Take me to your (scoring) leaders

Paul Hart etched his name into the record books at St. Bede Academy last week when he overtook both J.A. Happ (1,459) as the boys all-time leading scorer and Katie Carls (1,471) as the school’s all-time leader.

He added 32 points Tuesday night at Kewanee and now stands at 1,517 and counting. Imagine if he had a junior year to add to that total. He opted to play in Arkansas when the pandemic shut out the IHSA winter season and did not return for the shortened spring season.

How does he rank among all-time area leaders, you ask? Here’s a look:

According to my research, he currently stands in the top 18 for Bureau County and closing in on the top 25 in the Illinois Valley ranks. DePue great Ron Zagar, a Bureau County Hall of Famer, heads both the Bureau County and Illinois Valley lists at 2,515.

Hall star Kailey Klein is also both the Bureau County and Illinois Valley all-time leader for the girls. My records show her with 2,496 career points, but Hall has her at 2,486.

Now, let’s take a look at all the area schools you can imagine, present-day schools and many closed ones. Please let me know if you see any corrections or changes.

Schools listed with an asterisk are no longer open. Note that most came before girls interscholastic sports and some did not have a girls program.

Bureau County schools

Buda* - Charlie Moretz (1956) 2,224

Bureau* - Dick Milles (1955) 1,577

Bureau Valley - Parker Neuhalfen (2012-15) 2,208; Saige Barnett (2015-19) 1,426

DePue - Ron Zagar (1953-56) 2,515; girls NA

Hall - Shawn Jeppson (1995-98) 1,829; Kailey Klein (2002-06) 2,496

LaMoille - Roger Weller (1955) 1,785; Nigel Geuther (2000-03) 1,440

Ohio - Brad Bickett (1983-86) 2,177; Lexi Loftus (2014-18) 2,029

Malden* - Brian Blumhorst (1981) 1,498

Manlius* - Greg Berry (1964) 1,552; Angel Jaggers (1986-89) 1,405

Mineral* - Bill Baird (1949-52) 1,249

Neponset* - Roger Cannon (‘66) 1,809; Jolene Bair (1990-93) 1,989

Princeton - Joe Ruklick (1955) 1,306; Tiah Romagnoli (‘99) 1,506

Sheffield* - Dick Kaufman (1961) 1,078

St. Bede - Paul Hart (2018-20, 21-22) 1,517; Katie Carls (2003-06) 1,471.

Tiskilwa* - Tom Schertz (1980-83) 1,891; no girls

Walnut* - Pat McCarthy (1954) 1,551; Tammy Lind (1992) 1,126

Western* - Ryan Youngren (1992) 1,385; Megan Lanham (1992) 1,141

Wyanet* - Tim Burress (1985) 1,438; girls NA

Other Three Rivers Conference schools

Erie - 1. Clyde Kramer (1958-60) 1,365; girls NA

Kewanee - Donovan Oliver (2013-16) 2,355; Kelle Lindbeck (1980) 1,908

Mendota - Don Hamel (1969) 2,158; Jaci Bice (1996-99) 2,111

Morrison - Rod Bush (1967-71) 1,601; Sarah Backus (1987) 1,281

Newman - Noah McCarty (2013-16) 1,690; Jocelyn Mellen (2002-06) 1,635

Orion - Tanner Williams (2009-11) NA; Cassidy Clark (2009-13) 1,375

Prophetstown - Scott Hicks NA; Emily McLain (2005-08) 1,876

Riverdale - Wes DeClercq (2009-12) 2,057; Hannah Nimrick (2013) 1,479

Rockridge - Bryan Heath (2012-15) 2,194; Jessica Cook (’01) 1,543

Sherrard - Eric Lawson (1989-93) 1,835; Beth McKinley (1987-90) 1,258

Other area schools

Amboy - Jaron McCracken (1994-97) 2,256; Delaney Wilhelm (2013-17) 1,376

Annawan - Tanner Carlson (2005-08) 2,045; Jayde VanHyfte (2014-18) 2,775

Atkinson - Mike Hamer (1970-72) 1,050; Val Wancket (1984-87) 2,644

Bradford* - Mike Shipley (1992-95) 1,984; Tina Colgan (1988-91) 901

Dixon - Beau Bailey (2016-19) 1,479; Tammy Turner (1984) 2,226

Fulton - Rick Lanning (1963-67) 1,760; W. Hayen 1,375

Geneseo - Isaiah Rivera (2016-20) 2,486; Kammie Ludwig (2018-present) 1,591

Granville Hopkins* - 1. Fran Aimone (1955-59) 1,473

Hennepin* - Ken Palm, 1961

Henry - Lee Piccinelli (2008) 1,907; Leigh Crawley (2003) 1,245

L-P - Gary Langham (1990) 1,767; Gina Anglavar (1988-91) 1,530

Magnolia Swaney* - Jim Kinney (1957) 2,301

Marquette - Bob Guyette (1971) 2,009; Kristina Yedinak (2001-05) 1,855

Ottawa - Craig McCormick (1975-78) 1,681; Amy Johnson (1989-93) 1,781

Putnam County - Carlton Fay (2003-07) 2,129; Tracy Palm (1982-85) 1,558

Rochelle - Ben Rand (1999-03) 2,144; Abby Lundquist (2016-19) 1,909

Rock Falls - Isaiah Johnson (2001-04) 2,007; Jamie Russell (2004-08) 1,870

Sterling - Joseph Bertand (2006-09) 1,430; Karna Abram (1980-83) 1,979

Streator - J.J. Cravatta (2008-12) 1,930; Natalie Haynes (2017-21) 1,309

Kevin Hieronymus has been BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com.