EVART — Evart girls basketball coach Paul Higgins ended his third year with the team and will soon make plans for a summer program to get ready for 2016-17.
But he'll have to do it without all-Highland Conference first-team performer Mara VanOrder.
The senior performer is a four-year varsity player who averaged 15.3 points, 16.3 rebounds and four steals per game, while shooting 39 percent from the floor and 52 percent in free throws. She has a 3.80 GPA and was team MVP.
VanOrder has been first team all-conference all three seasons that he's been coaching, Higgins said.
One key player back for next year is junior guard Brooke Belleville, who shot 33 percent in 3-pointers.
Evart was 3-17 and Higgins is losing five seniors to graduation. But he's looking forward to working with the returning players, who received a lot of playing time throughout the season.
"They played more of a role the second half of the season," he said. "I'm looking forward to that. We'll work during the offseason and try to build where we left off in the district game and go from there."
