BBC TOP RETURNER … Hilltop’s Libbie Baker lines up a triple in a game last season versus Fayette. Baker averaged 20.8 ppg, 11.8 rpg a game last season to help the Cadets earn a BBC co-championship with Holgate. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
Last season’s co-champions with Holgate, the Hilltop Cadets, will have the top returning scorer and rebounder in the BBC in Libbie Baker at their disposal as they look to repeat as league champions.
Most of the teams in the league lost key players to graduation which should make for a wide-open league race.
The exception to that is Fayette, as head coach Ryan Colegrove returns 10 letterwinners this season after losing just one letterwinner from last season.
Here are the previews for each team in order of their finish in the BBC last season.
T1. Hilltop (Last season: 16-7, 6-1 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional final to Pettisville 57-43)
HEAD COACH: Troy Grime (6th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Jayma Bailey (8.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Mia Hancock (10.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Junior – Libbie Baker (20.8 ppg, 11.8 rpg); Sophomores – Molly Dickinson (3.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg), Kenley Routt (1.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg)
NEWCOMERS: Junior – Elena VanArsdalen; Sophomore – Brynn Rodriguez; Freshman – Sophia Crossgrove, Kelsey Connolly
STRENGTHS: “We have a great group of girls who have shown a lot of enthusiasm and effort in practice.” It is a special culture that has been developed within the high school program and the players that have played before this group and have moved on deserve all the credit.”
“It will be interesting to see our growth on both sides of the ball from late November to early February.”
WEAKNESSES: “We don’t have three of our top four scorers and rebounders so we will need the newcomers to step up and I feel they are ready for the challenge.”
“Basically, with four newcomers and no seniors on the roster there will be a learning curve for all of us. We will make mistakes and the coaches and players will learn from them and grow as a team.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The league should be very well balanced and competitive this year.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener – November 24 – Montpelier (H); BBC Opener – January 5 – North Central (H)
T1. Holgate (Last season: 12-12, 6-1 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional final to Toledo Christian 59-14)
HEAD COACH: Scott Giesige (7th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Lexa Schuller (7.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Olivia Blaker (6.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Jordyn Altman (5.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.0 apg), Madison Clark (5.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg), Paisley Wilhelm (3.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Senior – Miriam Bower (5.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.0 apg); Juniors – Isabelle Blaker (4.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Mya Tijerina (2.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg); Sophomore – Hannah Fritz (1.0 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Senior – Aubrey Pennington (C/F); Juniors – Tyja Jones (C/F), Markee Wilhelm (F); Sophomore – Jilian Eis (C)
STRENGTHS: “Some of our strengths will be our guard play, defense, our length, size and versatility will help us create some mismatches we hope to take advantage of offensively.”
“We hope to turn a weakness, our depth, into a strength and be able to utilize more of our bench if our inexperienced players and underclassmen develop as we believe they will.”
WEAKNESSES: “Our biggest weaknesses will be lack of varsity experience, having only four returning letter winners and having graduated five seniors.”
“We need to limit our turnovers and we must find consistent scoring from our starters and solid production from our bench.”
“We lost 27 points and 24 rebounds a game due to graduation and we will be looking to all of our players to pick-up their scoring and rebounding.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “Even with our inexperience we are looking to compete night in night out and see where that takes us on the season. For us to be successful & reach our team goals we must keep improving.”
“We have shown good progress both defensively and offensively by how well our young and inexperienced players played over this past summer.”
“Still, we come into this season with more questions than answers. Both of our seniors, Miriam Bower, and Aubrey Pennington, are coming off injures that derailed their seasons a year ago.”
“We will be led by senior – Miriam Bower and junior – Isabelle Blaker, they will be our go to scorers this year. But our overall team success will be dependent on how consistent we become both defensively and offensively.”
“It will need to be a team effort on both ends of the floor and we look for others to step into new expanded roles, like senior Aubrey Pennington, juniors – Mya Tijerina, Tyja Jones and Markee Wilhelm.”
“Sophomores Hannah Fritz and Jilian Eis are looking to contribute as well. We have other younger players looking to earn varsity minutes and add more depth off our bench.”
