One three-time selection and two
repeat selections highlight this year's edition of
the All-Wood County girls basketball team.
Lake's Kaysie Brittenham, a junior, made it 3-for-3
for her career on the All-County first team.
Otsego's Baley Bernthisel, a senior, was named to
the first team for the second consecutive year. Her
teammate and fellow senior, Ashley Holzwart, earns
the honor for the second time after being named to
the first team as a sophomore.
Joining those two on the first team are three
first-time selections: Lakota's Amy Gosche,
Perrysburg's Erin Mesker, and Lake's Kimberly Meyer.
The team is selected by members of the
Sentinel-Tribune sports staff.
Brittenham has continued to improve her game since
stepping into the varsity scene as a freshman.
The 5-foot-9 guard helped lead the Flyers to their
second consecutive undefeated regular season and
Suburban Lakes League title. Lake finished 22-1
overall after falling to eventual state champion
Liberty-Benton in the Division III district finals
for the second straight year.
Brittenham led Lake in scoring, averaging 15.8
points per game. She shot 47 percent from the floor
overall and 77 percent from the free-throw line. She
also led the Flyers in steals, averaging 3.5 per
game.
"She is just a scorer. Probably 90 percent of our
offense was geared around her," said Lake coach
Denny Meyer. "The great thing about her is you can
set plays up for her because most of the time she
was going to finish them."
Brittenham was named the SLL player of the year this
season and also earned special mention All-Ohio
honors.
"We just knew she could score for us at all times.
Her defense ... she got a whole lot better as the
year went on," coach Meyer said. "For being a
three-year starter she still comes in and works
harder than anybody on our team in practice to
improve on her game."
Bernthisel, meanwhile, did most of her damage down
low for Otsego.
The 5-10 senior forward provided plenty of
production for the Knights, finishing the season
averaging a double-double of 10.8 points and 11.4
rebounds per game. She also averaged 1.5 assists per
game.
"She was solid all year," said Otsego coach and
Baley's father Scott Bernthisel. "We really depended
on her to rebound for us. She had some big scoring
games here and there.
"We really asked her to do a lot - handle the ball
if she needed to, rebound the ball, play defense.
She was kind of our all-around, do whatever is
needed player."
Baley Bernthisel helped lead Otsego to a 14-6
regular season and an 8-4 mark in the SLL. It was
the second straight season she averaged a
double-double.
"She really worked at it and she really accepted her
role. She also helped make others around her
better," coach Bernthisel said. "It was kind of
whatever was needed on a given night, she was
willing to do it."
Meanwhile, Holzwart provided the outside punch for
the Knights.
The 5-8 senior led Otsego in scoring at 13.4 points
per game while shooting 42 percent from the field
and 64 percent from the free-throw line.
"She did a lot of things for us. When we needed
points that's the person we looked to," coach
Bernthisel said. "If we could get her open, we knew
she'd hit the shot."
Holzwart added 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per
game. She was an honorable mention All-County pick
last season and a first-team All-SLL pick this year.
"When teams started keying on her it became tougher
and tougher to find ways to get her open," coach
Bernthisel said. "But when we could find her a seem
here or there .. she did a real nice job."
Gosche, a junior, was a force for Lakota this
season.
The 6-0 center averaged 13.3 points, 8.2 rebounds
and 1.7 assists per game. She shot 50 percent from
the floor and 60 percent from the free-throw line.
"In 23 years of coaching football, baseball,
basketball, soccer ... she's the best athlete I've
ever coached," Lakota coach Sam Meek said.
Gosche, who like Baley Bernthisel was named to the
Sentinel's All-County volleyball first-team this
past fall, was an honorable mention All-County
basketball pick last season. And she still has a
year of high school left.
"She matured since her sophomore year. She really
stepped up and has become a team leader," Meek said.
"She did well this year and I look for her to be
quite dominating next year."
Perrysburg's Mesker was the leader for a
Yellow Jacket team that surprised many with a run to
the Division I regional finals for a second straight
season.
The 5-11 center led Perrysburg with 11.0 points and
7.2 rebounds per game. Mesker, a senior, was an
honorable mention All-County pick last season.
"She's been a great leader, especially this year.
She did an excellent job of keeping the team
together," said Perrysburg coach Todd Sims. "She's a
great low-post presence. She's a true block-to-block
player. Teams always have to game plan around her,
which obviously helps her teammates a lot."
Mesker was the only returning starter for
Perrysburg from 2008-09, when the 'Jackets went 20-0
in the regular season. She was named first-team
All-Northern Lakes League this year and was the
guiding force on a Perrysburg team that had little
experience returning to start the season.
"She'd been there before ... Most of the other ones
hadn't been in the crunch time of big games," Sims
said. "She helped calm them and let them know that
they could do it."
Finally, Lake's Kimberly Meyer provided a coach-like
presence on the floor.
From her point guard position she ran Lake's
offense, averaging 3.3 assists per game. She also
added a consistent outside shooting threat with 38
made 3-pointers on the season.
"Living with me, she knows exactly what I want
done," said coach Meyer, Kimberly's father. "She
knows exactly that I don't want hardly any turnovers
from my point guard ... She takes care of the ball.
"She knows my offense ... so she makes sure she gets
everybody into positions for that."
Kimberly Meyer (5-4) also was at the top of Lake's
imposing defense, which held opponents to an average
of 31.8 points per game. She averaged 2.0 steals per
game.
"She was probably our best on-ball defender. With
her lack of size, it was great, because she was
smart enough defensively to force people into the
trap," coach Meyer said.
She also overcame a knee injury at the start of the
season and thrived in Lake's back-to-back runs to
the district finals.
"As she got more healthy she started shooting
better. The last two years in tournament she's been
our most consistent player offensively," coach Meyer
said.
On the honorable mention list are Lake's
Jessica Abbey; Perrysburg's Nicole Delas; Otsego's
Katelyn Downing; Eastwood's Ashley Fairbanks; North
Baltimore's Rachel Flores; Perrysburg's Alyssa
Goins; Northwood's Shayna Hague; Bowling Green's
Bethany Hoehner; Lakota's Rachel Hoffman; Eastwood's
Kristin Martin; Perrysburg's Kelsea Newman; Lake's
Drew Plummer; Elmwood's Emily Reynolds; Rossford's
Courtney Trenchik; and Bowling Green's Hayley
Williford. |
