Three Huskies earn postseason honors

Postseason awards have been announced and three of Burlington Huskies have been recognized.

Rykael Andrew, Weston Gotfredson and Paul McNiven join Nate Hinkle and Payson Pluhar from Dubois, Jonathan Ogden and Max Potas from Meeteetse, Avery Clifford and Ryder Kozisek from Riverside, Perrion Buffalo and Ethan Fighting Bear from St. Stephens and Eli Fox from Ten Sleep on the Class 1A all-Northwest Conference team. Gotfredson also earned all-state honors.

“What you don’t see in the awards is that we actually had what I would call honorable mentions: kids that were nominated but didn’t receive more votes than some of the others. We had seven all conference nominations,” said Coach Kirby Winland.

Gotfredson led the team in most points scored and most rebounds with 231 points and 156 rebounds. He was 51% in his field goal percentage and averaged 11 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. “Weston did a great job battling in the post all year, cleaning up rebounds, protecting the paint and staying out of foul trouble so he could stay on the floor,” said Winland. “Weston always gave every play his all and dug deep to give his best, even when he was exhausted.”

Andrew had 199 points and 122 rebounds this season with a field goal percentage of 52%. He averaged 9 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. “Rykael was our most consistent offensive threat this year due to his offensive rebounding and cutting,” said Winland. “Rykael was a player that also gave his all anytime he was on the court. He could defend without fouling and being coachable made Rykael a triple threat player.”

McNiven scored 109 points this season and led the team in steals with 41. He had a 49% field goal percentage. He averaged 5.7 points and 2.2 steals per game. “Paul also did a great job taking on our toughest opponents,” said Winland. “Whenever we were playing, Paul always wanted to guard their best player and not only did he have the desire but he was able to execute great defense against even the best of players. Paul learned so much this year and is a player any coach would want on their team. I often would tell coach Cook that other teams around the state are lucky Paul didn’t start playing basketball any sooner than he did.

“All three of our conference players would be welcomed on any team in the state for their hard work and love for the game,” said Winland.