Boys basketball: Zollar and Hilde net MVP awards for Ponies

After leading the Ponies in scoring and earning All-Suburban East Conference honors, Henry Zollar was honored as the Offensive MVP for the Stillwater boys basketball team during its postseason awards banquet on Wednesday, April 3.

Brett Hilde ranked second for the Ponies in scoring, but excelled on the other end of the court and was chosen the Defensive MVP. He also joined fellow seniors Joe Hoheisel and Jaden Jones in receiving honorable mention all-conference recognition.

The Ponies finished with a 13-14 record, including 7-11 to place seventh in the final SEC standings. Stillwater received the fifth seed and was stopped by fourth-seeded St. Paul Central 64-46 in the Section 4AAAA quarterfinals. Among the season’s highlights for the Ponies was a 59-57 victory at East Ridge (16-2 SEC, 17-8), which placed second in the conference behind Cretin-Derham Hall (17-1, 25-6). The Raiders also advanced to state out of Section 4AAAA.

Zollar led the Ponies with 401 points, an average of 16.0 per game. Among players with more than 10 attempts, he shot a team-high 41.9 perent (52 of 124) from beyond the three-point arc. Also ranking among team leaders in scoring for the Ponies were Hilde (9.6 avg.), Jones (8.7), Lake de Jongh (7.8), Joe Fredkove (6.8) and AJ Taban (6.2). Fredkove (56.6 percent), de Jongh (56.2) and Taban (51.1) were the team’s most accurate shooters on two-pointers.

Senior Aidan Hammond was the team’s top free throw shooter at 78.9 percent (15-19) and Hilde led the Ponies with 22 blocked shots.

Jones, who received the Most Improved Player Award, finished with a team-leading 37 steals and also ranked second on the team with 55 assists. The guard was also presented the Paxton Harvieux Scholarship while the Rick Nichols Scholarship was awarded to de Jongh.

Hoheisel, who was the team’s rebounding (159) and assists (79) leader, and Deron Boa-Amponsem were co-recipients of the Pony Award.

Fredkove drew a team-high five charging calls and received the Mr. Hustle Award.

Also announced at the banquet was that Fredkove and Zollar would serve as captains for next year’s squad.

Boys basketball

All-Conference: Henry Zollar; All-Conference Honorable Mention: Brett Hilde, Joe Hoheisel and Jaden Jones; Most Improved Player: Jaden Jones; Mr. Hustle: Joe Fredkove; Pony Award: Joe Hoheisel and Deron Boa-Amponsem; Paxton Harvieux Scholarship: Jaden Jones; Rick Nichols Scholarship: Lake de Jongh; Defensive MVP: Brett Hilde; Offensive MVP: Henry Zollar; Captains elect: Joe Fredkove and Henry Zollar.