Two Blue Mountain Community College basketball players have received 2015-2016 Eastern Region All-Region honors from the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC).
Sophomore Savannah Heugly was named to both the First Team All-Region and All-Defensive Team for women’s basketball, and freshman LaQuan Hawkins was named to the All-Defensive Team for men’s basketball.
Heugly, a 5’11” forward from Tualatin, averaged 21.29 points, 2.54 steals, and 11.32 rebounds per game, with an average of 7.36 defensive rebounds per game. She was named the NWAC Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 12 for her outstanding performance against Columbia Basin College on Jan. 9, when she scored 26 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, including two assists, a block and a steal. She ranked fourth in the NWAC for the season in scoring (596 total points), seventh in rebounding (317 total) and field goals (253 total), 13th in steals (71 total), and 15th in blocks (23 total). She also was named the MVP of the Green River Crossover Tournament in Auburn, Wash., on Dec. 19, at which BMCC took home the tournament championship.
“Savannah has been a joy to coach the last two years,” said BMCC Women’s Head Coach Adam Driver. “She is an outstanding young woman off the court and an excellent student. Her growth as a player over the last two years has been impressive. She grew from a role player on last year’s team into the focal point of our offense this year, often drawing double teams. It will be difficult to replace the production Savannah brought to the court, but it will be infinitely more difficult to replace what she brought to the program in terms of humility and character.”
Hawkins, a 5’7” guard from Las Vegas, Nev., who’s known to his teammates as “Q”, averaged 5.93 points, 1.29 rebounds and 0.96 steals per game.
“Q has done an amazing job at establishing a presence on the defensive end of the floor,” said BMCC Men’s Head Coach Adam Ellis. “We ask a lot of him with leadership on both ends of the floor. And defensively, the more aggressive he was, the better we were as a team. I am excited for him, and he deserves the recognition he is receiving. Defense is a part of the game that requires less talent and more heart. He is very passionate and takes pride in his defense and it shows on a daily basis with his effort.”
In addition to the All-Region basketball honors, men’s basketball guard Jared Schultz (Stevensville, Mont.) was nominated as a finalist for the NWAC Sophomore All-Star game. He’ll find out this Sunday if he made the cut. “Jared is the most consistent guy I have ever coached,” Ellis said. “Day in and day out he gives a solid effort. In two years at BMCC, he was only held below 10 points 10 times. He scored 771 points in two years, averaging 14 points a game. Jared is going to be a difficult guy to replace.”
