By Timothy Kays
THE REPORTER
I’ll be honest with you, by no means do I envy the job of Buckeye Border Conference Commissioner, Randy Bachman. It is from his desk and his office which the All-BBC team and BBC Player of the Year announcements are announced, and given all the talent throughout the girls’ ranks this season, I’d have had a nervous breakdown.
Just take a minute and ponder the season passed. You have a 1,000-point scorer in Conner Varner of Stryker. Within the last few weeks, another member of the Millennium Club was added in the person of Hannah Bleikamp of Hilltop. There is the ‘third coach’ of the Pettisville Lady Blackbirds, Mikala Avina, who I say again is arguably the best point guard and floor general in Northwest Ohio. A strong case can be made for Taylor Griffiths, Kaela Seiler and Alexis Fruchey of Fayette, the explosive Emily Armbruster of Hilltop, and the sweet-shooting Connor Sullivan of Stryker and Lauren Hostetler of Pettisville. There are only so many spaces available for first team, second team and honorable mention players…and only one for the 2013-14 BBC Player of the Year. Who would be named to the top spot in a year where talent was as abundant as the water in the oceans?
Dana Fricke of Pettisville…that’s who.
In the Pettisville system of Head Coach Jason Waldvogel, there are guards and there are forwards, but there is no center. With Dana on the floor, a center is not needed as she crashes the boards and scores like an elite pivot player. What separates her from the rest is that while the ball is being brought down the court, she can let her defender go right past her to a low post, while she stops and drains threes from the top of the key. Her ball handling skills are that of a #1 guard, she can hit from anywhere like a #2 guard, and she’s not at all shy mixing it up in the paint with forwards and centers. There was no true way of labeling her at the beginning of the campaign, but there is now…BBC Player of the Year.
Following is the listing of the All-BBC teams from Commissioner Bachman for the 2013-14 season…
2013-14 BBC Player of the Year – Dana Fricke of Pettisville
All-BBC First Team
Conner Varner Stryker
Hannah Bleikamp Hilltop
Mikala Avina Pettisville
Taylor Griffiths Fayette
Kaela Seiler Fayette
All-BBC Second Team
Emily Armbruster Hilltop
Lauren Hostetler Pettisville
Connor Sullivan Stryker
Christie Huston Stryker
Sabrina Pickford North Central
All-BBC Honorable Mention
Alex Kiess Edon
Alexis Fruchey Fayette
LeAnn Joost Hilltop
Audra Klopfenstein Pettisville
Hannah Siekemeyer North Central
Kailey Creamer Hilltop
Kaitlin Chrisman Edon
Michaela Bates Fayette
Timothy Kays can be reached at tim@villagereporter.com