BACK-TO-BACK: Hoyle nabs all state honors for second straight year

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor
sports@beeherald.com

Only the second female athlete in Paton-Churdan history to tally more than career 1,500 points is an all-state honoree for the second straight season.

Danielle Hoyle capped a historic basketball career with a second team, all state honor from the Iowa Print Sportswriters Association as well as a third team distinction from the Iowa Girls Coaches Association.

The senior was top seven in four different categories this past winter. Hoyle was second in Class 1A in scoring, chipping in 23.1 points per game to go with the second-best shooting percentage (70.3 percent) in addition to a rebounding rate of 11.2 rebounds per game (seventh) and the third-most blocks per contest at 3.9 per. Hoyle’s 70.3 percent field goal percentage is the 31st-best single season mark in Iowa girls’ five-on-five history.

Her 215 made field goals were second-most in the state this year only behind Bishop Garrigan’s Audi Crooks, who sank 224 field goals in three more games played. Crooks also tallied the best shooting percentage in 1A, nailing 70.4 percent of her attempts. Hoyle was third on the team this winter with 50 assists while she was 18th in 1A with 76 made free throws. Hoyle’s 85 total blocks were the fourth-most in Class 1A. Crooks and Storm Lake St. Mary’s Sydney Hurd tied for the 1A lead with 101 total blocks.
Hoyle was also named to the IGCA third team in 2020, marking back-to-back such honors.
Despite a disheartening loss in the regional semifinals, Hoyle bowed the only way she knew how, nearly tallying a triple double Feb. 19 against CAM. She tallied a team-best 20 points (on a pristine seven-of-10 shooting) to go with 10 rebounds and eight blocks in addition to three steals and two assists.

The senior helped the Rockets temporarily achieve their first top 15 ranking in more than five years, as Paton-Churdan cracked the Class 1A list back in early February, sliding in at No. 15 sporting a then 11-3 record. P-C finished with a 16-6 overall record, securing their highest single-season win total in more than 10 years. The Rockets tallied a 12-3 conference record, finishing second in the Rolling Valley Conference behind only champion Exira-EHK (16-0). The Spartans recorded two of P-C’s three conferences losses, eventually culminating in a trip to the 2021 state tournament. Exira-EHK defeated MMCRU in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual runner-up, Bishop Garrigan in the state semifinals, 57-35.

Hoyle tallied a season high 32 points in a dominant victory over Glidden-Ralston on Feb. 2, drilling 14 of her 16 shot attempts to go with 10 rebounds and a block. The senior pulled in a season-best 17 rebounds in the Rockets’ season-opening win against Ar-We-Va Dec. 1, chipping in 21 points to go with two assists and eight blocks. Her season-high nine blocks weren’t enough in a close, 52-44 loss to CAM on Feb. 8 despite scoring 21 points in addition to 12 rebounds. Thanks to Hoyle’s consistent dominance, the Rockets won 31 games over a two-year span, securing a number of playoff victories while losing just 15 games.

Lamoni’s Abby Martin led Class 1A in scoring at 24.7 points per contest while Mormon Trail’s Skylar Watsebaugh was the state’s top rebounder at 15.4 rebounds per contest. Storm Lake St. Mary’s sophomore Sydney Hurd was the top defensive force in 1A, tallying 4.4 blocks per contest.
As a team, Paton-Churdan averaged 52.4 points per game (21st in 1A) while they tallied an impressive 4.3 block per, which ranked them 11th in the state.

Hoyle wraps up her distinguished career as Paton-Churdan’s second-most prolific scorer in history, recording 1,568 points. Rocket graduate Carleigh Paup holds the all-time P-C record with 1,833 total points.
Hoyle finished her career 38 rebounds shy of 1,000 boards, tallying 962 across her illustrious four-year high school basketball stint.

She was also a defensive force over that entire span, finishing her career with a school-record 354 career blocks, which ranks her 16th all-time in the state of Iowa, across all classes.

Hoyle is joined by Woodbury Central’s Camrin Baird, Kingsley-Pierson’s Brooklyn Beery, Exira-EHK’s Macy Emgarten, Collins-Maxwell’s Reagan Franzen, MMCRU’s Ellie Hilbrand, Lamoni’s Abby Martin and Bishop Garrigan’s Kaylyn Meyers on the IGCA third team.
The IPSWA’s Class 1A second team was comprised of Hoyle as well as Quinn Grubbs (Exira-EHK), TJ Stoaks (Lenox), Kaylyn Meyers (Bishop Garrigan), Taylor Harpenau (MMCRU), Reagan Franzen (Collins-Maxwell) and Layla Hargis (North Mahaska).

Hoyle was also named to the West Central All-District team by the IGCA.

DINNEBIER NAMED MRS. BASKETBALL

Katie Dinnebier, of Waukee, was selected as Miss Iowa Basketball 2021.

Dinnebier played in only 12 games in an abbreviated season for the Class 5A state-champion Warriors (13-1).

She averaged 19.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game, shooting 56.4 percent from the field, 45.7 percent from 3-point range and 83.0 percent from the free throw line.
A Drake University signee, Dinnebier was at her best in the state tournament, scoring 20-plus points in all three games at Wells Fargo Arena. That included a 29-point effort (on 1

1-of-14 shooting) in the Warriors’ 71-43 victory over Johnston in the 5A championship game Friday.

The 5-foot-8 point guard scored 979 points in her career, in which Waukee went 73-14 and reached the state tournament all four years. The Warriors were 5A runners-up in 2020.