“They are sophomores – Justice Healy, Ryli Rohrs & Tatum Stollings along with freshmen Sarah Bok, Anna Bower, MaKaylah Giesige, Lyndee Palte, and Kaylee Thacker.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “This year in the BBC there doesn’t appear to be a clear favorite going into the season. Ourselves and Hilltop shared the title last season, both with one loss. I think it will be something similar this year with nobody going unbeaten.”
“We lost five seniors to graduation, tough to replace that experience but we believe we can still be near the top. Hilltop has a solid core returning to go along with 20-point scorer & Player of the Year candidate in junior Libbie Baker.”
“Montpelier, Pettisville, and Edon will be looking to challenge for a title returning solid groups and all they are led by their respective All-Conference juniors. Stryker lost a few seniors including two-time Player of the Year in Sage Woolace which is a big loss for them.”
“North Central and Fayette should be improved over last season with their experience returning but North Central will be under a new coach, so you just don’t know what to expect yet.”
“This should be an interesting, competitive, and exciting year for girls’ basketball in the BBC.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 24 – Edgerton (A); BBC Opener: January 5 – Pettisville (H)
3. Stryker (18-7; 5-2 BBC; Lost in Division IV district semifinal to Ayersville 39-34)
HEAD COACH: Conner Ruffer (4th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Kaitlyn Meyers (2.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg), Gabby Ramon (1.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg), Lexi Wickerham (8.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Sage Woolace (18.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 apg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Laura Leupp (1.3 rpg), Taylor Rethmel (2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg), Emma Fulk (6.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg); Sophomores – Abby Oberlin (2.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg), Allie Ruffer
NEWCOMERS: Freshman – Aubrey Clemens
STRENGTHS: “Great leadership from our seniors; A lot of girls returning with varsity experience; Girls really bond well and are great workers & coachable girls; Everyone’s mindset is “what can I do to get better”; We will show a lot of growth from the beginning to the end of the season.”
WEAKNESSES: – “Low on numbers, but it has allowed us to be really close-knit; Not a ton of height; Losing a lot of our main “scoring”, but we have a lot of potential with the 11 girls we have this year; Younger team with only three seniors and no juniors.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We will grow tremendously from the beginning to the end of the season, and we are looking for girls to step up as leaders. The exciting thing for us coaches is that we could have any player step up at any night.”
“We aren’t looking at just a couple girls to do the work- any one of these girls could step up, and that’s something not a lot of teams may have.”
“We are a younger team- mostly freshman and sophomores, but all 11 girls want to be in the gym and work hard to get better.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: – “In the BBC I truly feel any team can beat another team on any given night. It’s exciting to go into the games with that mindset.”
“Pettisville has some younger girls with more experience, and Hilltop has their dominant player in Libbie Baker, but every team in our league I believe has a chance at the title.
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 24 – Pettisville (A); BBC Opener: January 5 – Fayette (H)
T4. Pettisville (Last season: 14-11, 4-3 BBC; Lost in Division IV district semifinal to Convoy Crestview 56-36)
HEAD COACH: Jason Waldvogel (26th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Alli King (3.1 ppg), Ellie Grieser (8.0 ppg), Leah Beck (6.2 ppg), Bella Strauss
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Grace Crawford (8.2 ppg), Hollyn Klopfenstein (2.0 ppg), Amanda Grimm (5.0 ppg), Lily Wiemken (2.0 ppg); Juniors – Olivia Miller (8.2 ppg)
NEWCOMERS: Juniors – Kelsey Bennett, Noelle Fox, Madison Remington, Grace Remington; Sophomores: Becca Strauss, Grace Hastings
STRENGTHS: “Our numbers are good with a decent amount of varsity experience which should give us some depth. The team is balanced in most aspects of the game with many players that are versatile in the positions they can play.”
