All-RTC4 girls basketball: Leading Pioneer’s rebound after slow start, Strycker is player of year
- Val T.
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Things were not looking up for the Pioneer girls basketball team after an 0-6 start.
Then Makenna Strycker scored 22 points in a 44-29 win over Logansport in the consolation game of the Cass County Invitational, and the season chartered a new course.
Things were not looking up against rival Caston Dec. 17. Pioneer trailed 24-9 at halftime, and the game did not seem even that close. Strycker took over the game in the second half, finishing with a game-high 23 points in a stunning 40-32 comeback win.
And the Lady Panthers would not lose again for another month.
Pioneer would suffer another five-game losing streak to close the regular season. Strycker responded by outscoring the entire Caston team in a 34-13 win in a Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinal at West Central.
Pioneer would finish 12-13, and they were the only team to make it as far as a sectional final. Coming through for her team when times might have been bleak, Strycker is our choice for RTC4 Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Strycker also headlines our All-RTC4 girls basketball team after a season full of competitive games, emerging stars and unpredictable finishes.
We also had a season full of excellent point guards, including Strycker, and they are littered all over our selections.
We would like to thank area coaches for sending us their box scores all year long. They really help in our assessments, and we would also like to thank the coaches for talking to us after games, win or lose, and sharing their insights.
Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for this list after spending many hours in many different gyms over northern Indiana.
Madi Douglass Kandace Kroft Gaby Gonzalez Ella McCarter
First team
Makenna Strycker (Pioneer) (RTC4 Player of the Year) – Strycker was the area’s leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, and she also led Pioneer in rebounding (7.2 rpg), assists (4.2 apg) and steals (3 spg). Bound for Wittenberg University, she is a strong point guard who is hard for opponents to keep out of the paint and a capable shooter.
Madi Douglass (Caston) – Douglass was the most experienced returnee and had to provide leadership even though she is just a sophomore herself. She increased her scoring and rebounding, and she was often a one-person press in Caston’s 1-2-2 zone defense. She will get even more efficient in time.
Kandace Kroft (Winamac) – When Winamac’s Tony Stesiak, who has 20 years of varsity head coaching experience, said he would put Kroft on his “Mount Rushmore” of players that he has coached, we took notice, and it checked out. Kroft was a clutch 3-point shooter who could also penetrate to the basket, and she was in the same class as Strycker as a rebounding guard, and she also led Winamac in assists as the Lady Warriors posted their second straight 14-win season.
Gaby Gonzalez (Tippecanoe Valley) – Gonzalez can score, but whether she scored two points or 20 or somewhere in between, she was the focal point of a Valley team that improved greatly against a difficult schedule. On a team with not much experience and with first-year coach Rebekah Parker trying to implement her system, she ran the show, getting others involved and starting the fast break with her quick hands on defense.
Ella McCarter (Rochester) – McCarter averaged 9 ppg while improving her rebounding and playmaking. On a team that played a lot of close, low-possession games, the ball seemed to be in McCarter’s hands a lot, and she typically made something good happen.
Second team
Sadie Popejoy (Winamac) – Stesiak challenged Popejoy to become a more complete player, and she complied. Instead of being just a spot-up shooter, she improved her ballhandling and rebounding and could even run the offense to allow Kroft to play off the ball. She is a very athletic player but also an instinctive player.
Ava McCune (Culver) – Culver improved from four wins in 2023-24 to 15 wins in 2024-25, and they did it with defense, cutting their defensive average from 45.3 to 31.9. It’s no coincidence that Ava McCune started high school in 2024-25, and her extraordinary quickness and athleticism foiled teams from getting into their offense, and she improved her scoring as the season progressed as well.
Aubrey Wilson (Rochester) – Wilson averaged a team-high 9.9 ppg, and her strength at getting to the rim combined with her perimeter shot made for a potent combination from the point guard spot. She also led the team in steals at 2.8 per game.
Morgyn Barcus (Argos) – Barcus led Argos in scoring (11.3 ppg) and assists (2.8 apg), and she also averaged 4.3 rebounds per game. She played fantastic when Argos snapped Pioneer’s nine-game winning streak. She has always been a good shooter but became a more complete player.
Hadley Wise (Tippecanoe Valley) – Wise blossomed from JV point guard as a freshman to varsity shooting guard as a sophomore. Like Gonzalez, she is a two-way guard, capable of affecting the game with her quickness on defense and with her shooting and dribble penetration on offense.
Honorable mention
Marissa Iverson (Winamac)
Amiyah Williams (Culver)
Rylee Clevenger (Rochester)
Ellie Bollenbacher (Argos)
Mia McKaig (Pioneer)
Lucy Hayden (Tippecanoe Valley)
Ashlynn Berndt (Culver)
Alydiah Leed (Argos)
Grace Colvin (Caston)
Kynzie Hathaway (Pioneer)
Jadyn Field (Rochester)
Brynn Berndt (Culver)
Audrey Bolinger (Rochester)
Brailyn Hunter (Rochester)
Carlee Snyder (Tippecanoe Valley)
RTC4 Girls Basketball Player of the Year
2021 – Hailey Cripe (Pioneer)
2022 – Ashlynn Brooke (Pioneer)
2023 – Ashlynn Brooke (Pioneer)
2024 – Samantha Redinger (Argos), Isabel Scales (Caston)
2025 – Makenna Strycker (Pioneer)
