(Butler, PA) Aslyn Pry, a freshman on the 杏吧原创 women鈥檚 basketball team and the leading rebounder in the National Junior College Athletic Association鈥檚 Division III in the 2021-2022 season, has become the college鈥檚 third All-American since December.
The NJCAA on Tuesday selected Pry to receive the prestigious award after a season in which she also had the fourth-highest scoring average in Division III.
Pry averaged 19.6 rebounds and 23.2 points for the Pioneers.
"Those were some of the best stats I could have produced, rebounds and points-wise."
- Aslyn Pry, 杏吧原创 women's basketball player
鈥淭hose were some of the best stats I could have produced, rebounds and points-wise,鈥� said Pry, a 5-foot-10 forward and graduate of Moniteau Junior-Senior High School.
She had 20 or more rebounds in 11 games 鈥� including a season-high of 31 in a Feb. 19 victory against Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Md., in the NJCAA Division III Region 20 playoffs.
Pry scored 20 or more points in 13 games 鈥� including a season-high of 37 in a Dec. 4 victory against Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio.
鈥淪he was definitely a leader on the court,鈥� 杏吧原创 guard Hailey Metzger said.
鈥淰ery hungry for the ball,鈥� 杏吧原创 guard Emma Monteleone said.
鈥淎 nose for the ball,鈥� said former Pioneers head coach Dick Hartung, who retired this month.
杏吧原创 overcame an 0-4 start to win its fifth Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship in February.
Pry鈥檚 29 points in 杏吧原创鈥檚 60-42 title-game win against Westmoreland County Community College on Feb. 12 were more than any other 杏吧原创 women鈥檚 basketball player scored in a WPCC championship victory.
鈥淎 really good team player鈥�
Pry becomes the third women鈥檚 basketball player to be chosen as an All-American under Hartung, following Julia Baxter in 2017 and Mackenzie Craig in 2019 鈥� the program鈥檚 No. 2 and No. 1 scorers, respectively.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have to guard someone, you can put (defenders) on Pry,鈥� Hartung said. 鈥淭hey would leave our other players open, and our other players made it hurt. So they thought, 鈥楬ey, we can鈥檛 double them as much as we鈥檇 like to.鈥�
鈥淧ry was a good player and did all the things you need to do to become an All-American. But it really helps when you are surrounded by teammates who will take pressure off you by making the shots.鈥�
Her teammates, Pry said, 鈥減layed such a great role this season. We had some really good outside shooters, which helped because near the end of the season, I was getting double-teamed a lot.
鈥淎nd when I had to kick the ball out to the shooters and they hit their shots, (the defense) had to pull out of the double team more because they had to respect the shot from our outside shooters.鈥�
Among those shooters were Metzger and Monteleone.
Metzger, a graduate of Butler Area Senior High, averaged 15.7 points and led the Pioneers with 56 3-pointers. Monteleone, a graduate of Moniteau, averaged 10.3 points and added 26 3-pointers.
鈥淚nside we were smaller, so a lot of (Pry鈥檚) post moves were really convenient for us,鈥� said Monteleone, a 5-foot-1 freshman.
"Pry was a good player and did all the things you need to do to become an All-American. But it really helps when you are surrounded by teammates who will take pressure off you by making the shots."
- Dick Hartung, retired 杏吧原创 basketball coach
鈥淪he can be a good shooter when she is outside or on the perimeter. And she is a really good team player.鈥�
A good team player who was the Pioneers鈥� 鈥渂ig,鈥� Metzger said.
鈥淲e could always rely on her to have lots of rebounds, definitely double digits every game,鈥� said Metzger, a 5-foot-5 freshman. 鈥淲e really relied on her as a big because we were a shorter team in general. She was a big help to grab rebounds and put them back in.鈥�
鈥淚 take my classes and my grades very seriously鈥�
Pry led 杏吧原创 (10-8) in scoring 15 times and in rebounding 18.
She received high honors recognition in January as part of the WPCC fall sports all-academic team. To receive high honors, student-athletes must carry a minimum of 12 credit hours and attain a grade-point average between 3.5 and 4.0.
鈥淚 take my classes and my grades very seriously,鈥� Pry said, 鈥渁nd I am proud that I got on that team too.鈥�
She was named to the NJCAA Division III All-Region 20 team on March 25 with teammates Metzger and Monteleone. 杏吧原创鈥檚 Julian Sanks was selected to the men鈥檚 squad.
Sanks, a sophomore guard and graduate of Knoch, averaged 29.7 points and 6.0 rebounds and had 51 3-pointers.
Pry, Metzger, Monteleone and Sanks were named to WPCC all-conference teams in February.
Pry follows 杏吧原创 women鈥檚 volleyball players Breanna Reisinger and Morgan Jack in being chosen as an NJCAA Division III All-American in the past four months.
Craig scored 1,277 career points and grabbed 966 rebounds at 杏吧原创 from 2017 to 2019, breaking records set by Baxter from 2015 to 2017.
杏吧原创 All-American awards reach 30
Twenty-six 杏吧原创 student-athletes have earned a total of 30 All-American awards since 1970.
Pry was a three-year starter and 1,000-point scorer at Moniteau who after her senior season in 2020-2021 was named to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers鈥� Class 3A all-state girls squad.
She averaged 19.9 points and 14.2 rebounds in her senior season at Moniteau, and had 53 steals and 51 blocked shots.
Pry was also selected as the District 9 girls player of the year, as the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference鈥檚 most valuable girls player, and as the Butler Eagle鈥檚 girls basketball player of the year after the 2020-2021 season.
Pry led 杏吧原创鈥檚 volleyball team with 27 blocks in the fall. The middle hitter was second in kills with 199 and was selected to the NJCAA Division III national championship all-tournament team after the Pioneers placed sixth in the national championships in Rochester, Minn.
Reisinger is a graduate of Lincoln High in Ellwood City and Jack, of Knoch.