Cole, Pederson earn All-Conference honors

Teddy and Thatcher Troftgruben, along with Jayde Harrington, earn HM

The votes are in from the coaches of the 3A East Conference, and when all were tallied up, one Dogie and one Lady Dogie earned a spot on the All-Conference team while two other Dogies and one other Lady Dogie received Honorable Mention to the All-Conference team.

In his final season as a Dogie, Wyatt Cole got the nod for All-Conference honors. Cole led his team in scoring and ended the season racking up 246 points, which left him averaging 11.2 points per game and 3.7 rebounds. He also led the team in three-point shooting percentage with 30% accuracy. In addition, Cole was eighth in the 3A East conference in scoring and 10th in blocked shots. According to head coach Allen Von Eye, he finished his career 16th in scoring for the Dogies with 359 points, sixth in three-point makes with 54 and seventh in all-time three-point percentage with 31.2%.

“Wyatt did a great job this season of stepping into a lead offensive role this season,” Von Eye began. “He was able to increase his field goal shooting efficiency from the floor to 36% despite drawing the other team’s best defensive player most nights. He was able to be our most consistent perimeter threat all season and was our ‘go-to’ when we needed a big shot.”

Sophomore Teddy Troftgruben was one of two Dogies to be given Honorable Mention to the All-Conference team. He finished the season in the top 10 of the 3A East conference in four categories including rebounds, assists, steals and free-throw percentage. This year, he averaged 8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. His shooting efficiency increased from 31% to 38% from last year and in 39 varsity contests, he has moved to 10th all-time in steals and sixth all-time in deflections for the Dogies.

“Teddy had a great first full season running the point for us. He led us in most all statistical categories outside of scoring. Teddy is an incredible natural athlete whose effort on the court is almost unmatched. He plays hard every second he is out there and makes great things happen. We will work on getting him a little more controlled on offense this off-season, but we love his aggressiveness,” Von Eye said. “Teddy was a great defender and generally was assigned to the opponent’s best offensive threat. He really improved his ability to get to the rim, and we really look forward to what a good off-season can do for his game!”

Junior Thatcher Troftgruben was the other Dogie to earn Honorable Mention to the All-Conference team. He finished the season in the top 10 of the 3A East conference in steals averaging two per game. He saw great increases in most all statistical categories from last season by averaging 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and two steals per game. In Thatcher’s 44 varsity games, he has moved to number 16 all-time in steals, is third all-time in charges taken and seventh in deflections for the Dogies.

“Thatcher really grew as the season went along. He is always a very anticipatory defender and puts himself in good positions to create turnovers. He also rebounds incredibly well for his size and he plays hard the entire time he is on the floor,” Von Eye said. “His offensive ‘control’ improved a ton this year. We were able to see his confidence in getting to the rim really grow late in the season, which helped our offense out considerably. We are very excited to get him into the gym this off-season, keep working on the perimeter game and look forward to him becoming an even bigger offensive threat next year to go along with his tough defense.”

In addition to gaining honorable mention to the overall All-Conference team, both Teddy and Thatcher also received Honorable Mention to the 3A All-Defensive Team.

For the Lady Dogies, Sydney Pederson earned All-Conference honors when the 3A East Conference coaches gave her the nod for the team. Pederson finished the season as the Lady Dogies’ leading scorer and was in the top 10 in the conference in scoring, rebounding and three-point percentage. She was also the ninth leading scorer in the state in 3A.

Pederson averaged 11.8 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game totalling 271 points on the season and pulling down 122 rebounds. She was the leading scorer for the Lady Dogies in 11 of their 23 games, twice scoring a game high of 20 points. She was the leading rebounder in four games, one in which she pulled down 10 boards.

“Sydney’s hard work and positive attitude influenced those around her all season, from morning shoot-arounds to practice and to games,” head coach Mike Pederson said. “Achieving the status of an All-Conference basketball player is a remarkable accomplishment, a testament to dedication, skill and perseverance on the court. As one of the top players in the conference, Syd undoubtedly demonstrated exceptional talent and leadership throughout the season, making significant contributions to her team’s success.”

In a very talented 3A East Conference, Jayde Harrington got enough votes to garner Honorable Mention to the All-Conference team. She was the second leading scorer for the Lady Dogies in her final season. In addition, she finished third in the conference and sixth in the state in rebounding.

Harrington averaged 9.3 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game for a total of 213 points and 180 rebounds. She led her team in scoring in nine of their 23 games with a game high of 16 points. In rebounding, Harrington led the team in 15 of their games, five of those she ended in double figures with 16 rebounds being her peak performance.

“Jayde demonstrated consistent dedication and improvement all season. Her strong work ethic impacted the team’s morale and performance all season,” Pederson said. “ I’d like to thank her for all her hard work and fun times in practice, whether tripping over lines or running into garbage cans, it will be remembered for years to come.”