News release from the Mad Ants:
McDonald’s® High School Basketball Players of the Month – January 2016
(February 2, 2016) – The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, presented by Lutheran Health Network, and McDonald’s have partnered to recognize two outstanding high school basketball players in the Fort Wayne community. In January, McDonald’s and the Mad Ants selected Shania Kelly and Nate Walpole as the McDonald’s High School Players of the Month. Both players will be recognized at an upcoming Mad Ants home game.
Shania Kelly is in her junior year at Concordia Lutheran High School, where in the month of January helped lead the Crusaders to a 5-3 record. To end the month, Kelly led her team in a 60-33 victory over Northside High School, where she registered 35 points. Earlier in the month, Kelly had a duplicate performance in a win against Southside High School, which resulted in a double-double, good for 33 points and eleven rebounds. Kelly and the Concordia High School basketball team open up Sectional play tonight, February 2nd, against New Haven.
In the month of January, Whitko High School junior, Nate Walpole has surpassed his 1,000 career points mark, been selected as an Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Player of the Week (1/18-1/23), and has recorded two consecutive games of hitting forty or more points. Walpole and the Wildcats, in their 3-3 January finish, came away with a large win over Maconaquah High School, in which Walpole recorded 40 points with 6 rebounds; this performance coming just a week after Walpole highlighted a 44 point performance against Northfield High School on January 22nd.
About the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and the NBA Development League
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, presented by Lutheran Health Network, are the NBA Development affiliate of the NBA Indiana Pacers. Established in 2007, the Mad Ants have marked their success in back-to-back Championship appearances, coming out on top in 2014 and returning to the Championship series in 2015. The 2014-2015 season also named the Mad Ants as the NBA Development League Development Champions, which recognizes the team that best embodies the NBA D-League’s goals of developing NBA-caliber basketball talent through call-ups and assignments. The NBA Development League is the NBA’s official minor league, preparing players, coaches, officials, trainers, and front-office staff for the NBA while acting as the league’s research and development laboratory. Featuring 19 teams with direct affiliations with NBA franchises for the 2015-16 season, the league offers elite professional basketball at an affordable price in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. An all-time high 38 percent of all NBA players at the end of the 2014-15 season boasted NBA D-League experience. In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. Fans can watch all NBA D-League games on nbadleague.com.