Throughout the excitement over last weekend's North Star Athletic Association conference tournament in Watertown, S.D., the 2018-19 All-Conference teams and postseason awards were announced.

Mayville State senior Joelle Ertl was named the North Star Women's Basketball Most Valuable Player, received First Team All-Conference honors, and was a recipient of the Champions of Character award. Ertl averaged 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game thorughout the 2018-19 season, she also helped lead the Comets to a North Star regular season title and a 19-8 overall record.

Kylee Heurung and Claire Blascziek also received recognition at the NSAA awards banquet, Heurung was named Second Team All-Conference and Blascziek received Honorable Mention honors. Heurung averaged 12.5 points and 8 boards a game for the Comets, Blascziek added nearly 11 points a game and led the Comets in assists with 3.7 a game.

Dennis Hutter also received the North Star Coach-of-the-Year honor. This was Hutter's second year in a row with double-digit conference wins, and he led a Comet team that received votes and nearly cracked the Coaches' Top 25 poll for the last month of the season. The Comets received 29 votes in the final poll of the regular season.

Gorg Alhag was selected as First Team All-Conference on the men's side of things, the senior is averaging 14.1 points, 5.8 boards, and 4.6 assists a game. Alhag ranks 8th in scoring in the conference, 5th in field goal percentage, 10th in steals, and leads the North Star in assists per game. He was also named the North Star conference tournament Most Valuable Player after he averaged 18 points and 6.3 boards over the three games.

Daniel Lindgren was named Second Team All-Conference, he's putting up 13.4 points a game and is shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc, the senior also surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career at MSU this season.

Jack Turnbull was also a recipient of the NAIA Champions of Character award.


2018-19 North Star Women's First Team All-Conference

Name	School	Class	Ht.	Pos.	Hometown
Joelle Ertl	Mayville State	Senior	5-4	Guard	Avon, Minn.
Mackenzie Huber	Valley City State	Junior	6-0	Center	Clark, S.D.
Elexis Martinez	Bellevue	Soph.	5-11	Forward	Omaha, Neb.
Michaela Graffunder	Waldorf	Senior	5-10	Guard	Rockwell City, Iowa
Alyssa Nilssen	Viterbo	Junior	5-9	Forward	Wilson, Wis.

2018-19 North Star Women's Second Team All-Conference

Name	School	Class	Ht.	Pos.	Hometown
Kylee Heurung	Mayville State	Soph.	5-10	Forward	Brainerd, Minn.
Faith Ross	Bellevue	Fresh.	5-11	Guard	Gretna, Neb.
Jessi Giles	Dakota State	Fresh.	5-10	Guard	Madison, S.D.
Ashlie Larson	Dickinson State	Junior	5-7	Guard	Miles City, Mont.
Ameh Ogbemudia	Waldorf	Senior	6-0	Forward	St. Francis, Minn.

Postseason Awards
Most Valuable Player:  Joelle Ertl – Mayville State (N.D.)
Defensive Player of the Year:  Shayla Dean – Bellevue (Neb.)
Newcomer Player of the Year:  Faith Ross – Bellevue (Neb.)
Coach of the Year:  Dennis Hutter – Mayville State (N.D.)          

NSAA Women's Basketball Honorable Mention
Allison Cox – Presentation (S.D.)
Hannah Schlecht – Valley City State (N.D.)
Claire Blascziek – Mayville State (N.D.)
Morgan Cuffe – Bellevue (Neb.)
Alli Vandal – Valley City State (N.D.)
Taylor Fricke – Waldorf (Iowa)

2018-19 North Star Men's First Team All-Conference

Name	School	Class	Ht.	Pos.	Hometown
Justin Folkers	Dakota State	Senior	6-9	Forward	Mission, S.D.
Quadre Lollis	Presentation	Senior	6-4	Forward	Indianapolis, Ind.
Kenny Jackson	Dickinson State	Junior	6-3	Guard	Wheatland, Wyo.
Gorg Alhag	Mayville State	Senior	6-3	Guard	Mankato, Minn.
Logan Nelson	Valley City State	Soph.	6-3	Guard	Hunter, N.D.

2018-19 North Star Men's Second Team All-Conference

Name	School	Class	Ht.	Pos.	Hometown
Justin Bessard	Bellevue	Junior	6-6	Forward	Los Angeles, Calif.
Sequan Walker	Bellevue	Senior	6-3	Guard	Long Beach, Calif.
Mychal Deas	Presentation	Senior	6-3	Forward	Inglewood, Calif.
Jason Tichy	Viterbo	Senior	6-4	Forward	Springville, Iowa
Daniel Lindgren	Mayville State	Senior	6-3	Guard	Enderlin, N.D.

Postseason Awards
Most Valuable Player:  Justin Folkers – Dakota State (S.D.)
Defensive Player of the Year:  Austin Payne – Dickinson State (N.D.)
Newcomer Player of the Year:  Kenny Jackson – Dickinson State (N.D.)
Coach of the Year:  Jeremy Riegle – Presentation (S.D.)

NSAA Men's Basketball Honorable Mention
Demitrius Martin – Waldorf (Iowa)
Michael Cornelious – Valley City State (N.D.)
Jalen Guidry – Presentation (S.D.)
Cade Anderson – Viterbo (Wis.)
Jake Schroeckenthaler – Viterbo (Wis.)