Holifield Newcomer of the Year

Lourdes University’s Joey Holifield (Cardinal Stritch) and Nick Welch (Monroe St. Mary, Mich.) were named to the All Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference first team with Holifield also named the league’s Newcomer of the Year.  

Little Anderson (Stritch) and McRay White (Garfield Heights) garnered second team All-WHAC accolades and Welch was selected to the All-Defensive Team.

Holifield is averaging a team-leading 15.7 points per game while shooting 51.5% from the floor and 83.7% from the free throw line. He has grabbed 4.9 rebounds per game and handed out two assists per night while notching 52 steals. The sophomore has scored in double figures in 30 of 31 games this season.

Welch has tallied 14.8 points and a team-high 9.2 rebounds per outing.  A 51.6% shooter from the floor, he also added 1.9 assists per game and defensively recorded 32 steals and five blocked shots.  He surpassed 1,000 collegiate points during the WHAC tournament.

Anderson has scored 12.7 points per game for Lourdes this year while making a team-high 56 three-point field goals.  He has added 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per night while tallying 49 steals and 15 blocks.

White chips in 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per outing while blocking a team-high 30 shots this year.  He has shot 63.3% from the field.

Holifield and Anderson, both of whom are 6-foot-2, are known to area fans for leading the Cardinals to the state semifinals three years ago under the guidance of current St. Francis coach Jamie Kachmarik. During the run to the final four, Anderson and Holifield were instrumental in helping Stritch win the regional title. 

Anderson scored 23 points in the Cardinals’ 68-58 win over Coldwater in the regional finals, and two games before that, Stritch beat Genoa, 55-44, in double overtime and Holifield led all scorers with 16 points in the dramatic district final victory. (— Includes file copy by Press contributing writer Yaneek Smith)