High school athletes of the week: Dec. 18, 2024

Andrew Badra, Liberty basketball

A 6-foot-3 senior guard, Badra was named most valuable player after helping lead the Eagles (5-1) to the championship of the Lutheran St. Charles tournament for the second consecutive season. A three-year varsity player, Badra averaged 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3 assists in three tournament games while making 11 of 12 free throws. For the season, Badra leads the area in free-throw percentage at 96.7 (29 of 30) and is averaging a team-leading 20.3 points per game. Badra scored 18 points and had nine rebounds in the tournament’s title game as the Eagles beat Orchard Farm 49-46. He opened the tournament with 27 points and seven steals in a 72-26 victory against Hazelwood West, then had 18 points in a 65-40 semifinal win over Fort Zumwalt West. Badra scored a career-high 37 points in a season-opening 67-64 win over Holt.

Talesha Gilmore, Collinsville basketball

A three-sport athlete and fourth-year varsity basketball player, Gilmore continued her strong season with successive impressive outings as the Kahoks (6-3) won a pair of Southwestern Conference games. Gilmore, a 6-foot-1 forward, had 21 points, 13 rebounds and four steals in a 59-19 victory at Belleville West. Two days later, she scored 20 points to go along with four rebounds and three blocks in a 58-45 victory at East St. Louis. For the season, she is averaging 21.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks. Signed to play basketball at Southwestern Illinois College, Gilmore is Collinsville’s all-time rebounds leader (955) and also owns program records for rebounds in a game (24), rebounds in a season (312) and blocks in a season (68). She is fifth all-time in Collinsville scoring with 1,251 points. She also plays volleyball and is on the Kahoks’ track and field team.

Sam Guethle, Seckman basketball

The Jaguars captured the championship of the 69th Gene Steighorst Tournament and Guethle, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, played a big part of that effort. He averaged 17.3 points, 2 rebounds and 1.7 steals over three tournament victories. Guethle scored a career-high 26 points, including six 3-point goals, to go along with five rebounds and five steals in a 55-40 semifinal victory against Festus. That win snapped a five-game losing streak in the series for the Jaguars (3-1), who last beat the Tigers on Dec. 8, 2020. In a 64-43 win over host Hillsboro in the title game, Guethle scored 23 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter to finish off the title-winning effort. Guethle, who joined Seckman’s varsity late in his freshman season, was named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Rodney Lightle and Keagan Heitert.

Cam Rollins, Fort Zumwalt South basketball

A 6-foot-3 junior who plays guard, forward and center, Rollins turned in strong all-around performances as the Bulldogs won the St. Charles West tournament championship. Rollins averaged 12.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1 block per game and also was a defensive leader as Zumwalt South’s opponents were held to 40 points per game. Rollins opened the tournament with a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in a 50-44 win over Ritenour. He then had 10 points and seven rebounds as Zumwalt South topped Francis Howell North 58-41 in the semifinals before scoring a career-high 15 points during a 46-35 win over Lutheran North in the title game. A team captain this season, Rollins started every game as a sophomore as the Bulldogs finished 23-7 and reached the Class 5 quarterfinals.

August Rottmann, Highland wrestling

Rottmann is 14-0 to start her senior season with three tournament titles, the latest of which came last week at the Liberty Invitational in Lake St. Louis. Rottmann captured the 170-pound championship by winning three matches, including a 15-1 major decision in the final over sophomore Jayci Shelton of Centralia, Mo., that was Shelton’s first high school loss. As a freshman, Shelton went 42-0 and won Missouri’s Class 1 championship at 155. Rottmann won her previous two matches in the tournament by fall. She opened the season by winning the title at Normal Community and then captured the crown in Granite City. Rottmann was an undefeated state champion as a sophomore at 170 and reached the state semifinals last season before getting injured and settling for sixth.

Sadie Sehnert, Wright City wrestling

A junior, Sehnert improved to 20-0 — including 17 victories by fall — and won her fourth tournament championship of the season by pinning five opponents at the Liberty Invitational. Sehnert finished the tournament by topping Fort Zumwalt East sophomore Lana Luu by fall at the 4:58 mark of the title match after winning in the first period of her other four matches. Sehnert also has tournament titles this season at Wright City (five pins), Owensville (five pins) and John Burroughs (two pins). As a junior, Sehnert qualified for the Class 1 state tournament for the first time and posted a 1-2 record. A multi-sport athlete, Sehnert was an all-district infielder in softball in the fall and as a sophomore was all-district in javelin in track and field.

Luke Walsh, Vianney basketball

One Golden Griffins program record fell and another was reset last week by Walsh, a 6-foot-2 senior guard who has signed with SIU Carbondale. Walsh opened the week by scoring a program-record 50 points in an 89-71 victory against CBC in a Metro Catholic Conference game. He was 17 of 17 at the free-throw line and made 7 of 11 3-point attempts while eclipsing his 48-point effort last season against Jackson. Three days later, Walsh scored 36 points, including six 3-pointers to set Vianney’s all-time program record with 304. He also had nine rebounds against the Crusaders. Nearing 2,000 points in his career, Walsh is averaging 39.8 points in five games this season, including 25 3-pointers, and his lowest output is 31 points for the 4-1 Griffins.