All-RTC4 girls basketball: More than just a shooter, Winamac’s Kroft is Player of Year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC Girls Basketball Player of the Year Kandace Kroft

One can tie the improvement with Winamac’s girls basketball program with Kandace Kroft’s improvement as a player.

Winamac won four games her freshman year. They won 14 in both her sophomore and junior years. And as a senior in 2025-26, Winamac won 19 games.

It was Winamac’s most wins in a season in 14 years. Their team scoring average increased by almost nine points per game.

Kroft had two games where she scored 20 or more points last year; she had 14 games of 20 or more this year.

Last year, she made 57 3-pointers, a good amount for any player. This year, she was second in the state in 3-pointers with 97. 

And that only gets at Kroft’s skill as a ballhandler, passer, rebounder and defender. For all that and so much more, Kroft is our RTC4 Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Kroft also headlines our All-RTC4 girls basketball team.

We would like to thank area coaches for sending us their scores and stats, and we would also like to thank them for all the conversations. We cannot be at all the games, and they help us fill in the blanks.

Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone and based on a lot of hours spent at the gym. We take full responsibility. Please send any objections our way and nowhere else.

First team

• Kandace Kroft (Winamac) (RTC Player of the Year) – A Franklin College recruit, Kroft also averaged 6.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.2 steals per game. If you sagged off her on the break, she could hit the pullup 3-pointer. And if you tried to play her tight, she was quick and strong enough to blow right by you. We believe she could be effective at either the point guard or shooting guard spot at the next level.

• Madi Douglass (Caston) – The Lady Comets jumped from seven to 11 wins last year, and their team scoring average jumped from 34 points per game to 42. Douglass was the main reason why. A junior, Douglass can play either the point or the shooting guard spots or even on the wing, and she averaged 3.8 assists per game on a team that does not play at a particularly fast pace or have a ton of scoring options. She also averages 8.1 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game, which means she is always around the ball.

• Laney Musall (North Miami) – A Manchester University recruit, Musall missed almost all of December due to a knee injury, but she averaged 13 points and also terrorized opposing ballhandlers with her defense. Leading North Miami to semistate was a heroic, gutsy effort given that she likely was not 100 percent with her bad knee.

• Kayden Donaldson (North Miami) – Donaldson, a junior, averaged 12.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as something of a stretch 4 – a power forward who could step out beyond the arc and hit from the outside. She seemed to save her best for the best opponents – 14 against Winamac, 18 against Manchester and 20 against Southwood in the sectional final.

• Hadley Wise (Tippecanoe Valley) – Wise, a junior shooting guard, expanded on her skill set. She improved her outside shot and also became a bigger factor defensively. Add that to her ability to penetrate the lane with her quickness and strength, and you could see why Valley jumped from 13 wins last year to 17 this year.

Second team

• Mia McKaig (Pioneer) – McKaig, a senior bound for Taylor University to play golf, averaged 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4 assists for a Lady Panther team that improved pretty dramatically as the season progressed. She was another player who could play the point or the wing.

• Ava McCune (Culver) – McCune improved her outside shot, and that only made her harder to defend. She is a lightning-quick point guard who gets several baskets for herself because of her defense and her ability to turn steals into layups at the other end. 

• Sadie Popejoy (Winamac) – Popejoy scored in double figures 19 times, and two other times, she scored nine. If you overhelped on Kroft, Popejoy took advantage, hitting 55 3-pointers.

• Marissa Iverson (Winamac) – Iverson, a senior forward, came back from the knee injury that ended her 2024-25 season prematurely and averaged 11.2 points and 8.6 rebounds. Winamac was able to run their fast break a lot more this year, and much of that had to do with Iverson clearing the boards and triggering the break.

• Gaby Gonzalez (Tippecanoe Valley) – A St. Francis recruit, Gonzalez was the floor general on a team that came within a last-second shot of winning its sectional. Valley finished in the top 25 in the state in defensive average playing against a difficult schedule, and Gonzalez was the main reason why.

• Aubrey Wilson (Rochester) – Opponents seemed to throw all their defensive pressure at Wilson, and she handled it steadily, leading the team in both scoring (8.8 ppg) and assists (3.6 apg).

Honorable mention

• Grace Sailors (North Miami)

• Ashlynn Berndt (Culver)

• Jadyn Field (Rochester)

• Brailyn Hunter (Rochester)

• Dalynne Bussard (Tippecanoe Valley)

• Liz Kennell (Pioneer)

• Grace Colvin (Caston)

• Ellie Bollenbacher (Argos)

• Layla Hampton (North Miami)

• Allison Craig (Caston)

• Avery Haselby (Pioneer)

• Brianna Schlemmer (Culver)

• Ali Field (Rochester)

• Brooke Davis (Culver)

RTC Girls Basketball Player of the Year

2021 – Hailey Cripe (Pioneer)

2022 – Ashlynn Brooke (Pioneer)

2023 – Ashlynn Brooke (Pioneer)

2024 – Samantha Redinger (Argos), Isabel Scales (Caston)

2025 – Makenna Strycker (Pioneer)

2026 – Kandace Kroft (Winamac)