St. Francois County Rotary/Mineral Area College Hall of Fame Class

Logo Courtesy of the School

(Park Hills) Mineral Area College is hosting the St. Francois Rotary shootout on Saturday. In a normal year a full day of high school basketball is followed by a couple of Cardinal games and the induction of the current class of the St. Francois County Rotary Mineral Area College Hall of Fame.
This year six high school games are scheduled, but Mineral Area doesn’t start its seasons until the fourth week of January. However, the Rotary and College will announce their Hall of Fame class consisting of Gary Koch and Janekia Mason.
Coach Gary Koch retired after last season following 14 years of guiding the Cardinal women’s basketball team. Koch also coached boys high school basketball for many years and was also inducted into the Missouri High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame…

Koch won over 600 games total. He describes his philosophy…

Mason became the first Mineral Area College women’s basketball player to earn first team all american honors following her sophomore season in 2016. She averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds…

Coach Koch says Janekia is an outstanding example of someone who worked their way to success…

Mason played for coach Koch and the Cardinals during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Mason came out of Covington, Tennessee with solid, but not sensational stats. She says that once she learned to trust the coaches at MAC her game took off…

Mason finished her freshman season strong and then averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds as a sophomore in helping to lead MAC to a 48-12 record over her time in Park Hills. Mason says she’s thrilled to receive this honor…

Mason is still being pursued to play professional basketball in Europe and she is considering it. Mason along with coach Gary Koch will participate in their official induction the night of the Cardinals’ first game on January 23rd.

The full induction ceremony for Koch and Mason will occur the night of the Cardinal women’s first game on January 23rd against Vincennes University.

Full interview with Gary Koch