A knee injury — one that was less severe than originally thought — cost her the final four games of her freshman season and her absence was devastating.

The Hawks were 10-7 with her running the show, including 8-1 in her final nine games. Without her? They went 0-4.

Scoring, dishing, aggressive defense; the rookie can do it all. And plenty of coaches noticed.

Despite her inexperience, Galetich was still one of the top players in the Heart of Iowa Conference this winter, and she’s been rewarding accordingly with a first-team all-league honor. She’s not only the lone freshman on the top team, but the only first-year contributor among the 30 players to receive accolades on either the first or second teams, as well as honorable mention.

South Hamilton junior Caleigh Hewitt (23) scores on a jumper from the paint against Collins-Maxwell this season. She’s been named to the all-HOIC second team. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Not bad, kid.

Three other Hawks were honored. Junior forward Caleigh Hewitt was named to the second team, while senior guard Emma Lewis and junior guard Mackenzy Grady were honorable mention choices.

It’s a sign that the future is quite bright within the program. Not only are three of the four all-conference players back next season, but so is Hallee Feaker, who was an all-conference player as a freshman in 2020 before a knee injury cost her almost the entire 2020-21 season.

Galetich was South Hamilton’s top scorer at 9.8 points per game, and she was also the leader in steals at 3.5 an outing. She also averaged 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists, and shot close to 40 percent from the field.

Galetich ranked in the top 10 in the HOIC in scoring, steals and assists.

Hewitt was the Hawks’ go-to girl in the paint, as she averaged 7.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. She was a 40 percent shooter.

Grady and Lewis were both weapons on the perimeter, as they averaged 6.1 and 5.3 points per game, respectively. Lewis collected 4.4 rebounds and came up with 2.1 steals each night. Grady also averaged 2.1 steals to go along with 1.8 assists and 1.5 boards.

HOIC champion and Class 3A state qualifier Roland-Story had two first-team members in Madeline Morton and Reagan Barkema. Nevada’s Sydney Mosinski and Shelbi Hazlitt also made the top squad, as did West Marshall’s Katy Reyerson and Lauren Soldberg, and PCM’s Lilli Baird.

Galetich, Barkema, Hazlitt, Reyerson and Soldberg will all return to the court next season.

South Hamilton also had eight players named to the league’s all-academic team — Lewis, Grady, Hewitt, Abby Ervin, Paige Evans, Aspen Wibholm, Anna Lammers and Trista Strohman.

All-HOIC

Girls Basketball

First Team — Madeline Morton, sr, Roland-Story; Reagan Barkema, jr, Roland-Story; Sydney Mosinski, sr, Nevada; Shelbi Hazlitt, jr, Nevada; Katy Reyerson, soph, West Marshall; Makena Galetich, fr, South Hamilton; Lauren Soldberg, soph, West Marshall; Lilli Baird, sr, PCM.

Second Team — Reece Johnson, jr, Roland-Story; Keaton Pfantz, soph, West Marshall; Caleigh Hewitt, jr, South Hamilton; Brianna Habben, jr, Greene County; Bridget Cahill, soph, Nevada; Danielle Grady, sr, Roland-Story; Maddie Dunham, jr, Nevada; Jadyn Nelson, sr, Roland-Story.

Honorable Mention

Greene County — Sadie Wilson, sr,; Brianna Osterson, sr.

Nevada — Alex Arnaud, jr; Tessa Borwick, jr.

PCM — Emma George, sr; Riley Hjortshoj, sr.

Roland-Story — Jordyn Ramus, sr; Madison Martindale, sr.

Saydel — Emily Lowe, sr; Deleaney Shinn, sr.

South Hamilton — Emma Lewis, sr; Mackenzy Grady, jr.

West Marshall — Delaney Nichols, sr; Avery Randall, sr.

Academic All-HOIC

(Of note)

South Hamilton — Abby Ervin, sr; Emma Lewis, sr; Paige Evans, jr; Mackenzy Grady, jr; Caleigh Hewitt, jr; Aspen Wibholm, jr; Anna Lammers, jr; Trista Strohman, jr.