Four GSM, two JL boys basketball players earn All-Ski Valley honors

[ASFN Admin]

GAYLORD ― The high school basketball seasons have come and gone; despite the weather outside, it is nearly time for spring sports to officially begin across the Northern Lower Peninsula.

While we wait for the snow to melt, we continue to look back on a memorable 2025-26 campaign for boys basketball players across the area.

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Gaylord St. Mary boys basketball was up-and-down throughout the regular season; led by a young group and a new coach, the Snowbirds took their lumps at times while also showing how good they can be at other times.

JoBurg, meanwhile, struggled against the rest of the Ski Valley Conference, finishing with just two wins for the third time in four seasons. Still, a pair of players did enough to garner recognition from the SVC coaches when they voted for the All-Conference honorees recently.

GSM had four total players honored by the coaches (two all-conference, two honorable mentions), joining the two top JoBurg players as honorees on the All-SVC lists.

St. Mary sophomores Nathan O'Connell and Cal Royce were both on the All-Conference teams, joined by JL junior Cash Cunningham, while St. Mary's Charlie Cameron, Joe Jacobson and JL's Wyatt Konkle were honorable mentions.

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O'Connell took a leap from his freshman year and was GSM's best player for much of his sophomore season, using his combo of height and athleticism to average a double-double (18.5 points, 10.1 rebounds) and shoot 60% from the field.

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Royce, a first-year transfer player, averaged 11 points, 3.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game, putting up big-time performances in wins over East Jordan and Posen.

Cunningham, meanwhile, averaged around 20 points per game and was the catalyst of JL's team, offensively and defensively.

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Cameron and Jacobson, a junior and sophomore, respectively, provided key minutes in the starting lineup for GSM coach Rich Moffit, while Konkle, a senior, was the second option offensively for JL coach Brian Pudvan.

Here are the full All-Conference lists:

2026 BOYS BASKETBALL SKI VALLEY ALL-CONFERENCE​

Player of the Year

Joshua Grondin, Pellston, senior

All-Conference

Ellis Malpass, East Jordan, junior

Max Beal, East Jordan, senior

William Webb, East Jordan, junior

Ryan Naumcheff, Mancelona, senior

Jackson Bennett, Mancelona, senior

Zander Robinson, Inland Lakes, sophomore

Mason Green, Inland Lakes, senior

Nathan O’Connell, Gaylord St. Mary, sophomore

Cal Royce, Gaylord St. Mary, sophomore

Nolyn Whisler, Central Lake, junior

Riley Shafer, Central Lake, junior

Joshua Grondin, Pellston, senior

Corperryale Somers, Bellaire, junior

Casey Kindt, Onaway, junior

Jake Erickson, Forest Area, junior

Cash Cunningham, Johannesburg, junior

Honorable Mention

Hadly McCafferty, East Jordan, senior

Brady Wilson, East Jordan, junior

Bidwill Mochama, Mancelona, senior

Jayden Lanning, Mancelona, senior

Ryder LaBrecque, Inland Lakes, sophomore

Andre Bradford, Inland Lakes, senior

Charles Cameron, GSM, junior

Joe Jacobson, GSM, sophomore

Mason Henderson, Central Lake, junior

Connor Keller, Pellston, senior

Caedmon LeCureux, Bellaire, senior

Keagan Beyer, Onaway, sophomore

Matthew Coy, Forest Area, senior

Wyatt Konkle, Johannesburg, senior

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Contact GHT Sports Editor Dylan Jespersen at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dylanjespersen, and Instagram, @dylanjespersen

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord St. Mary, JoBurg players earn All-SVC boys basketball honors

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