Carl Sandburg College women’s basketball players Elly Bentley and Brook Pieper were voted by coaches to this year’s All-Region 4 Division II Team
Bentley was a first-team selection, and Pieper was named to the second team after they helped the Chargers post a 23-10 overall record, including a 6-2 Arrowhead Conference mark that gave Sandburg a share of its first conference title since 2017. The Chargers also finished as runners-up in the Region 4 Division II District A tournament.
Bentley, a 5-foot-3 sophomore guard from Limestone High School, earned all-region honors for the second straight season after being a second-team pick as a freshman. She capped her Chargers career with a campaign that also saw her win a pair of Region 4 Player of the Week awards, earn a spot on the Region 4 All-Tournament Team and be voted First Team All-Arrowhead Conference for the second year in a row.
Bentley averaged a team-leading 19.4 points per contest, good for sixth among Region 4 players across all divisions. She ranked third in the region with 245 made field goals and fourth with an 82 percent mark at the foul line.
Bentley, who ended with 1,168 points in her two seasons at Sandburg, also finished in the top 20 in the region in assists per game (3.6), total assists (113), steals (70) and made free throws (109).
Bentley reached double figures in scoring in all but two of her 31 games this season, and she had at least 20 points in 17 contests. The Bartonville native scored 32 points twice as a sophomore, matching her career high.
Pieper, a 6-1 forward from Abingdon-Avon High School, put up 13.3 points and a team-best 10.3 rebounds per game during her freshman season. Also a First Team All-Arrowhead Conference pick, Pieper was one of only eight players in Region 4 to average a double-double.
Pieper finished 10th in the region in rebounding average. She also was fifth in total rebounds (339), fifth in defensive rebounds (228) and eighth in offensive boards (111). Her 53 blocks ranked eighth in Region 4. Pieper connected on 47.8 percent of her shots from the floor, placing her 15th in the region, and her 177 field goals were good for 18th.
Pieper finished her freshman season with 15 double-doubles in 33 games played. She had two games in which she scored 20-plus points and hauled in 20-plus rebounds. Pieper had season highs of 30 points and 21 boards in a Nov. 18 win at Madison, and she put up 27 points and 20 rebounds in a triple-overtime loss to John Wood on Jan. 7.
2024 ALL-REGION 4 DIVISION II WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
First Team
Player of the Year — Trishena Brown (Bryant & Stratton)
Mia Moore (Rock Valley)
Macey Gandee (Oakton)
Miracle Thomas (Prairie State)
Maya Mitchell (Rock Valley)
Nariah Clay (Morton)
Elly Bentley (Sandburg)
Ellie Reynolds (Oakton)
Mikkalla Robertson (Milwaukee Area Technical)
Second Team
Andrea Robertson (Moraine Valley)
Maddie Scharrenberg (McHenry County)
Sophia Remmel (Morton)
Faith Robertson (Olive-Harvey)
Laney Parker (Black Hawk)
Mariya Sisco (Lake County)
Taya Christopher (Bryant & Stratton)
Chloe Sisco (Lake County)
Brook Pieper (Sandburg)
Andrea Lopreato (Black Hawk)