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Trost
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Lavender
Female Athlete of Week: Megan Trost of Civic Memorial, Girls Basketball
Trost, a 6-foot senior center, finished her prep career in a big way. The Alton Exchange Club Player of the Year in 2013 closed it with 10 points and eight rebounds in a super-sectional loss to Quincy Notre Dame at Millikin University in Decatur.
QND went on to finish third in the IHSA Class 3A finals at Illinois State University in Normal. Lombard Montini won it and Joliet Catholic, which defeated QND in the semifinals, took second.
The Eagles wound up 31-3, including their third consecutive Mississippi Valley Conference championship, their second straight regional title and the first sectional crown in school history.
Trost played a big part in the Eagles’ success. She averaged 12.1 points per game, second best on the team. Trost also averaged 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game. She served as Civic Memorial’s pivotal player for their inside defense.
Male Athlete of the Week: Deion Lavender of Marquette Catholic, Boys Basketball
Lavender may have had his most productive week of the season as the Explorers celebrated a regional championship.
The 6-foot-4 senior guard scored 30 points in a 49-47 semifinal win over Highland and he also hit the game-winning shot. Then Lavender poured in 30 points to propel Marquette Catholic by Jersey, 61-57, in the championship game of the Triad Class 3A Regional.
He embraced a regional title for the third time in four years and the Explorers claimed one for the fourth time in five years. Marquette’s next destination was the Highland Sectional.
In addition, Lavender announced he is going to Southern Illinois University Carbondale of the Missouri Valley Conference. He gave a verbal commitment to the Salukis. Lavender is averaging 25.7 points per game, tops among Southwestern Illinois players and third-best in the St. Louis area.