Kimalee Cook of Circle was voted as the Wichita Large School Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Cook received nearly 6,500 votes, which was almost 40 percent of the overall vote.

“It’s such a huge honor to be voted because every girl that was nominated are amazing basketball players themselves,” Cook said. “So, to be given the award is an honor that I’m really proud to achieve.”

Cook led the Thunderbirds in scoring at 16 points per game, while also chipping in four steals, four rebounds and two assists per game. She was named to the second team of the All-VYPE Wichita Large School Team. Circle fell to Andale in the 4A sub-state finals and finished the season with a record of 14-5.

“I would say my overall season went really well,” Cook said. “The things I improved on was being a player that got everyone on the team involved rather than just focusing on the scoring aspect. I also feel I improved on using my speed to my advantage on defense and on the offensive end more this season than I did in previous seasons.”

Next year, Cook will be playing basketball at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma and plans to major in Mass Communications.