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Appel Earns an Area First: Stanford-Bound Carondelet Star Selected to Play in McDonald's All-American Game

Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 09:00 CST

By Robert Jordan, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Feb. 23--Forget the 6-foot, 4-inch frame and the 84-inch wingspan.

What has been helping Carondelet High School girls basketball player Jayne Appel stand out from the rest of the field are her hands.

Those soft hands are a big reason why Appel was one of 24 American high school girls basketball players named Wednesday to play in fifth annual McDonald's All-American game on March 29 at San Diego State's Cox Arena.

Appel's selection makes her the first player in the Times region, both boys and girls, to be chosen to play in the game.

"I think physically what sets her a part, even from the elite post players that might be rated higher in the country than her, is she has tremendous hands," said Clay Kallam of the online magazine www.fullcourt.com. Kallam was part of the selection committee.

"She catches and converts and for a girl of her size to be able to catch the ball is amazing. It is a skill people don't think about," he added.

But it's a skill that the Bay Area and the Amateur Athletic Union crowd already knew about. Now the rest of the nation will get a chance to find out.

"It is really cool," said Appel, who had to keep the selection a secret for the past three weeks. "I am really excited to go down and play in San Diego."

Appel has had plenty to be excited about lately. Wednesday's announcement was her second selection to a national all-star game in a week.

The Stanford-bound Appel also was named on Feb. 15 to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association 15th annual All-American game. The WBCA game is April 1 at Northeastern University's Matthews Arena in Boston.

"I get to miss a week-and-a-half of school," Appel said. "So I am not complaining."

A two-time Times girls basketball player of the year, Appel has been having her best offensive season. She leads the region in scoring with 25.7 points per game and has helped Carondelet to a 22-3 record.

Twice this season, Appel has scored a high school career-high of 39 points and has topped the 20-point mark 17 times and the 30-point mark seven times.

"If you make that game, you have a good chance to play in the WNBA," said Kallam, who also coaches at Bentley. "It is harder to make the WNBA than the NBA because there are fewer teams."

Appel was one of four California players selected to play for the West squad. She joins summer and AAU teammate Jacki Gemelos of St. Mary's-Stockton. Abi Olajuwon from Marlborough-Los Angeles and Morghan Medlock from Narbonne-Harbor City are also on the West team.

Last season the East Bay sent four players to the McDonald's All-American game.

Former Piedmont twins Ashley and Courtney Paris, now at Oklahoma, and former Oakland Tech players Alexis Gray-Lawson and Devanei Hampton, now at Cal, all helped lead the West to a 80-64 win.

Murray Bergtraum's Epiphanny Prince leads the East team. Prince set the national high school girls record for points in a game this season with 113 on Feb. 1.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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