Paton-Churdan's Danielle Hoyle (35) became the first athlete in the six year history of the Rolling Valley Conference to lead the league in scoring, rebounding, blocks and field goal percentage.  BRANDON HURLEY | JEFFERSON HERALD Paton-Churdan's Tessa Steimel (left) earned second team, All-RVC honors after leading the league in assists and connecting on the fourth most three-pointers.  BRANDON HURLEY | JEFFERSON HERALD

QUEEN OF THE VALLEY: One-thousand point scorer Hoyle leads P-C’s RVC honors in historic year

By BRANDON HURLEY

Sports Editor
sports@beeherald.com
@BrandonJHurley

In a sport infatuated with long range shots and lightning quick offenses, an old school statistical dominance vaulted stat-keepers back into a golden age.
It’s fitting that Paton-Churdan’s Danielle Hoyle achieved a significant career milestone during a watershed season.
The Rocket forward became the first athlete in the six year history of the Rolling Valley Conference to lead the league in scoring, rebounding, blocks and field goal percentage, likely setting herself up for a possible all state distinction.
Hoyle averaged a nightly double-double during the 2019-20 basketball season, scoring at a rate of 18.3 points per game, which was 10th in 1A, while hauling in a massive 11.3 rebounds per game, 9th in 1A. She also tallied 105 total blocks,  which was top mark in all of 1A while drilling shots at 62.4 percent clip. Each of these achievements were career-high marks and if that weren’t enough, Hoyle also crossed the 1,000 career points plateau in the 19th game of the season.
She now sits at 1,059 career points in just three years of varsity action.
The junior was often a nightmare for opposing teams on both ends of the court – a dominant interior presence with a massive wingspan and a unique ability to read a player’s next move. She stands out among a throng of smaller athletes and impacts the game in so many different ways. An onslaught of recent accolades and victories has validated that superiority as she continues to assert herself as one of the greatest centers in league history.
Hoyle led the Rockets to a 15-9 record this winter and a tie for third in league, which earned her first team All-Rolling Valley Conference honors as well as a West Central first team, all district distinction. She was flanked by her Rocket teammate and one of the RVC’s top three-point shooters, Tessa Steimel, who was named to the Rolling Valley Conference second team.
P-C picked up back-to-back postseason victories for the first time in several years with wins over Coon Rapids-Bayard and Glidden-Ralston before running into the historic buzzsaw that is undefeated defending champion Newell-Fonda in the regional semifinals.
Hoyle’s 270 rebounds in 24 games this winter were also a career-high, pushing her career total to 692 rebounds. Not to mention, she rarely missed the mark when given the chance, becoming almost automatic when fed the ball down low.
Hoyle has been one of the most ferocious centers in the state for awhile now, but took her game to a superstar level this year. She led all of 1A with a career-best average of 4.4 blocks per game, spanning out to the third best mark in Iowa, across all five classes. Hoyle has never finished lower than top five in the state in blocks in each of her three years, tallying 269 career deflections. She’s led the RVC in blocks each year she’s taken to the varsity court – never once recording less than 78 blocks in a season. She has twice led the conference in rebounding as well.
AC/GC’s London Vais was the last RVC athlete to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage back in 2013-14, but she failed to crack the top 10 in blocks. Iowa Christian Academy’s Karlie Schut achieved top marks in all four categories shooting during the 2011-12 season when Paton-Churdan and various other league members were a part of the Rolling Hills Conference.
We may not have seen the last of Hoyle’s statistical landmarks just yet. She could join the 1,000-point and 700 rebound club in the first game next winter thanks to her low post dominance, and has an outside shot of becoming a member of the incredibly rare 1,000 point, 1,000 rebound club.
Hoyle’s remarkable tear wasn’t the only impressive feat the Paton-Churdan squad obtained this winter. Junior Tessa Steimel was the RVC’s top passer, tallying 97 total assists for an average of 4 assists per game. Steimel also drilled the fourth-most threes in the league with 50 three-pointers made while she averaged 9.5 points per game.
The Rockets produced three of the top six three-point shooters in the RVC. Chloe Berns nailed 38 three-pointers to finish fifth behind Steimel while sophomore Carmyn Paup connected on 33 three-pointers, which tied her for sixth with Glidden-Ralston’s Gretchen Wallace.
As a team, P-C was second in the league with 142 made three-pointers (which was the seventh most in the state), drilling them at a 32.2 percent clip.
Steimel also came away with 52 steals, which was the 12th-best mark in the RVC.
The Rockets finished 10-6 in league play, which placed them in a tie for third place in the conference standings. Exira-EHK ripped off an undefeated record, going 16-0 to capture the regular season title while CAM finished runner-up at 12-3.
The most instrumental piece in P-C’s breakout season was of course Hoyle in her sheer dominance, but a slight offensive tweak also contributed quite handsomely. The Rockets made just 54 three-pointers last winter at a frustrating clip of 19.8 percent, the second lowest percentage in the RVC. They attempted 273 three-pointers in 23 games, which was also the second-fewest in the league.
Things became a bit more urgent during the 2019-20 season. P-C attempted almost 170 more three-pointers than a season prior (441), which were the second most attempts in the RVC while they connected on nearly 100 more shots (142 made threes) and at a much more efficient rate of 32.2 percent. Three P-C athletes made at least 30 threes while five girls made at least 13 from long range.
In the past four years leading into this season, the Rockets only once attempted more than 300 three-pointers in a season, and that was back during the 2015-16 season when P-C hoisted 351 long balls. That season was a bit of an anomaly, as the Rockets featured the state’s leading scorer in Carleigh Paup (24.7) and two other athletes who made at least 26 three-pointers.
Newell-Fonda and it’s dazzling 41-game win streak absolutely obliterated Paton-Churdan in this winter’s Class 1A regional semifinals, capturing a 76-18 victory Feb. 21 in Newell. The Mustangs went on to secure yet another state trip with a 23-point victory over Woodbury Central in the regional final. The Twin Lakes Conference champion forced Paton-Churdan into more than 35 turnovers while connecting on 32 shots. Newell-Fonda blitzed its way to a 20-point first quarter lead, holding the Rockets to just two points in the opening frame. The offensive struggles continued for P-C in the third frame, as they failed to make a single basket from the field, scoring just one point in the quarter.
Despite that unfortunate ending, Paton-Churdan will return its entire roster next winter, possibly becoming one of the league favorites.

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