Rock Port Lady Blue Jay Audrie Meyerkorth was named KMAland Missouri Girls Basketball Player Of The Year. (Graphic by Kenny Larabee)
By KMAland’s Trevor Maeder
The Rock Port girls basketball team is two for its last two in qualifying for the Missouri Show-Me Showdown and so is star sophomore Audrie Meyerkorth in landing the KMAland Missouri Girls Player of the Year recognition. Following another thrilling trip to Columbia and making plenty of history along the way, Meyerkorth — again — takes the top honor in KMAland Missouri girls hoops.
“I’m definitely proud of our season this year,” Meyerkorth said. “It was a better ending than last year and I’m excited for next year and hopefully we can do better than we did this year.” After advancing to the Show-Me Showdown and taking fourth a year ago, Meyerkorth helped Rock Port to a third-place finish, equaling its highest finish in school history while winning a school-record 29 games.
“We know how it felt last year getting to go to state, so just driving off that feeling,” Meyerkorth said. “We’re a group of hard workers, so that always helps. We have a great coaching staff. I’m just proud of us as a whole. Since day one in practice, coaches were saying everything leads towards state, and if we want to get there, we’ve got to keep our minds focused and on our end goal.”
Meyerkorth scored 17 points per game this season, making 84 3-point field goals, adding 77 assists, 94 steals and averaging 3.4 boards per game. She’s already fifth all-time in Rock Port history in total points.
“I definitely think I improved my pace of the game,” Meyerkorth said. “Just realizing when it’s time to go fast, when it’s time to go slow. I think confident shooting is something I improved, just being more confident in myself. And I got a good team, so it’s easy to do well when you got a good group of girls.”
What makes Rock Port’s historical season even more special to Audrie is the continued ability to share it with her family. She was able to play one final year with sister, Ella, while also adding cousin, Leah, a freshman, to the mix. “Not everybody gets to play with their family,” she said. “It’s definitely a fun experience and I look forward to it. It’s sad that Ella’s going to be graduating, but I’m excited to continue on with Leah. I’m just glad we ended on a win for Ella’s career.”
Meyerkorth is the third two-time winner of the KMAland Missouri Girls Player of the Year, joining former Platte Valley star Maggie Collins and former Maryville legend Serena Sundell.
Rock Port Blue Jay Jack Meyerkorth was named KMAland Missouri Boys Basketball Player Of The Year. (Graphic by Kenny Larabee)
By KMAland’s Trevor Maeder
The 2026 KMAland Missouri Boys Basketball Player of the Year is a repeat from 2025. In 2025, Rock Port’s Jack Meyerkorth led the Blue Jays to a state tournament berth behind a stellar season. Well, Meyerkorth did it again this winter to make him the second KMAland Missouri boy to repeat as a recipient of this award.
Meyerkorth’s season-long brilliance led the Blue Jays to a 22-7 mark and a spot in the Class 1 State Tournament, where they lost to eventual third-place finisher Faith Christian Academy in the state sectionals. “I thought we worked hard all season to try and be better every day,” Meyerkorth said. “We focused day in and day out to get better, but it didn’t turn out how we wanted it to.”
The junior was the heart of a well-rounded Rock Port attack. Meyerkorth averaged 21.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. He shot 49.7% from the field and buried 68 3-pointers on his way to converting 37% of his triples.
“The coaches had trust in me to make the right play,” he said. “I didn’t shoot as much as I did last year, but I was happy with that. We tried to spread the ball around and make the other team have four or five guys to guard.”
Meyerkorth’s overall scoring was slightly down from his sophomore year when he averaged 23.2 points per game. However, his rebounds and assists per game numbers increased.
“We lost Corbyn Jakub from last year,” Meyerkorth he said. “He was a tremendous rebounder, so I had to step up. It was important for us to do the little things right. I tried to make all the hustle plays and be a better defender and rebounder.”
When it comes to particular highlights, Meyerkorth points to an early-season win over Gallatin and the district title win over Worth County. “When we beat Gallatin, that was a big win for us to get some momentum going,” Meyerkorth said. “Beating Worth County in the district championship was the memory of the year.”
Meyerkorth’s successful season came after a slow start. He starred as a wide receiver and defensive back for the Rock Port football team, which played for the 8-man state title. The Blue Jays played their first basketball game only seven days after the football season concluded.
“You don’t think about basketball while you’re in football season,” he said. “At halftime of our first game, we had guys throwing up and a couple of guys injured. We just tried to get the practice time in and tried to get better.”
When he enters his senior year, Meyerkorth has his sights set on leading Rock Port to the Final Four after back-to-back near misses. He’s watched the girls team do it the last few years with no shortage of his family members, such as cousins, Audrie Meyerkorth and Ella Meyerkorth, and sister, Leah Meyerkorth. He’ll also have the chance to become the second three-time Missouri Player of the Year, joining former Mound City and Omaha standout Tony Osburn.
“I hope we can all figure out a way to get better next year,” he said. “We’ll try to gain momentum early. There will be high expectations.”