WEAKNESSES: “Rebounding is something we look to improve upon while understanding the different situations of the game.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We want to compete each night while putting ourselves in a situation to come out on top each night.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “We think the league will be fairly balanced with Hilltop bringing back some key players.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 24 – Stryker (H); BBC Opener: January 5 – Holgate (A)
T4. Montpelier (Last season: 10-13, 4-3 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional semifinal to Pettisville 36-27)
HEAD COACH: Mike Bumb (5th Season)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Senior – Meara McGee (F); Juniors – Kelsie Bumb (G), Jada Uribes (F), Aleigha Hillard, Madelyn Hopper
NEWCOMERS: Junior – Lyla Mahan (G); Sophomore – Zoe Uribes (F)
STRENGTHS: Experience, team speed, shooting
WEAKNESSES: Size
SEASON OUTLOOK: “I like our chances to compete for a league title but think the league is as balanced as it has been in a while. We have great kids and I think we have a chance to have a really successful season.”
“We have high expectations for our players and so far, they have responded positively in everything we have asked them to do.
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “League should be competitive with Hilltop and Pettisville as being solid.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 24 – Hilltop (A); BBC Opener: January 5 – Edon (H)
6. Edon (Last season: 7-16, 2-5 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional semifinal to Antwerp 39-32)
HEAD COACH: Caela Walker (7th Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Emma Hickman (6.2 ppg), Maddie Gearig (5.0 ppg), Meghan Deck
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Senior – Jaycea Craven (4.6 ppg); Junior – Natalie Wofford (14.6 ppg); Sophomore – Genna Ripke (2.0 ppg), Grace Ripke (2.0 ppg), Adison Briner (2.5 ppg)
STRENGTHS: “We have leadership and experience as we return quite a few kids that contributed last season whether they were starters or came off the bench for us.”; Team chemistry
WEAKNESSES: Perimeter Shooting – “We must continue to work on knocking down shots from the outside.”
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We are excited for a competitive season both league and non-league play.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – North Central (H); BBC Opener: January 5 – Montpelier (A)
7. North Central (3-20, 1-6 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional final to Convoy Crestview 55-28)
HEAD COACH: Jaime Brown (1st Season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Isabelle Burnett, Makinzy King
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Madeline Zimmerman, Mireya Cruz, Grecia Dominguez, Cailyn Meyers, Addyson Turner, Amara Wright
NEWCOMERS: Anna Burt, Addie Burger, Mallory Groves, Tessa Reyome, Gracie Zuver, Ava Gruber
STRENGTHS: Quickness, experience
WEAKNESSES: Height
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We are looking to use our athleticism to put pressure on teams. We are young, so just learning will be huge.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The BBC is tough. I think any of one of the teams could win the league.
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 25 – Edon (A); BBC Opener: January 5 – Hilltop (A)
8. Fayette (2-21, 0-7 BBC; Lost in Division IV sectional semifinal to Convoy Crestview 57-1)
HEAD COACH: Ryan Colegrove (10th season)
LETTERWINNERS LOST FROM LAST SEASON: Hanah Kovar (2.1 ppg; 2.9 rpg)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Seniors – Nevaeh Powers (6.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg), Demi Storrs (3.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg), Kenadie Ramay (1.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg), Emerson Sinks (1.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg); Juniors – Zoie Brown (1.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg), Erika Fetterman (0.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg); Sophomores – Willow Mitchell (0.6 ppg), Mesa Gorsuch (1.1 ppg, 0.6 rpg), Kelsie Storrs (2.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg), Addison Schang (3.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg)
STRENGTHS: More experience, attitude, effort, very coachable, quickness
WEAKNESSES: Numbers-only 14 girls in HS program, lack of size, scoring
SEASON OUTLOOK: “We will have to have more consistent scoring. Our younger girls will bring some aggressiveness, that will make everybody better. Hopefully we can turn that aggressiveness and quickness into more pressure on defense and create some easier scoring opportunities.”
“If we progress as hoped, we could be competitive with a lot of the teams on our schedule.”
LEAGUE OUTLOOK: “The league in general, should be pretty balanced. Some of the top teams from last year lost some major players.”
ABOUT THEIR SCHEDULE: Season Opener: November 28 – Ayersville (A); BBC Opener: January 5 – Hilltop (A)
