JERSEYVILLE - One of the leaders of Jersey Community High School’s girls basketball team throughout the 2016-2017 season has been senior Mackenzie Thurston.
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Thurston poured in 19 points recently as the Panthers defeated Madison 66-46 in an opening-round game of the Lady Hawk Invitational in Carrollton.
For her efforts in the month of December, Thurston has been named the Steve Medford Edward Jones Jersey Community High School Athlete of the Month.
Thurston enjoys all the sports she plays and is also a star on the volleyball and softball teams for the Panthers.
“I love going to school at Jersey,” she said. “The community is always so supportive. They read the papers and websites and say they see your name. Everyone here is always so nice.”
Thurston said she loves volleyball the most and has signed a letter of intent to be an outside hitter for Lewis and Clark Community College’s women’s volleyball team next season. LCCC has an outstanding nursing program, so she is excited about getting a degree from the institution.
“I know LCCC has an excellent nursing program and I wanted to stay close to home, so I figured it was a really good fit,” she said of the decision to stay local. “I went to a couple games and thought it would be really nice to go there.
“I take a lot of honors classes,” she said of her daily scholarly activities. “I go to school, then, the do my sport, then study. It has all paid off and I am honored and happy I got the scholarship to attend LCCC.”
Thurston thanked Steve Medford for the Athlete of the Month recognition and said she was greatly honored.
She also thanked her head girls basketball coach Kevin Strebel and her parents, Lori and Craig Thurston, as well as all the other Jersey coaches and faculty for their support all these years.
“My mom and dad have seriously done so much for me,” she said. “If I ever needed to go to an open gym or anything, they would cancel what they would do and help me. It is nice to have parents who care so much about me and what I love to do to help me.”
Thurston said the chemistry on this year’s Jersey girls’ basketball team is tremendous and she said she is glad the team has turned things around this season. The Panthers’ record extended to 13-7 after the win over Madison and overall, the team is having a stellar season.
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