BY CHRIS OGRYSKI
EDITOR
NOTE: For more photos check out the TSA website by clicking on the link to the right.
EDITOR
NOTE: For more photos check out the TSA website by clicking on the link to the right.
THE THUMB – With eight players selected to the All-Thumb team and a sweep of the Thumb Sportswriters Association’s individual awards, the Greater Thumb East proved its dominance this season.
Ubly’s Alicia Leipprandt won Player of the Year honors, while GTE champion Brown City, who won their first league title since 1995 with a 10-2 finish in the league, won Team of the Year and Green Devil’s coach Cindy Burton Coach of the Year.
It is the second straight year that the GTE swept the individual awards, as in 2007-2008 Marlette won the Team of the Year, the Red Raider’s Fred Mroczek won Coach of the Year, and Sandusky’s Marissa DeMott won Player of the Year honors.
This year’s sweep nearly represented a three-peat for the GTE, as in the 2006-2007 season Sandusky was named Team of the Year, Harbor Beach’s Rhonda Gusa won Player of the Year, while the Redskin’s Al DeMott shared Coach of the Year honors with Elkton Pigeon Bay Port’s Todd Comment.
The Thumb Sportswriters Association is a cumulative association of Thumb-area sports editors and sports writers from nine Thumb-area newspapers, those of which include: the Huron County Press, Newsweekly and Harbor Beach Times, as well as the County Press (Lapeer), Brown City Banner, Tuscola County Advertiser, Sanilac County News, Sandusky Tribune and Huron Daily Tribune.
Each year the TSA selects a Player of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year and an All-Thumb team in four sports: football, volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball.
In order to be considered for nomination to an All-Thumb team, students must attend one of the following schools: Akron-Fairgrove, Bad Axe, Brown City, Caro, Carsonville Port-Sanilac, Caseville, Cass City, Croswell-Lexington, Deckerville, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port, Harbor Beach, Kingston, Marlette, Mayville, Millington, North Branch, North Huron, Owen-Gage, Peck, Port Hope, Reese, Sandusky, Ubly, Unionville-Sebewaing Area and Vassar.
This year’s All-Thumb Team is led by Leipprandt, who scored 611 points in 22 games for a 27.8 points per game average, while adding 12.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game.
She improved on almost all of her numbers from last season, when she was also a first team All-Thumb selection and averaged 15.5 ppg, 6.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
Leipprandt, who earned 1st team all-state honors in Class C, shot 84 percent from the free throw line this season (163-of-195) and 81 percent for her career (291-of-359). She will be playing basketball at the Air Force Academy in the fall.
“Not only is she extremely talented, she’s very intelligent and is an excellent floor leader,” Bearcat’s coach Brent Wehner said. “She outworks the other players and never settles for the status quo.”
“It’s an honor to be Player of the Year and on this team,” Leipprandt said. “The girls are great athletes and people.”
Also on this year’s squad is DeMott, who won Player of the Year honors in 2007-2008 when she set a state record by shooting 91.5 percent from the free throw line during that season. She has been on the All-Thumb first team the past three years and was a Class C honorable mention all-state selection.
DeMott is the only player in the history of the TSA to earn first team honors as a freshman and could be the only player to make the first team four times in 2009-2010.
This season, DeMott, who was the only returning full-time starter on her team, led the Redskins to a regional final, where they lost 74-52 to Flint Hamaday.
For the season, DeMott averaged 20.3 ppg in 24 games, as well as 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, four steals and one block. She made 83.5 percent of her free throws this season (116-of-139) and shot 42.2 percent from three-point range (54-of-128).
While the 2008-2009 school year hasn’t even ended yet, DeMott appears to be the early favorite in the race for next year’s Player of the Year. She has the chance to be the first player in TSA history to win more than one POY award in a given sport.
“Winning something like that (POY) trophy is always in the back of your mind, but as long as the team is successful, it’s all good,” DeMott said.
DeMott will face some heavy competition for that award from Brown City junior Kristen Greene, who overcame an injury and still averaged 14.8 ppg in 21 games, as well as 6.7 rebounds per game (141 total), 2.3 assists (48 total) and 2.3 steals (48 total).
“Kristen did everything on the court,” Burton said of Greene, who earned honorable mention all-state honors this season. “We could put her in any position and she would adjust to it.”
While Greene earns a lot of praise for her well-rounded numbers, her leadership ability can’t be overlooked either. “She encouraged her teammates and helped her teammates when they were struggling,” Burton explained.
Millington senior Kayla Doshier ended her career as a three-time All-Thumb selection, including back-to-back appearances on the first team. She averaged 19.2 ppg this season in 20 regular season games (385 total points), while adding six rebounds, three assists, 3.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.
Doshier, who will be playing at Hope College in the fall, made a significant improvement from her efforts in the 2007-2008 season where she averaged 15.6 ppg and 4.9 rebounds. This season, she became the all-time leading scorer for the Cardinals, set the school record for points in a season and set the school record for points in a game with 43 points against Croswell-Lexington.
“Without her, we win two or three games this season,” said Millington coach Mike Gohsman. “She was our MVP and would be the MVP on most teams in our area.”
