With four teams still in play in the postseason, a couple of Allen County Area Athletes of the Month candidates are still active on the hardwood.
The female February candidates are Humboldt wrestler Taevyn Baylor, sophomore Allen Community College guard Mafalda Chambel and senior Iola High School guard Harper Desmarteau.
Votes can be cast online here, by calling (620) 365-2111, or sending an email to sports@iolaregister.com.
Taevyn Baylor
Baylor, a junior at Humboldt High School, is a recent KSHSAA state medalist.
After crushing the competition en route to a regional title, Baylor (40-5) began her bid for a state title as the top seed of last weekend’s state tournament. After falling in the semifinals, she pinned Norcatur senior Dali Braun 26-18) to wrestle for third place, where she fell to Hutchinson senior Trista Rogers (44-7). Baylor earned a fourth-place state medal.
Mafalda Chambel
ACC sophomore Mafalda Chambel’s season continues to soar. Chambel leads her team into this weekend’s postseason tournament in Overland Park.
Before getting into foul trouble during Monday’s 80-28 blowout of Hesston, Chambel had four assists and a pair of steals.
Against Highland College, she had four steals to complement her 14 points and an astounding eight steals and 15 points against Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Harper Desmarteau
Iola High’s Harper Desmarteau, a senior, recently wrapped up the regular season in a 39-35 loss to Prairie View. Desmarteau’s offensive production accounted for five points, but those scores came at crucial times. Without a shot-clock running during the sub-state game, Iola had to make each possession count. Desmarteau’s contribution also came on timely turnovers leading to fastbreaks which nearly shifted the outcome of Thursday’s game.
Of the male candidates, 6-4 Iola senior forward Lucas Maier is the only high school athlete still active at the time of publication. Humboldt 190-pound wrestler Cole Mathes wrapped up his winter sports season at last weekend’s KSHSAA Class 1, 2 and 3 state tournament in Hays while Crest High School senior guard Jacob Zimmerman ended his season following Monday’s sub-state tournament loss to Little River.
Lucas Maier
Maier will take the court Wednesday as the Iola Mustangs look to break into the regional title game with a win against Caney Valley.
While his seven-point contribution may have gone overlooked in last Friday’s 68-59 upset of the higher-seeded Riverton Rams (12-8), Maier provides a big body under the basket for rebounds and second-chance opportunities on offense. He contributed 10 points in Iola’s regular season finale against Erie.
Cole Mathes
Wrestler Cole Mathes came in third on the medal podium in Hays after bouncing back in the consolation semifinals.
Mathes opened the tournament with a 4-2 decision over Wakeeney senior Kaiden Bliss (24-10), but fell to eventual state champion Sam Watkins (42-1) a senior from Hoxie via 17-0 tech-fall.
Mathes bounced back with a win against Douglass senior Gavin Bowman (19-23), then broke into the consolation bracket with a second-period pin of Caney Valley sophomore Rayden Martin (31-10). Mathes edged Kingman-Norman senior Collin Schreiner (38-8) in a 4-2 decision then Effingham-Atchison County Community sophomore Elijah Webb (30-12) in a 5-3 decision for third place.
Mathes recently accepted an offer to play football with Tabor College.
Jacob Zimmerman
Crest High School guard Jacob Zimmerman, a senior, played a crucial role Monday against Little River.
Following an season-ending injury to guard Lane Yocham, the Lancers needed another man to at least partially fill the void while also completing his other duties.
Zimmerman seemed just the right candidate as he combined with fellow senior Denton Ramsey for 14 points in Crest’s 48-39 loss to Little River.
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