2024-25 NewsTribune Girls Basketball Player of the Year: Fieldcrest’s Macy Gochanour

As a freshman, Macy Gochanour was a key player off the bench for Fieldcrest’s sectional champion squad.

Last year, she emerged as the Knights’ No. 2 scorer behind Kaitlin White.

This season, Gochanour took over as the go-to scorer for Fieldcrest.

And she shined.

Gochanour was the area’s best scorer by a wide margin, averaging 20.8 points per game - 6.5 points higher than No. 2 on the area leaderboard - poured in a school record 46 points in a game, eclipsed 1,000 career points, is on pace to become the school’s all-time leading scorer and could potentially reach 2,000 career points.

While the scoring numbers are eye popping, Gochanour can do more than put the ball in the basket. She also ranked top 10 in the area in assists (2.4 per game) and steals (2.4 per game) and averaged 5 rebounds and 0.7 blockers per game.

Gochanour was first-team All-Heart of Illinois Conference and honorable mention All-HOIC Defensive Team.

For all she accomplished this season, Gochanour is the 2024-25 NewsTribune Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

“I thought she did a fantastic job for us,” Fieldcrest coach Nathan Ehrhardt said. “There’s a lot of pressure put on her as an individual player to lead our team, and I thought she did that night in and night out with some really great poise.”

In order to successfully fill what she called “a big role and big shoes to fill,” Gochanour put in plenty of work in the offseason playing for the Illinois Valley Warriors.

“I worked a lot over the summer to be able to drive and get to the basket and get more free throws,” Gochanour said. “(I worked on) ball handling and shooting.

“(Playing travel) is definitely very helpful. I think travel ball is a lot more physical and aggressive. I think that helps me in the school season when we play teams that guard me a little bit closer.”

Gochanour was always the focal point of opposing defenses.

“She had to work through a lot and have mental toughness because she was face guarded almost every night from start to finish,” Ehrhardt said. “As a team, we had to get creative at times trying to find ways to get her open. That wasn’t always easy. I really credit her for her mental toughness and not giving up when those opportunities weren’t as readily available as they were a year ago. She still found a way to be a strong asset night in and night out for our team.”

Gochanour said “it can definitely be hard sometimes” dealing with face guarding, but she said she’s “a pretty calm and collected player.” She also credited her teammates for picking it up when the defense slowed her down, which helped her get open.

Her offensive versatility also helps her continue to score despite defensive pressure.

She knocked down 94 3-pointers this season and made 69.8% from the free throw line.

“I think (I’m a good scorer) because I can get to the basket or I can shoot, so it can be difficult to pick up on what I’m going to do every time because I can mix it up depending on how they’re guarding me,” Gochanour said.

Gochanour also was good at finding open teammates when the defense focused on her.

“I think one of the strong points about her is she sees the floor so well,” Ehrhardt said. “She makes other players around her better because of that. When she’s attacking the basket and gets double teamed, she’s an unselfish player where she’ll dish that ball off. She’s a good distributor of the basketball.”

No matter what’s happening on the offensive end, she can contribute on defense. Gochanour always defended one of the opponents top two players.

“She’s a really good on ball, kind of in your personal space type defender,” Ehrhardt said. “She can move. People don’t often get by her, so she’s able to keep them in front and force them to take a shot that might not be a great shot.”

After a record-setting junior season, Gochanour can put herself at the top of the scoring list for a program that’s had a lot of great scorers.

She sits at 1,320 points after scoring 625 this season. Haley Ruestman is the school’s all-time leading scorer at 1,765.

“That would be really cool to do,” Gochanour said. “I feel like I really have to push myself next year, but it would be really nice to achieve that.”