He added, “Her attitude and work ethic are excellent.”
Rounding out the first team are Reese junior Amber Gotham and USA senior Jillian Williamson, who led their respective teams to Greater Thumb West co-championships this past season with 11-1records in league play.
The 5’2” Gotham, who was an honorable mention All-Thumb selection last year, averaged 13.4 ppg, while adding 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Williamson, who was a 2nd Team All-Thumb selection last year, nearly averaged a double-double this season, as she led the Patriots with a 13.3 ppg scoring average, while adding 9.1 rebounds per game. She also averaged 1.7 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. USA coach Dave Bitzer said of his star player, “Jillian was best at the high post. She could take the shot right there, but she also could take the ball to the basket.”
He added, “She gained a lot of confidence this season. She had a lot of big games for us.”
The second team includes several other top players from the GTW including USA senior Dani Gremel, who averaged 13.1 ppg, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game this season and played a big part in her team winning a share of the league title. “Dani is such a complete player,” Bitzer said. “Down the stretch, we wanted the ball in her hands.”
Vassar junior Kayla Verbeek, who averaged 13.1 ppg and 9.9 rebounds in 18 games for the Vulcans. Reese junior Jade Ackerman averaged 13.4 ppg, 4.1 rebounds and three steals, while Laker senior Stephanie Maxwell scored 13.1 ppg on average, while adding six boards, 3.8 assists and 3.5 steals.
The team also includes Caseville senior Meaghan Fortsch, who led the North Central Thumb League in scoring this season with 17.3 ppg average. “Meaghan is a tremendous competitor with a never-quit attitude. She was an excellent ball handler and she controlled the team when she was on the floor,” explained Eagles coach Brian Siegfried.
Rounding out the second team is Marlette junior Amara Wilson, who averaged 12.2 ppg, 4.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.5 steals. Honorable mention selections include Kingston junior Whitney Fox, North Huron sophomore Sara Clancy (1st team All-NCTL North), Port Hope junior Allyson Koglin (1st team All-NCTL North), Brown City senior Michelle Burgess (1st team All-GTE), Sandusky senior Maddie Hale (1st team All-GTE), EPBP junior Ashley Hatfield (2nd team All-GTW), Cros-Lex senior Jackie VanderGraaff , Caro senior Amanda Ellis, Ubly senior Lyndsay White (1st team All-GTE), Carsonville Port Sanilac senior Dawn Albrecht (1st team NCTL South), Millington senior Jamie Frahm, Harbor Beach senior Kaylee Lochrie (2nd team All-GTE), Cass City senior Jennica Richards (2nd team All-GTW), Caseville senior Bethany Grates and Bad Axe senior Samantha Breault.
Ubly’s Alicia Leipprandt won Player of the Year honors, while GTE champion Brown City, who won their first league title since 1995 with a 10-2 finish in the league, won Team of the Year and Green Devil’s coach Cindy Burton Coach of the Year.
It is the second straight year that the GTE swept the individual awards, as in 2007-2008 Marlette won the Team of the Year, the Red Raider’s Fred Mroczek won Coach of the Year, and Sandusky’s Marissa DeMott won Player of the Year honors.
This year’s sweep nearly represented a three-peat for the GTE, as in the 2006-2007 season Sandusky was named Team of the Year, Harbor Beach’s Rhonda Gusa won Player of the Year, while the Redskin’s Al DeMott shared Coach of the Year honors with Elkton Pigeon Bay Port’s Todd Comment.
The Thumb Sportswriters Association is a cumulative association of Thumb-area sports editors and sports writers from nine Thumb-area newspapers, those of which include: the Huron County Press, Newsweekly and Harbor Beach Times, as well as the County Press (Lapeer), Brown City Banner, Tuscola County Advertiser, Sanilac County News, Sandusky Tribune and Huron Daily Tribune.
Each year the TSA selects a Player of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year and an All-Thumb team in four sports: football, volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball.
In order to be considered for nomination to an All-Thumb team, students must attend one of the following schools: Akron-Fairgrove, Bad Axe, Brown City, Caro, Carsonville Port-Sanilac, Caseville, Cass City, Croswell-Lexington, Deckerville, Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port, Harbor Beach, Kingston, Marlette, Mayville, Millington, North Branch, North Huron, Owen-Gage, Peck, Port Hope, Reese, Sandusky, Ubly, Unionville-Sebewaing Area and Vassar.
This year’s All-Thumb Team is led by Leipprandt, who scored 611 points in 22 games for a 27.8 points per game average, while adding 12.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.6 steals per game.
She improved on almost all of her numbers from last season, when she was also a first team All-Thumb selection and averaged 15.5 ppg, 6.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
Leipprandt, who earned 1st team all-state honors in Class C, shot 84 percent from the free throw line this season (163-of-195) and 81 percent for her career (291-of-359). She will be playing basketball at the Air Force Academy in the fall.
“Not only is she extremely talented, she’s very intelligent and is an excellent floor leader,” Bearcat’s coach Brent Wehner said. “She outworks the other players and never settles for the status quo.”
