Halley Miklos Among Strongest POY Candidates in Colorado Girls Basketball

It was clearly an oversight that Halley Miklos wasn't on the Class 3A all-state team in some capacity last season. But don't expect her to be frozen out this season.

In fact, the Liberty Common (Fort Collins) senior is arguably the leading candidate for 3A player of the year. Miklos, who will play at Cornell, has been putting up monster numbers this season and has helped lead the Eagles to a 9-0 start. Liberty Common is beginning to garner statewide notice, illustrated by their climb to No. 3 in the latest CHSAANow.com poll.

The 6-foot-2 Miklos has dominated the frontcourt since her freshman year at the academically adept school and has averaged a double-double all four seasons. Her numbers have crested to 25.1 points (best in the state regardless of classification), 12.2 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game entering Friday night's home game against Resurrection Christian.

"Halley is a great kid and the hardest worker in my gym since she was a freshman," Liberty Common coach Troy Ukasick said. "She is smart, long, lean and quick. She can post up and also shoot a nice three-point shot.  Excellent ball-handler. … She also scores in bunches and takes the heart out of our opponents. Great weapon to have at any classification."

With Miklos on the mind, here's a look at five player-of-the-year candidates in each 3A, 2A and 1A. We examined candidates in 5A and 4A last week.

Class 3A
• Megan Engesser, So. Colorado Springs Christian: She comes from a basketball family and isn't so bad herself. Her dad, Mark, is the Lions' coach, brother Nate plays college hoops and brother Justin is a POY candidate for the Lions' boys team. Megan leads the No. 7 Lions (10-1) with a 17.3 scoring average and hasn't been held to single digits this season.
• Morgan Lewis, Jr., Pagosa Springs: The 5-11 Lewis is another double-double machine, boasting averages of 21.2 points and 10.7 rebounds for the No. 6 Pirates. She's accostomed to winning, too, with Pagosa Springs having gone 59-2 in her three seasons. She was a rotation player on the Pirates' title team of 2014-15 then ascended to a go-to scorer last season (18.8 points).
• Shelby Megyeri, Sr., Manitou Springs: A first-teamer last season, the 5-6 guard is averaging 17.9 points for the Mustangs, who have played a rigorous schedule in the early going. Despite a few lumps, the Mustangs (6-5) have remained at No. 10 in the rankings and Megyeri has produced the numbers largely against solid competition.
• Halley Miklos, Sr., Liberty Common: We outlined the numbers and her team's success above, but here's another telling stat: She has produced a double-double in 23 of 31 games over the past two seasons. She's also surpassed 30 points three times this season, including 35 in a win against Berthoud. "It would be priceless for a young high school and even younger high school basketball program to have her named MVP," Ukasick said.
• Anna Weibel, Sr., Estes Park: The Bobcats (6-3) might not be getting any love in the rankings, but Weibel is undoubtedly worth a look. She is averaging 24 points and a whopping 15.9 rebounds and 7.3 blocks. Twice this season she has produced triple-doubles (points-rebounds-blocks) and she has scored 61.2 percent of her team's points.
• Others in the mix: Ember Canty, Jr., Centauri (La Jara); Kylie Chavez, Sterling, Sr.; Cali Clark, Fr., Lamar; Olivia Florek, St. Mary's (Colorado Springs), Sr.; Miranda Pacheco, Olathe, Sr.

Class 2A
• Sophia Anderson, Sr., Paonia: The 5-9 point guard runs the show for the classification's near- unanimous top team. Both steady and explosive, she has guided the Eagles to an 11-0 mark and is shooting better than 50 percent from the floor.
• Elizabeth Hagerman, Jr., Fowler: The 6-foot junior has two 20-point, 20-rebound efforts to her credit this season and is averaging 16.8 points, 13.4 rebounds and four blocks. The Grizzlies are 5-4 but have been competitive with top squads. Three of their losses are to ranked foes.
• Josi Kurtzer, Sr., Haxtun: The paint is Kurtzer's territory and she has patrolled it well for the No. 4 Bulldogs (9-1). She is averaging 16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and has produced four double-doubles. She scored a season-best 26 points in Haxtun's lone loss, to unbeaten Fleming.
• Quincy Lester, Sr., Sargent (Monte Vista): Her 17.9 points per game rank fourth in the classification and her 9.6 rebounding average is ultra-hefty for a guard. The Farmers (5-3) haven't cracked the top 10 and have struggled against upper-echelon foes, but Lester is the real deal.
• Maison Tolle, Jr., Highland (Ault): Highland has been solid and Tolle has been at the forefront. All three of the Huskies' losses have been to ranked foes – including 3A Liberty Common – and Tolle has been a steady force while averaging 12.8 points and 8.7 boards.
• Others in the mix: Paige Beckman, Wray, Sr.; Brianna Denton, So., Swink; Maggie Kirkpatrick, Evangelical Christian (Colorado Springs), Sr.; Megan Roberts, Dayspring Christian (Greeley), Jr.; Cody Robinson, Yuma, So.

Class 1A
• Bree-ann Carwin, Sr., South Baca: She is averaging a double-double (18.5 points, 10.7 rebounds) for the No. 6 Patriots, following a season in which she was named second-team all-state. The 5-10 three-sport athlete helped the Patriots upset top-seeded Kit Carson at state last season.
• Tess Hornung, So., Kit Carson (Kit Carson, Colo.): After a stellar freshman season in which she landed on the second team, Hornung has elevated her game for the top-ranked Wildcats (8-0). Even with three standout Isenbarts in the lineup, Hornung's averages of 17 points and nine rebounds lead the squad.
• Alli Keisel, Jr., Fleming: She is the leading scorer (14.4) and rebounder (8.4) for the third-ranked Wildcats, and perhaps the steadiest presence on a squad that has won all of its games by double digits this season. That includes a 12-point win against 2A No. 4 Haxtun in which Keisel scored 20.
• Sarah McGinley, Sr., Heritage Christian (Fort Collins): The scoring machine was a second-teamer last season and is producing points at an even higher rate this season for the fifth-ranked Eagles (9-0). In the six games in which her stats were reported, she is averaging 24.1 points and has drilled 27 three-pointers.
• Erykah Tallman, Jr., Antonito: A double-double waiting to happen although she's listed only at 5-6, Tallman is averaging 15.6 points and 13 boards for the No. 2 Trojans (7-0). She has a 30-point game and a 20-rebound game to her credit this season.
• Others in the mix: Kaylee Corsentino, La Veta, So.; Melanie Deering, Kiowa, Sr.; Haley Dietz, Arickaree/Woodlin, Sr.; Jodel Erickson, Briggsdale, Jr.; Kaeleigh Homolka, Front Range Baptist (Fort Collins), Jr.