior put up some mighty impressive numbers.

This year, it was Danielle Mann who turned in a season that made her an easy choice to fill one of the six spots on the 2023-24 All-Eastern Cloverbelt Conference girls basketball team.

Taking over the leadership mantle from 2023 grad Tatum Weir, Mann averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game for the Pirates, who finished the season with a three-game post-season run to reach a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal and end up 12-16 overall under sixthyear head coach Tammy Weir.

Gilman was 4-10 in the Eastern Cloverbelt, good for sixth place. The Pirates lost three league games by three points or less. They gave conference rival Owen-Withee a good run in the Feb. 27 sectional semifinal played at Stanley-Boyd before fading in the last five minutes in a 40-30 defeat.

Mann, a second-team All-ECC pick last year and a second-team All-Marawood North choice two years ago when she played for Rib Lake, poured in 545 points while appearing in all 28 games this season for the Pirates and added about 280 rebounds. She cleared the 1,000-point mark for her career in a 42-33 loss at Greenwood on Jan. 23 and finished at 1,175 between her two years at both high schools.

Mann also averaged 2.5 steals and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 46% from the field and 65.6% from the free throw line. She averaged 17.4 points and 10.4 rebounds in Gilman’s 14 conference games.

She joins senior Paris Opelt, junior Sydney Subke and freshman Madi Davel of Neillsville, Greewnood junior Tysen Lindner and Owen-Withee junior Kendall Weiler on the All-ECC first team. Opelt is the lone repeat first-team pick from a year ago and she is now a two-time Eastern Cloverbelt Conference Player of the Year.

Mann began conference play this year with a bang, with a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double in a 72-40 loss to Owen-Withee on Dec. 5 and a career-high 42 points and nine rebounds three days later in a 61-48 win at Colby. She had seven doubles- doubles in conference games, including a monster 32-point, 19-rebound effort in a 49-45 win at Spencer on Feb. 6. She had 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 58-54 home win over Colby on Jan. 18. She just missed double-doubles against another dominant squad from Neillsville when she posted 13 points and nine rebounds in a Dec. 19 home loss to the Warriors and nine points and 12 boards in a Jan. 26 road loss.

Mann added seven more non-conference double-doubles. Those included 35 points and 10 rebounds in a 66-42 win over Flambeau on Nov. 16, 27 points and 15 rebounds in a 57-49 home win over Augusta on Jan. 19 and two more in the playoffs, with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the Pirates’ 59-51 regional semifinal win at top-seeded South Shore and 17 points and 10 boards in the finale against Owen-Withee. She scored 28 points and added six boards in the team’s 60-44 regional final win at Hurley on Feb. 24.

The Pirates had no more award winners in this year’s All-ECC vote, but they have several returning players who could make a run at it next year.

Junior guard Kayleigh James averaged 5.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals as Gilman’s primary ball handler and a solid perimeter defender. Sophomore Allison Olynick had a breakout season, averaging 6.7 points and 6.2 rebounds. James, Olynick and Mann all scored 15 points in Gilman’s balanced attack in the big win at South Shore. Juniors Claire Drier and Jaylyn Orth also could provide strong leadership on next year’s team. Drier averaged 5.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game this winter, while Orth led the team in blocked shots and was one of its rebounding leaders at nearly five per game.

All-ECC boys team

The 2023-24 All-Eastern Cloverbelt Conference boys teams also were released at the end of February and do not include any members of the Gilman Pirates, who finished in seventh place in the league at 2-12 and were 3-21 overall.

The all-senior first team includes two returning members, Emmitt Konieczny and Blake Jakobi of Columbus Catholic, who shared Co-Player of the Year honors with their teammate Charlie Moore.

Colby’s Joseph Streveler, Neillsville’s Bryce Erickson and Owen-Withee’s Quinn Hatlestad round out this year’s first team.

Columbus Catholic and Owen-Withee both reached WIAA Division 5 sectional finals this past weekend. Columbus Catholic (27-2) won an 80-77 thriller with Cashton and is the top seed in this weekend’s Division 5 state tournament in Madison. The run for fourth-seeded Owen-Withee (19-10) ended with a 59-41 loss to one-seed Solon Springs Saturday at Ashland.