First sophomore wins Ohio Ms. Basketball
For the first time ever, a player other than a senior or a junior has been selected Ms. Basketball by The Associated Press.
Kierstan Bell, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Canton McKinley (23-5), was named the winner Wednesday. Bell, whose team will play in a Division I state semifinal against Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame (24-4) on Friday at Value City Arena, amassed 1,264 points, with averages of 25.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, during the regular season. In the postseason, she is scoring just under 25 points per game.
Bell scored the Bulldogs' final 14 points to rally them from an eightpoint deficit in the fourth quarter in a Division I district final against StowMunroe Falls.She capped the comeback by hitting a three-pointer with three seconds left for a 37-36 victory to finish with 24 points.
"It was great. I can't believe the team trusted me with the shot," she said. "It was either it goes in, or we lose."
ESPN ranks Bell as the second-best guard and No. 8 overall in the class of 2019.Bell said the more other teams concentrate on her, the better it is for McKinley. Chamera Young averages 10 points and Destinee Lee was an all-district selection.
"They really do focus on me a lot," Bell said. "We have a lot of good players on this team. I don't know why they think I'm the whole team."
If all goes well the next two seasons, she could become the first threetime Ms. Basketball. There have been four two-time recipients, the most recent being McKinley's Ameryst Alston in 2011 and ’12. She went to Ohio State. Area finalists for Ms. Basketball included Gabby Burris (Liberty Union) and Jacy Sheldon (Dublin Coffman). Other candidates were Naz Hillmon (Gates Mills Gilmour Academy), Sammie Puisis (Mason), Jiselle Thomas (Norwalk) and Angela Troyer (Berlin Hiland).
Division I all-state
Sheldon and Katie Shumate of Newark were selected to the AP's Division I All-Ohio team Wednesday. Shumate's father, J.R., was honored as coach of the year. The Wildcats (28-0) play in a Division I semifinal against Toledo Notre Dame (25-3) on Friday.
Shumate, a sophomore, averaged 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds and made 77 percent of her free throws. She contributed eight points, seven rebounds and three steals in a regional final win over Sheldon and Dublin Coffman. J.R. Shumate, in his ninth season at Newark, also guided the Wildcats to a state semifinal in 2015.
Sheldon, also a sophomore, averaged 23.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 5.2 steals while shooting 58 percent from the field, including 41 percent from three-point range, in leading Coffman (25-3) to a regional final.
The Division I second team included Madison Greene of Pickerington Central. Greene averaged 14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists and shot 82 percent from the freethrow line. Taylor Gregory of Mount Vernon (18.5 points, 9.7 rebounds) was named to the third team. Teneea Heston (Hilliard Bradley), Taylor Pearson (Northland), Sommer Pitzer (Westerville South), Morgan Sharps (Newark) and Macy Spielman (Upper Arlington) were honorable mention.