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They're both seniors.
Both are forwards, but in more ways are more like point forwards — with each sharing a great deal of the ball handling responsibilities — or, better yet, play a mixture of guard and small forward while doing quite a lot of good work operating inside.
Both made deep tournament runs with their respective teams in March.
Saying that, Norwayne's Ava Maibach and Smithville's Leah Keib have been named the Wooster Daily Record Girls Basketball Players of the Year.
With the high school girls basketball scene in the Wayne/Holmes County area this season being so good and deep with a number of top-of-the-line teams and high-end players, other players that were in consideration were Norwayne's Allie DeMassimo, Dalton's Grace Dorrfer, Triway's Sydney Frank, Waynedale's Kylie Geiser, Loudonville's Addison Wolford, Chippewa's Aira Regan, Hiland's Macy Mullet and Hiland's Perryn Mishler.
More: Inside Norwayne girls basketball's three-year rise into one of Ohio's best
For Maibach's senior season, she brought a little bit of everything to the table for Norwayne. From her work at point guard to playing off the ball to using her 5-foot-11 frame and length to crash the boards, utilizing her body to bully defenders for inside scoring chances and her activity on defense to be able to defend different positions, all made her one valuable piece the Bobcats had.
Her junior season was something in helping 25-4 Norwayne reach the school's first-ever state Final Four appearance (made the the Division V state title game), but her senior season looked even better. Maibach (14.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.8 APG, 2.9 SPG) helped guide the Bobcats (24-3 record) to back-to-back state Final Four appearances that involved Norwayne winning their first Wayne County Athletic League title in 40 years and throughout the season were firmly amongst the top five teams in Division V.
Maibach was seen as one of the best players in Division V and took home honors in being selected to Division V All-Ohio First Team, Division V Northeast Inland District First Team, District 4 Division V First Team and WCAL First Team, while winning WCAL co-Player of the Year and District 4 Division V Player of the Year.
For Smithville by midseason, not many believed they had a deep postseason run in them like last year's 23-4 team did — the same team that won the WCAL title and was a regional finalist. A major reason for Smithville (16-11 record) making a stern late regular season push that led to the Smithies winning their second straight district title, making it back to a regional final and coming one game short of making the Division VI state Final Four was because of the big-time play and much-needed performances by their top player.
Already playing in such a top-tier league in the WCAL, the Smithies were more than prepared in making a surprise deep run. With Keib being the center of attention and having different defensive looks thrown at her during the tournament like double teams, a box-and-1 and extra team help when she tried to drive into the lane, she dealt with with it and kept on moving.
More: Battle-tested Smithville shoots down Richmond Heights in Div. VI regional semifinal
She scored a game-high 24 points in Smithville's 46-44 overtime win on the road at Loudonville in the district semifinal. She scored just eight points (after seeing double teams basically the entire game) in the Smithies' 43-38 victory over last season's Division VI state finalist Rootstown, but she scored all eight of her points in a crucial stretch in the fourth quarter. Smithville then pulled off another upset in knocking out Richmond Heights 50-39 in the regional semifinal behind Kieb's game-high 23 points. In a low-scoring affair, Smithville fell to Canton Central Catholic 35-30 in the regional final where Keib scored 11.
Keib (16.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.3 APG, 45.4 FG%, 51 3-pointers made) was named to the Division VI All-Ohio First Team, Division VI Northeast Inland District First Team and WCAL First Team, while being selected as the District 4 Division VI Player of the Year. And fittingly enough, Keib shared co-WCAL Player of the Year honors with Maibach.
Two seniors going out strong.
[email protected]
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Norwayne's Ava Maibach, Smithville's Leah Keib named WDR co-girls basketball POY
Continue reading...
Both are forwards, but in more ways are more like point forwards — with each sharing a great deal of the ball handling responsibilities — or, better yet, play a mixture of guard and small forward while doing quite a lot of good work operating inside.
Both made deep tournament runs with their respective teams in March.
Saying that, Norwayne's Ava Maibach and Smithville's Leah Keib have been named the Wooster Daily Record Girls Basketball Players of the Year.
With the high school girls basketball scene in the Wayne/Holmes County area this season being so good and deep with a number of top-of-the-line teams and high-end players, other players that were in consideration were Norwayne's Allie DeMassimo, Dalton's Grace Dorrfer, Triway's Sydney Frank, Waynedale's Kylie Geiser, Loudonville's Addison Wolford, Chippewa's Aira Regan, Hiland's Macy Mullet and Hiland's Perryn Mishler.
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More: Inside Norwayne girls basketball's three-year rise into one of Ohio's best
For Maibach's senior season, she brought a little bit of everything to the table for Norwayne. From her work at point guard to playing off the ball to using her 5-foot-11 frame and length to crash the boards, utilizing her body to bully defenders for inside scoring chances and her activity on defense to be able to defend different positions, all made her one valuable piece the Bobcats had.
Her junior season was something in helping 25-4 Norwayne reach the school's first-ever state Final Four appearance (made the the Division V state title game), but her senior season looked even better. Maibach (14.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.8 APG, 2.9 SPG) helped guide the Bobcats (24-3 record) to back-to-back state Final Four appearances that involved Norwayne winning their first Wayne County Athletic League title in 40 years and throughout the season were firmly amongst the top five teams in Division V.
You must be registered for see images
Maibach was seen as one of the best players in Division V and took home honors in being selected to Division V All-Ohio First Team, Division V Northeast Inland District First Team, District 4 Division V First Team and WCAL First Team, while winning WCAL co-Player of the Year and District 4 Division V Player of the Year.
For Smithville by midseason, not many believed they had a deep postseason run in them like last year's 23-4 team did — the same team that won the WCAL title and was a regional finalist. A major reason for Smithville (16-11 record) making a stern late regular season push that led to the Smithies winning their second straight district title, making it back to a regional final and coming one game short of making the Division VI state Final Four was because of the big-time play and much-needed performances by their top player.
Already playing in such a top-tier league in the WCAL, the Smithies were more than prepared in making a surprise deep run. With Keib being the center of attention and having different defensive looks thrown at her during the tournament like double teams, a box-and-1 and extra team help when she tried to drive into the lane, she dealt with with it and kept on moving.
You must be registered for see images
More: Battle-tested Smithville shoots down Richmond Heights in Div. VI regional semifinal
She scored a game-high 24 points in Smithville's 46-44 overtime win on the road at Loudonville in the district semifinal. She scored just eight points (after seeing double teams basically the entire game) in the Smithies' 43-38 victory over last season's Division VI state finalist Rootstown, but she scored all eight of her points in a crucial stretch in the fourth quarter. Smithville then pulled off another upset in knocking out Richmond Heights 50-39 in the regional semifinal behind Kieb's game-high 23 points. In a low-scoring affair, Smithville fell to Canton Central Catholic 35-30 in the regional final where Keib scored 11.
Keib (16.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.3 APG, 45.4 FG%, 51 3-pointers made) was named to the Division VI All-Ohio First Team, Division VI Northeast Inland District First Team and WCAL First Team, while being selected as the District 4 Division VI Player of the Year. And fittingly enough, Keib shared co-WCAL Player of the Year honors with Maibach.
Two seniors going out strong.
[email protected]
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Norwayne's Ava Maibach, Smithville's Leah Keib named WDR co-girls basketball POY
Continue reading...
