• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

O'Leary leads Big Eight honorees

Janesville continues to be a hotbed of talent for high school girls basketball.

Led by Parker junior Catie O’Leary, a repeater as Player of the Year, four city players have been named to the first or second team in the coaches’ All-Big Eight Conference selections.

Kristy Benson, Craig’s senior point guard, joins O’Leary on the first team for the second straight year.

Parker senior Alex Klawitter and Craig senior Danielle Straw have been named to the second team.

Madison West junior Ellie Pearson, Middleton senior JoLyn Owen and Beloit Memorial senior Brianna Monahan complete the first team. Pearson joins O’Leary and Benson on the list of repeaters.

O’Leary led Parker to a conference co-championship and a 20-3 record. After being No. 1 much of the season in The Associated Press Division 1 state ratings, the Vikings advanced to the sectional finals before losing to Verona.

The 5-foot-10 O’Leary led Division 1 state players in scoring with a 19.4 average, including back-to-back games of 28 in the postseason.

“I think a lot of times, when a player is chosen Player of the Year as an underclassman, they tend to not work as hard coming into the next season,” Parker coach Tom Klawitter said. “That certainly wasn’t the case with Catie. Her game got better because she worked so hard at it.

“There are still parts of Catie’s game that I know she wants to improve on, and I know she’ll work on those in the off-season.

“The best thing about the award is that it was given to a player on a championship team. That means the team was successful.”

O’Leary had 60 points in three wins against Craig, including 28 in a 66-51 victory over the Cougars in the sectional semifinals. Craig coach Mark Marsden says O’Leary is one of the top two or three players in the state.

“I think O’Leary is the toughest player I’ve ever had to prepare for, other than (former Parker star) Mistie Bass,” Marsden said. “She can hurt you from the outside or drive to the basket, where she usually hit the shot, got fouled or found an open teammate. She’s just an excellent player.”

Benson also had another stellar year Craig, which finished third in the Big Eight and finished 15-8. The 5-7 standout was fourth in Division 1 scoring with a 17.5 average and led the state in assists with 118. She had five games of 20 or more points, including a city-high 30 in a nonconference loss to Mukwonago.

Along with her scoring, Benson’s assist to turnover ratio was an impressive 3-to-1.

“Kristy proved to be one of the top point guards in the state,” Marsden said. “She got exactly what she deserved, and that was repeating on the all-conference first team.

“She also led us in rebounding with more than seven a game and really worked on her game over the summer. That made her an even better point guard this season.”

Straw, a 5-11 senior, went from honorable mention in 2007 to the second team, despite missing part of the season with a foot injury. She had 10 games in double figures, including 20 against Middleton. Straw will attend UW-La Crosse and play basketball for the Eagles.

Alex Klawitter finished with 48 three-point baskets, including five in Parker’s San Diego Surf ‘N’ Slam Classic win over Justin Siena, Calif.