Vanessa Jurewicz, Sonia Sato gain Region IX awards

A pair of McCook Community College women's basketball players have earned post-season awards from Region IX. Sophomore guards Vanessa Jurewicz and Sonia Sato were both selected by coaches for honors.

Both players were named to the All-Region IX South Team, Sato was named to the all-region defensive team and Jurewicz was selected to the All-Region IX TournamentTeam.

Jurewicz (Stockholm, Sweden) started all 31 games for MCC and led the team in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per game, 2.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds. For the season, she shot 36.9 percent from the field, made 55 of 174 shots from the 3-point line (31.6 percent), and sank 86 of 111 shots from the free-throw line (77.7 percent).

In being named to the all-tournament team, Jurewicz scored 15 points in a 55-43 win over Lamar in the Region IX play-in game Feb. 26 and followed that up with a 17-point showing against Eastern Wyoming March 3.

Sato (El Paso, Texas) started 29 games for MCC and averaged 9.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. She was a 39.2 percent shooter from the field and made 66.7 percent of her 87 free throws.

She picked up 228 rebounds on the season, which led the team, including 53 on the offensive end to go along with 50 steals and six blocked shots.

MCC went 19-12 on the season and tied for the second-seed in the Region IX South Division.

All-Region IX Tournament Team

    Ale'Jah Douglas – Western Nebraska

    Amani Brown – Western Nebraska

    Belen Morales - Casper

    Janette Hanni – Eastern Wyoming

    Joseana Voz – Casper

    Kate Robertson – Casper

    Mara Neira – Eastern Wyoming

    Payton Fields – Western Nebraska

    Rosa Revueltas – Eastern Wyoming

    Sam Hester – Laramie County

    Sandra Frau – Casper

    Savannah Lang – Otero

    Vanessa Jurewicz – McCook

    Vega Lopez – Trinidad State

All-Region IX South Team:

    Western Nebraska: Ale'jah Douglas, Aminate Zoe, Amani Brown

    Northeastern JC: Filippa Goula, Nailea Nichols

    Lamar: Althea-Kara Angeles

    McCook: Vanessa Jurewicz, Sonia Sato

    Trinidad: Ylenia Exzposito Perez

    Otero: Savannah Lang

All-Region Defensive Team

    Ale'jah Douglas, Western Nebraska,

    Aminate Zie, Western Nebraska

    Ashley Panem, Western Nebraska

    Nailea Nichols, Northeastern

    Althea-Kara Angeles, Lamar

    Sonia Sato, McCook

    Evette Lansing, Trinidad

    Savannah Lang, Otero