Ursuline hoops star Kourtney Weber collects February Athlete of the Month honor

NEW ORLEANS – Kourtney Weber, a star forward for the Ursuline Academy girls’ basketball team, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month honor for February. Monthly award-winners are chosen in voting by the Greater New Orleans Sports Award Selection Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

After missing her junior season with a torn ACL, Weber came back strong for her final year, leading Ursuline to a perfect 6-0 February. She reached the 1,500-point milestone for her career in a second-round playoff win over St. Michael the Archangel and scored 24 points (nearly half her team’s total) in a 49-26 quarterfinal win over St. Louis. She added 18 points and 12 rebounds in Ursuline’s win over Loyola Prep in the state semifinals. On March 2, she tallied 30 points and 11 rebounds to lift the Lions to their second Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA Division II title in three years (70-43 over Lee Magnet). The senior has committed to play at Florida State next year.

Weber collected the honor despite a very crowded field of nominees, including another girls’ basketball state champion, two wrestling state champs, a soccer champion, a boys’ basketball star and a dominating college basketball player. The other girls’ basketball player nominated was Kiana Anderson, who led Warren Easton High School to the Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA Class 4A championship. On the wrestling front, Brother Martin’s Daniel Croy won his second straight individual state title, capturing the 126-pound championship to cap a 40-1 season; Perry Ganci, from Jesuit High School, repeated as state champion at 220 pounds to finish his campaign at 38-3. Sebastian Aguilar was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Allstate Sugar Bowl LHSAA Division I soccer championships after scoring goals in the semifinals and the championship. John Curtis standout Donell Jones helped the Patriots to a 4-2 February in boys’ basketball by averaging 19.6 points and 11.5 rebounds while on the collegiate level, Baylor star center Kalani Brown, from Slidell, La., averaged 15.9 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while keying the Bears’ 8-0 month of February.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Selection Committee has been selecting an Amateur Athlete of the Month each month since 1957. The athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region in order to be eligible. Each of the monthly award winners will be honored in the summer at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.