Area roundup: Whitworth’s Kyle Roach snags D-III’s top honor in West Region

Whitworth Pirates junior Kyle Roach was named the 2018 Division III West Region Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, it was announced on Monday.

Roach is the second Whitworth player to receive the award. Michael Taylor (2010) was the first.

Roach, the Northwest Conference Player of the Year, averaged 18.7 points per game this season. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward poured in 45 points – the second most in school history – against top-ranked Whitman in early February.

Eastern Washington senior Delaney Hodgins and Idaho junior Mikayla Ferenz were named to the 2017-18 Academic All-America team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Ferenz, an Applied Actuary Science and Finance major, was one of 10 players with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. Hodgins, a Health Information Technology and Management Major, had a 3.86 GPA.