Here's the 2024 Rockford All-Area Girls Basketball Team and Player of the Year
Stillman Valley has been one of the Rockford area’s greatest girls basketball powers over the last two decades. The Cardinals went to state in 1994 and 1995. They took third in Class 2A in 2012.
But they have never won as many games in back-to-back seasons as they have the last two years (58). Taylor Davidson, the driving force behind the team that won one more game than those 1993-94 Stillman Class A state qualifiers, is our girls basketball player of the year, heading our 2024 Rockford All-Area Girls Basketball team.
“She is such a competitor,” Stillman Valley coach Bobby Mellon said. “No matter what’s thrown her way, she is going to find a way. She has that will to win. That never give up mentality. She is always able to find another gear to keep her pushing and excel.”
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Davidson, a do-everything 5-foot-10 junior guard, averaged 24.6 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.8 steals. She is Stillman’s all-time leading scorer and was even more dominant when Stillman needed her most. She scored 30 points in a 53-48 regional final win and 31 in a 57-34 victory in the next game to lead Stillman into the 2A sectional finals for the second successive year.
She was the only local player this year to make Illinois Media first-team All-State, getting named in Class 2A. With 1,671 career points, has a chance to pass former Freeport Aquin and Arizona State great Sophie Brunner (2,541) to become the area’s all-time leading scorer. If Stillman (30-5) again plays 35 games next year, Davidson would have to average 24.9 points to pass Brunner.
Davidson’s size and versatility makes her especially difficult to keep in check.
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“Having that length,” Mellon said of his 5-10 guard, “helps her finish over people. It also gives her more space to create her shot and elevate over defenders.
“And on defense, she can guard one through five. That versatility is really big for us. There were games when she was on their best guard. There were also games we put her on their best post player.”
Here are the other nine members of this year's All-Area team, with players listed alphabetically:
Jordan Dimke, Hononegah
Dimke emerged as a star this season, becoming one of the best centers in the NIC-10 as a 5-11 sophomore. She averaged 12.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.1 steals. She was especially good on the offensive boards, grabbing 105. She led Hononegah to its second consecutive unbeaten NIC-10 season and shot 52 percent from the field. She also made 27 3-pointers, shooting 41.5 percent from long range.
Lily Esparza, Boylan
Esparza, a 6-2 senior center, was a two-time NIC-10 MVP who scored 1,506 career points and has signed with NCAA Division I Denver. She averaged 19.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.7 steals and 2 blocked shots for a team that went 25-7. The Illinois Media named Esparza second-team All-State in Class 3A.
Macy Groharing, Byron
The 5-8 sophomore guard/forward was the second-leading scorer on Byron’s Class 2A state runners-up team as a freshman. This year, she overcame major offseason shoulder surgery to average 16.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 4.1 steals.
Mya Janssen, Stillman Valley
The 6-foot senior forward had 23 double-doubles this season for Stillman Valley (30-5). She averaged 15.1 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.4 assists and shot 53 percent. She is the second-leading scorer in Stillman Valley history with 1,365 points and is the school’s all-time leader in rebounds (1,419) and blocked shots (237).
Paityn London, Freeport Aquin
London was offered an NCAA Division I scholarship this summer before ever playing a varsity game. The freshman averaged 20.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 4.3 steals and 0.9 blocked shots to lead Aquin to a 24-7 record. She was voted second-team All-State in Class 1A by the Illinois Media.
Soraya Parker, Lutheran
The 5-7 sophomore guard led Lutheran to a No. 7 state ranking in Class 1A, where it reached the sectional finals before losing to No. 1-ranked Galena. Parker, already with 1,320 points, could also someday threaten Sophie Brunner's local career record for scoring. She averaged 21.3 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 steals.
Emma Pierson, Belvidere
The 5-8 junior guard averaged 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 4.3 steals. She shot 48 percent and led Belvidere (17-15) to its first winning season in 18 years. She scored over 700 points this year to break the season scoring record of Amanda Levens, who went on to become a two-time Pac-12 all-conference guard at Arizona State and is now the head coach at Nevada. As a sophomore last year, she broke Levens’ single-game scoring record with 40 points.
Elaina Rager, Pecatonica
The 5-7 junior guard led Pecatonica to a school-record 25-7 mark after tying the school record with 22 wins her first two years. She averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists and shot 45 percent. She was NUIC North MVP as a sophomore and has an NCAA Division I offer from Wright State. She holds the school record with more than 1,200 career points with a year still to play. She was named second-team All-State in Class 1A by the Illinois Media.
Whitney Sullivan, Orangeville
Sullivan, a mobile 6-4 senior forward/center, is expected to play a wing in college at NCAA Division I Tulsa. She is a two-time NUIC North MVP who led Orangeville to an 85-13 record the last three years after having 21 consecutive losing seasons before that. She averaged 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks for a team that was ranked No. 2 in Class 2A. Sullivan is a two-time Illinois Media second-team All-State pick.
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: 2024 Rockford All-Area Girls Basketball Team and Player of the Year