“It’s an honor to be Player of the Year and on this team,” Leipprandt said. “The girls are great athletes and people.”
Also on this year’s squad is DeMott, who won Player of the Year honors in 2007-2008 when she set a state record by shooting 91.5 percent from the free throw line during that season. She has been on the All-Thumb first team the past three years and was a Class C honorable mention all-state selection.
DeMott is the only player in the history of the TSA to earn first team honors as a freshman and could be the only player to make the first team four times in 2009-2010.
This season, DeMott, who was the only returning full-time starter on her team, led the Redskins to a regional final, where they lost 74-52 to Flint Hamaday.
For the season, DeMott averaged 20.3 ppg in 24 games, as well as 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, four steals and one block. She made 83.5 percent of her free throws this season (116-of-139) and shot 42.2 percent from three-point range (54-of-128).
While the 2008-2009 school year hasn’t even ended yet, DeMott appears to be the early favorite in the race for next year’s Player of the Year. She has the chance to be the first player in TSA history to win more than one POY award in a given sport.
“Winning something like that (POY) trophy is always in the back of your mind, but as long as the team is successful, it’s all good,” DeMott said.
DeMott will face some heavy competition for that award from Brown City junior Kristen Greene, who overcame an injury and still averaged 14.8 ppg in 21 games, as well as 6.7 rebounds per game (141 total), 2.3 assists (48 total) and 2.3 steals (48 total).
“Kristen did everything on the court,” Burton said of Greene, who earned honorable mention all-state honors this season. “We could put her in any position and she would adjust to it.”
While Greene earns a lot of praise for her well-rounded numbers, her leadership ability can’t be overlooked either. “She encouraged her teammates and helped her teammates when they were struggling,” Burton explained.
Millington senior Kayla Doshier ended her career as a three-time All-Thumb selection, including back-to-back appearances on the first team. She averaged 19.2 ppg this season in 20 regular season games (385 total points), while adding six rebounds, three assists, 3.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.
Doshier, who will be playing at Hope College in the fall, made a significant improvement from her efforts in the 2007-2008 season where she averaged 15.6 ppg and 4.9 rebounds. This season, she became the all-time leading scorer for the Cardinals, set the school record for points in a season and set the school record for points in a game with 43 points against Croswell-Lexington.
“Without her, we win two or three games this season,” said Millington coach Mike Gohsman. “She was our MVP and would be the MVP on most teams in our area.”
He added, “Her attitude and work ethic are excellent.”
Rounding out the first team are Reese junior Amber Gotham and USA senior Jillian Williamson, who led their respective teams to Greater Thumb West co-championships this past season with 11-1records in league play.
The 5’2” Gotham, who was an honorable mention All-Thumb selection last year, averaged 13.4 ppg, while adding 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
Williamson, who was a 2nd Team All-Thumb selection last year, nearly averaged a double-double this season, as she led the Patriots with a 13.3 ppg scoring average, while adding 9.1 rebounds per game. She also averaged 1.7 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. USA coach Dave Bitzer said of his star player, “Jillian was best at the high post. She could take the shot right there, but she also could take the ball to the basket.”
He added, “She gained a lot of confidence this season. She had a lot of big games for us.”
The second team includes several other top players from the GTW including USA senior Dani Gremel, who averaged 13.1 ppg, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game this season and played a big part in her team winning a share of the league title. “Dani is such a complete player,” Bitzer said. “Down the stretch, we wanted the ball in her hands.”
Vassar junior Kayla Verbeek, who averaged 13.1 ppg and 9.9 rebounds in 18 games for the Vulcans. Reese junior Jade Ackerman averaged 13.4 ppg, 4.1 rebounds and three steals, while Laker senior Stephanie Maxwell scored 13.1 ppg on average, while adding six boards, 3.8 assists and 3.5 steals.
The team also includes Caseville senior Meaghan Fortsch, who led the North Central Thumb League in scoring this season with 17.3 ppg average. “Meaghan is a tremendous competitor with a never-quit attitude. She was an excellent ball handler and she controlled the team when she was on the floor,” explained Eagles coach Brian Siegfried.
Rounding out the second team is Marlette junior Amara Wilson, who averaged 12.2 ppg, 4.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.5 steals. Honorable mention selections include Kingston junior Whitney Fox, North Huron sophomore Sara Clancy (1st team All-NCTL North), Port Hope junior Allyson Koglin (1st team All-NCTL North), Brown City senior Michelle Burgess (1st team All-GTE), Sandusky senior Maddie Hale (1st team All-GTE), EPBP junior Ashley Hatfield (2nd team All-GTW), Cros-Lex senior Jackie VanderGraaff , Caro senior Amanda Ellis, Ubly senior Lyndsay White (1st team All-GTE), Carsonville Port Sanilac senior Dawn Albrecht (1st team NCTL South), Millington senior Jamie Frahm, Harbor Beach senior Kaylee Lochrie (2nd team All-GTE), Cass City senior Jennica Richards (2nd team All-GTW), Caseville senior Bethany Grates and Bad Axe senior Samantha Breault.
