Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

During a breakout junior season Delaynie Luneckas cemented her status as one of the top post players in all of Class 2A.

It was on the state’s biggest stage where Luneckas put an exclamation point on her breakthrough year.

Luneckas posted a double-double in her first ever start at the state tournament to help West Branch to the first state tournament win in program history.

The 6-foot-2 Luneckas averaged 10.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 2.5 assists in a pair of state tournament games while committing just two total turnovers.

“To me Delaynie is an all-conference, borderline all-state player and thankfully we get her for another year,” West Branch coach Jarod Tylee said. “She’s going to be a big part of our team next year and obviously she was a big part of our run this year and I’m really proud of her.”

Luneckas had already enjoyed a big-time breakthrough even before her strong state tournament.

In her first season in the starting lineup Luneckas nearly averaged a double-double, posting 11.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game while ranking fifth in Class 2A with 2.6 blocks per contest.

“I put in a lot of time this summer and I’m glad it paid off,” Luneckas said. “There is more work to be done though, I’m certainly not done and I’m excited for the future.”

After averaging 4.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore Luneckas flourished in her first season as the full-time post in the West Branch lineup.

While Luneckas was better in all aspects of the game this season her improvement began with increased confidence.

“I feel like a lot of the improvement comes with my confidence,” Luneckas said. “I didn’t have a lot of confidence last year and I tried to work on that this year.”

The more confidence Luneckas gained the more dominant she became on the court.

A versatile player with the ability to score with her back to the basket and from the perimeter, Luneckas showed a vast skillset during her strong season.

She shot 49 percent from the field and 77 from the free throw line, a 28 percent improvement from last season.

“We needed to build confidence in her and I think we did that along the way,” Tylee said. “Obviously her stats proved that she is a very confident.”

A member of the River Valley Conference Elite all-conference team, Luneckas was at her best in the postseason.

Luneckas had double-doubles in three of five postseason games including a 13-point, 12-rebound effort in win over Grundy Center in the state quarterfinals.

She had eight points, five rebounds and five blocks in a semifinal loss to Dike-New Hartford.

In five postseason games Luneckas averaged 11.4 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.6 assists.

“I think a lot of it is she became more patient on offense,” Tylee said. “She has just slowed the game down for herself and even defensively she has done a good job in the paint. She was one of our better defenders and had a really good year.”

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