An excellent season of St. Louis area high school girls’ basketball produced six state champions, with Incarnate Word Academy, Vashon, and Lutheran St. Charles on the Missouri side and O’Fallon, Okawville, and Mater Dei on the Illinois side. As we wrap up another great season, here is the 2022-23 St. Louis American Girls “Fab Five” All-Star Team.
These talented young ladies are perimeter players who can dominate games with the ability to score and make clutch plays in the biggest moments of tight games.
A trio of seniors – Raychel Jones of Vashon, Shannon Dowell of O’Fallon, and Shakara McCline of East St. Louis – is joined by junior JaNyla Bush of Vashon and sophomore Kiyoko Proctor of Alton of the Girls “Fab Five” First team.
They can absolutely do it all.
JaNyla Bush (Vashon): The junior point guard was the mover and the shaker for the Wolverines in their run to the Class 4 state championship. She has tremendous speed and quickness to go along with her ability to score and make her teammates better with her passing. She is a ball-handling wizard who can also create her own shot off the dribble. She averaged 15.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals while making 55 3-pointers and shooting 40 percent from long distance. Bush has already given an early commitment to Missouri State University.
Shannon Dowell (O’Fallon): The talented senior guard is the St. Louis American Player of the Year. She put together a tremendous season as she led the Panthers to the Illinois Class 4A state championship, which was the first in the school’s history. She is a tremendous athlete who could score when attacking the basket. She was also an improved 3-point shooter, which made her even more difficult to defend. As a senior, Dowell averaged 21.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range in leading O’Fallon to a sparkling 34-3 record. She will be playing collegiate basketball at Illinois State next season.
Raychel Jones (Vashon): The 5’10” senior forward concluded her stellar four-year varsity career by leading the Wolverines to their first state championship in girls’ basketball. As a freshman starter four years ago, she was the building block to a program that would advance to two Final Fours and a state title. She’s a versatile athlete who could excel in the low post or on the perimeter with her excellent skills. She averaged 15.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals a game. In her final game in a Vashon uniform, she had 24 points and 10 rebounds in the Wolverines double-overtime victory over Benton in the Class 4 state championship game. She will be playing collegiate ball at UMKC next season.
Shakara McCline (East St. Louis): The talented senior guard was a tremendous bucket-getter this season as she led the Flyerettes to a regional championship and a berth in the Illinois Class 3A sectional playoffs. She averaged 26 points a game to lead the St. Louis metro area in scoring. She went on a big scoring rampage during the Flyerettes postseason run. She scored 42 points against Taylorville in the regional semifinals and 28 points against host Mascoutah in the regional championship game. She finished her stellar season and career with a 42-point performance against Mt. Vernon in the sectional semifinals. Her quickness and ability to make jumpers made her virtually impossible to defend. She recently signed to play at DePaul for next season.
Kiyoko Proctor (Alton): A talented sophomore point guard who has already emerged as one of the top young prospects in the state of Illinois. She is a ball-handling wizard who can score and set her teammates up while also playing excellent defense with her speed and quickness. She led a young and talented Alton team to a 31-2 team and the championship of the Southwestern Conference as well as three other in-season tournaments. As a sophomore, she averaged 12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.9 steals a game. She also shot 45 percent from 3-point range while making 56 triples.
St. Louis American Girls “Fab Five” All-Star Basketball Teams
Second Team
Chantrel Clayton 5’7″ Cardinal Ritter (Jr.)
Julia Coleman 6’0″ Westminster (Sr.)
Jasmine Gray 5’8″ Pattonville (Sr.)
Tkyiah Nelson 6’0″ Whitfield (Sr.)
Monet Witherspoon 5’8″ John Burroughs (Jr.)
Third Team
Neveah Caffey 5’9″ Incarnate Word (Soph.)
Mariah Dallas 5’11” Fort Zumwalt South (Sr.)
Binta Fall 5’10” MICDS (Sr.)
Jarius Powers 6’0″ Alton (Soph.)
Ai’Naya Williams 6’2″ (Cardinal Ritter)
All-Freshmen Team
Kyrii Franklin (Lutheran-St. Charles)
Camirah Foster (Hazelwood Central)
Jael Green (University City)
Zha Harris (Lift for Life)
Evelyn Shane (Ursuline Academy)
Kennedy Stowers (Lutheran-St. Charles)
