(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert men’s and women’s basketball teams had five total players named to the California Pacific Conference All-Conference teams Sunday morning at the Cal Pac Awards Banquet held at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Ariz.
Macy Markus
Macy Markus (First Team), Kayla Schroeder (Second Team), Madison Chappell (Honorable Mention and Defensive) and Jayla Reliford (Honorable Mention) were all named on the women’s side, while LC Ballard (Honorable Mention) was tabbed on the men’s team.
Markus, a senior, was named to the first team for the second year in a row as she averaged 16.8 points both overall and in conference. In just two seasons, Markus finishes as the Bucs all-time leading scorer with 818 points, two al;-conference first team selections and an all-defensive team nod. The Herriman, Utah native also holds the Bucs record for most field goals made and attempted and is second in three-point field goals made. Markus finished her career with 14 games of 20 points or more with two games of 30-plus points. She also holds the school record for points in an NAIA game with 37 against Embry Riddle in the 2021-22 season.
Kayla Schroeder
Schroeder, named to the second team, makes her second consecutive appearance on the all-conference team after making the first team a year ago and being named Freshman of the Year. Schroeder averaged 15.4 points overall, but was even better in Cal Pac play averaging 16.4 points per game. Schroeder is the Bucs all-time leading three-point shooter after just two season in Gilbert, having made 105 trifectas in just two seasons. Schroeder also knocks down threes at a high percentage shooting 41 percent from long range for her career.
Madison Chappell
A junior, Chappell gets her first all-conference nod as she was not only named honorable mention, she was also named to the Cal Pac All-Defensive team. Chappell really came into her own in 2022-23 averaging 10.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game overall and stepped it up in conference play averaging 11.4 points and 8.9 boards. Chappell had four double-doubles this season all in conference play. The Holbrook, Ariz., native set career highs for points with 20 against Pacific Union and rebounds with 17 against Cal Maritime. On the defensive side, Chappell was a high end cat burglar averaging almost three steals a game to go along with her rebounding prowess which placed her fifth in the conference in rebounds per game.
Jayla Reliford
Reliford also earned her first all-conference honor in a season which saw her lead the conference in assists and finish third in the country in assists per game. For much of the season Reliford led the country in assists per game. As injuries hit the team, Reliford started to take a more prominent role in scoring to help Park Gilbert win 11 of its last 14 games. Reliford averaged almost 11 points and seven assists in conference play. She scored in double digits in nine of the Bucs final 12 games averaging 12.7 points per game. She set the school record for assists in a game with 11 (twice) and obliterated her own single season assist mark with 154.
On the men’s side, junior point guard LC Ballard established himself as one of the top floor generals in the conference. He led the Bucs in scoring at 12.5 points per game along with pulling down almost four boards and dishing out 2.4 assists per contest. Ballard had two 20-plus point games including setting a career high with 25 in a Park win over Pacific Union. He also was clutch from the free throw line shooting 80 percent from the charity stripe, which included two game winning free throws with less than a second left against Haskell.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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