IBCA unveils its All-State team honorees for Highland, Triad

By Ray Popkess

 

With the conclusion of this year’s high school basketball season, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) released its selections for All-State teams on March 12.

For the boys’ teams, the IBCA combines Class 1A and 2A schools as well as Class 3A and 4A schools. The girls’ teams, however, are separated into the four classes.

The final Mississippi Valley Conference teams were also selected last week by each team’s coaches.

 

All-State Honorees

In addition to earning All-State Honorable Mention from the IBCA, Triad’s Tyler Thompson was also voted the Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year by the league’s coaches.

The 6’6” guard was a three-time Regional Champion and contributed to Triad’s first ever Sectional title in 2025. He was named to the Rick McGraw and Stovetop Classic All-Tournament teams twice, Collinsville’s Holiday Classic All-Tournament team once and won MVP of the Rick McGraw Tournament this year in Litchfield.

He compiled 1,209 points, 411 assists and 642 rebounds in his career and was the winningest Knight in program history with a four-year record of 102-32.

On the girls’ side, Highland’s Jordan Bircher was selected to the All-State Honorable Mention team in addition to being named the MVC Player of the Year. She’s been selected to the All-MVC team twice, this year earning 1st-Team honors and 2nd-Team honors in 2023.

She was a part of two conference championship teams for the Bulldogs in 2023 and 2026. She also saw playoff success with the Bulldogs, winning Sectional titles in both 2023 and 2024.

Bircher also compiled over 1,000 points in her career, collecting the prestigious achievement during a game against the Knights last December.

 

All-MVC Honorees

Coaches across the MVC voted on the league’s six All-Conference teams last week for both the boys and girls.

For the Knights, four of their five starters were selected to one of the All-MVC teams. Those four included Thompson, his younger brother Lucas, Nolan Keller and Mac Musgrave.

Lucas, a sophomore, received his first All-Conference recognition on the 1st-Team. He was tied for fourth in the conference in scoring average with 11.9 points per game and tied for seventh in rebounding average with 4.7 boards per game.

Keller, a senior, was also selected to the All-MVC 1st Team. He was tied for fourth in scoring as well with 11.9 points per game. He also averaged 1.32 steals per game, giving him the fourth highest average in the league.

Musgrave, also a senior, was selected to the All-MVC Honorable Mention team. He averaged 7.7 points per game and buried the seventh most three point attempts in the MVC this year with a total of 36 made shots from beyond the arc.

For the Bulldogs, two of their players earned All-Conference honors. Macklin Bellm was selected to the second team and Harrison Scholl was selected to the honorable mention team.

Bellm, a senior, averaged 7.4 points per game and had the second-highest rebound rate in the league, averaging 6.7 per game.

Scholl, also a senior, averaged the most points by a Bulldog this season with 8.6 per game. He also finished in the top-15 among MVC players in both rebound and assist rates, averaging 3.7 and 1.8 per game, respectively.

The Lady Bulldogs had three players earn All-Conference honors. Bircher was the frontrunner for first team honors. Joining her on the first team was Sophie Schroeder. Ari Nanney rounded out the Bulldogs All-MVC hoopers with a second team selection.

Bircher averaged the most points per game in the league with 14.2. She also finished sixth in average steals per game with 2.2.

Schroeder, a senior, was Highland’s second highest scorer, averaging 7.5 per game. She also led the conference in total rebounds with 316 on the season, averaging a whopping 9.6 per game just below the conference leader. She was also the only girl to average at least one block per game.

Nanney averaged 7.0 points per game for the Bulldogs and finished in the top-10 in both made three-pointers with 27 and steals with 57 in the conference.

As for the Lady Knights, three of their athletes were selected to the All-MVC teams. Those three were Juliette Duff, Erica Boyce and Addy Gentemann.

Duff, a freshman, was selected to the 1st-Team and averaged 10.6 points per game, leading the Lady Knights and placing her fourth among scorers in the conference. She also averaged 2.0 steals per game, good enough to earn eighth among MVC defenders.

Boyce, a senior, earned 2nd-Team honors while averaging 9.7 points per game this season. She finished fourth in the league averaging 2.3 steals per game and also had the fourth best free throw percentage (73.8%) in the league among players with at least 20 attempts.

Gentemann, a sophomore, earned All-MVC Honorable Mention. She was Triad’s third leading scorer, averaging 7.5 per game and averaged the third most steals in the conference at a rate of 2.4 per game.