Negaunee’s Gretel Johnson dribbles the bal up court after her steal and would lay it in for two points during a high school girls basketball game played against Gladstone at Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium in Negaunee on Jan. 27. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

The Miners’ 5-foot-7 junior guard, Lillie Johnson of Gladstone and Aubrie Moore of Kingsford were chosen by the Michigan Sports Writers organization, a group that a few years ago took the place of The Associated Press in deciding on the team, though the AP still distributes its list.

Gretel Johnson was named to the All-State Second Team after leading Negaunee to a 23-2 record and earning a spot on the All-Upper Peninsula Dream Team voted on by the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in late March.

Lillie Johnson, a 6-foot senior, was named to the All-State First Team as Gladstone finished with a 19-5 record. Like her Negaunee counterpart, she was also voted to the All-U.P. Dream Team while adding a unanimous vote as U.P. Divisions 1-3 Player of the Year and winning a close vote with Ishpeming’s Jenessa Eagle as Miss U.P. Basketball.

Moore, a 5-3 sophomore, earned All-State Honorable Mention as she helped Kingsford finish at 15-6 as was voted to the All-U.P. Divisions 1-3 First Team.

Negaunee's Gretel Johnson, left, drives to the basket near the end of the third quarter while defended by Marquette's Lexi Curran during their game played at the Barb Crill Gymnasium in Marquette on Dec. 9. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Gretel Johnson averaged a team-leading 12.1 points per game for a team always known for its defense as the Miners allowed just 31.6 points per game.

Johnson also put up 4.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and three steals per game as Negaunee won the West PAC title and shared it in the Mid-Peninsula Conference.

She was named to the Dream Team in the West PAC and First Team in the M-PC, the highest honor team in each of those leagues.

“Gretel made the transition late in the fall to point guard after an injury to another player,” Miners head coach Mike O’Donnell said in comments supporting Johnson’s All-U.P. nomination. “That isn’t an easy thing to do and Gretel took it upon her shoulders to be the quarterback of our team.

“Gretel also typically guarded the opponents’ ‘shiftiest’ player and expended a lot of energy on both ends of the floor.”

The Negaunee team was also voted All-U.P. Divisions 1-2 Team of the Year and O’Donnell the All-U.P. Divisions 1-3 Coach of the Year.

Lillie Johnson had impressive statistics of 24.7 points, 12 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 48.5% from the field. Finishing with 2,185 points and 1,257 rebounds in her high school career — the third U.P. player to exceed 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds — she is set to play at NCAA Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay.

She was voted Player of the Year in the Great Northern Conference and co-Player of the Year in the West PAC.

Moore, a 5-3 sophomore, was named to the First Team in the GNC after averaging 18.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 3.6 assists per game for the Flivvers.

Kendyl Smith of Flint Powers Catholic was named the All-State Player of the Year, while Jason Gray of Goodrich, another Genesee County school, was named All-State Coach of the Year.

Goodrich won the state championship at Michigan State University on March 21 with a 55-44 win over Tecumseh, the team that eliminated Flint Powers in the semifinals.

Joining Lillie Johnson and Smith on the All-State First Team are Sophia Prins of Grand Rapids South Christian, Sadie Dykstra of Yale, Baylor Lauinger of Goodrich, Vanessa Rodriguez of Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Chloe Bullinger of Tecumseh, Ly’Nique Cunningham of South Haven, Emersen Holder of Warren Regina, Jozelynn Begick of Freeland and Kaitlyn Johnson of Haslett.

Along with Gretel Johnson, other members of the All-State Second Team are Kenley Slanger and Alexis Asekomeh of Grand Rapids West Catholic, Danica Dwyer of Owosso, Taylor DeKuiper of Fremont, Kayla Hairston of Goodrich, Alexis Bruyere of Imlay City, Brooke Smalldon of Otsego, Janiyah Turner of Center Line, Addi Zajac of Tecumseh, Dani Glass of Three Rivers, Rayah Hitt of Parma Western and Nayia Crispin of Detroit Country Day.

That group’s coach is Kristy Zajac of Tecumseh.

In addition to Kingsford’s Moore, also making All-State Honorable Mention are Ava Rodriguez of Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Madleen Hussein of Flat Rock, Olivia Gratz of Carleton Airport, Kaylyn Sowers of Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Valeria Ricossa of Armada, Elaina Flynn of Petoskey, Christina Dixon of Haslett, Lilly Thelen of Portland, Grace Pickelhaupt of St. Clair and Ella Salenbien of Adrian.

The 13-member Michigan Sports Writers group includes Jason Juno of The Globe in Ironwood, along with this dozen newspaper journalists from the Lower Peninsula — Doug Donnelly of The Advance in Blissfield, James Cook of the Traverse City Record-Eagle, Bryan Everson of the Oakland Press in Pontiac, Daniel Stickradt of the Macomb Daily in the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, Fred Kelly of the Midland Daily News, Josh VanDyke of the Muskegon Chronicle, Tom Greene of the Huron Daily Tribune in Bad Axe, Dan D’Addona of the Holland Sentinel, Brandon Watson of the Sturgis Journal, Patrick Nothaft of the Grand Rapids Press, Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press and Matthew Ehler of the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Story contents based on the Michigan Sports Writers list provided by The Associated Press. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.