The Montana State University-Northern men’s basketball team was picked to capture the 2011-12 Frontier Conference championship by the league’s coaches. And those same coaches also honored a pair of Lights.
Northern senior Joe Simpson, a 6-5 forward and 6-1junior guard Devin Jackson were both named to the Frontier Coaches Preseason All-Conference team, released earlier this week. Simpson and Jackson were both first-team all-conference selections a year ago. Simpson averaged 10 points and six rebounds per game last season, but in the month of March, which included Northern’s run to the Frontier championship and a berth in the NAIA national tournament, he averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds per game for the Lights. Jackson averaged just over 13 points per game for a balanced Northern offense last season, and he shot better than 40 percent from the 3-point-line.
Joining the Northern duo on the preseason men’s team is Westminster guard Jake Orchard, an all-conference selection a year ago, as well as 6-7 senior forward Ben Walker. After leading the Griffins two years ago, Walker missed last season with an injury. A pair of former Frontier MVP’s also made the list. Carroll College senior Andy Garland, a 6-5 forward was the 2010 Frontier MVP, while Western senior guard Brandon Brown won the MVP last season. Brown, a 5-10 guard led the Frontier in both scoring and assists last season and was a First-Team NAIA All-American. The Bulldog was selected by the league’s coaches as the Preseason MVP.
Lewis-Clark State’s Jasmine Stohr was selected as the Preseason Women’s MVP by Frontier coaches. Joining Stohr on the Preseason All-Conference team is teammate Kirsi Voshell, a 6-3 senior forward, as well as Carroll’s Alysha Green, a 5-7 senior guard, Western’s Hayley Pettit, a 6-3 senior forward, Rocky Mountain College’s Callie (Kautzman) Eike, a 5-10 senior guard and Westminster’s Nicole Yazzie, a 5-7 junior guard.
