KMAland Story

Another dominant season in a senior year that is starting to fill up with them has landed East Atchison’s Natalie Hedlund another year-end award.

The KMAland Missouri Volleyball Player of the Year is also the KMAland Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

“I think it was a great season,” Hedlund told KMA Sports. “I definitely had a great time playing my last year of high school basketball with all of the girls I’ve known for years and playing for our coaches. I think I had a really great time, and we definitely accomplished a lot of goals we had planned in the beginning of the season.”

The beginning of the season was largely hectic for Hedlund and the rest of the East Atchison athletes making the transition from a Final Four volleyball trip right into hoops. It didn’t seem to phase Hedlund, though, as she put together a monster year with 22.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.

“I felt comfortable and realized I was best at just playing my game,” she said. “I think that this year was even more comfortable for me. We had a lot of sophomores on our team, so the second year playing with them, I got to know them better. We got to feel how each other played, and I think our connections were better this year.”

Those connections paid off for the Lady Wolves, as they put together a 20-win season and advanced to a district championship before losing to eventual state runner-up Bishop LeBlond. Even aside from the big individual numbers, Hedlund is most proud of the continued success within the Wolves program. She says much of that success can be tied to the continued passing of the torch from one senior class to the next.

“I think in my underclassmen years, I relied more on the upperclassmen and looked up to them a lot,” she said. “Junior and senior season, I kind of wanted to take on that role of the upperclassman who was a leader on the team. I know I looked up to the upperclassmen when I was younger, and I wanted to go give that to the underclassmen. I wanted them to know they can achieve goals like that when they are older.”

Now, Hedlund and her teammates turn their attention to track and field, but when the senior year comes to an end she will focus back on volleyball. She has signed to play with Washburn.

“It’s a little bit sad (to be done with basketball),” Hedlund admitted. “The last game we played, we all shed some tears. It was definitely sad for me being a senior, but I am pretty content with my basketball season and just playing with all the girls on my team. I wouldn’t trade it for any other team.”

Hedlund joins Platte Valley’s Maggie Collins and Maryville’s two-time winner Serena Sundell on the list of KMAland Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year recipients.