They have a state Player of the Year honor in hand, and now they want a state title, too.
Twinsburg senior Ashley Morrissette and Orrville senior Hannah Plybon both were named Player of the Year in their respective divisions for the 2012-2013 season.
Morrissette earned the Division I Player of the Year nod and will lead Twinsburg (28-0) into a state semifinal with Lewis Center Olentangy Orange (26-2) on Friday in Columbus.
Plybon was tabbed as the Division III Player of the Year and will guide Orrville (26-2) into a state semifinal against Anna (24-4) today in Columbus.
Morrissette is a 5-foot-9 Purdue University recruit and one of the best point guards in Summit County history. She averaged 19.1 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 steals and 1.0 block per game in the regular season. She also made 50 percent of her field-goal attempts and 82 percent of her free-throw attempts.
Morrissette has helped Twinsburg win the past two Division I state titles. The Tigers have won 42 games in a row and have a 72-game winning streak against Ohio opponents.
Plybon is a 5-foot-10 University of Akron recruit. She is averaging 25.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals per game. Plybon’s 2,079 career points are an Orrville High School and Wayne County record.
The Red Riders have won 84 games during Plybon’s four-year career.
St. V-M vs. CVCA
The Division II boys basketball regional semifinal at 6:15 p.m. today at the Canton Memorial Civic Center is shaping up to be a good one.
St. Vincent-St. Mary and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy will meet in a battle between two of Summit County’s best teams.
St. V-M Athletic Director Andy Jalwan said that in 41 seasons of St. V-M boys basketball, the Irish have won one national championship, six state titles, 10 regional titles, 23 district titles and 31 sectional crowns.
The Fighting Irish (17-9) are led this year by talented freshman VJ King, junior Jalen Hudson and seniors Nick Wells, Jordan Hargrove, Fransohn Bickley and Joey Weber.
“The growth I have seen with this team from early in the season to now has been impressive,” St. V-M coach Dru Joyce II said. “Early on, we didn’t have a lot of chemistry and kids didn’t know each other. Over the season, the losses were hurting. You could see it was affecting them, but they stayed together. Once they started to win, they believed more in themselves and what we can get done. They are going about things in the right way.”
The Royals (24-2) counter with high-scoring senior Bob Peters, sophomores Michael Peters and Luke Peters, seniors Caleb Kleibscheidel and Alex Punka and junior Marty Lee.
“This definitely feels awesome,” Kleibscheidel said. “I have never been in this situation before. I have been waiting for this all four years. It is really awesome that it is finally here.”
The Royals have won five district titles under coach Jay Peters.
“We had two rough starts in the tournament with our first two games,” Jay Peters said. “We have relaxed since then and we are just playing some gutty basketball. We are doing some really nice things defensively. We are making plays when we have to and we have different guys stepping up as we have matured throughout the season. It is nice to see.”
Windham boys bow out
The Windham boys basketball team had its season come to an end Tuesday night with a 23-3 record after a Division IV regional semifinal loss to Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph in Canton.
Windham coach Marty Hill was gracious in defeat. Hill is always gracious, win or lose.
“I told them in the locker room, it has been a great ride,” Hill said. “We had a good year last year, but I thought the things that we needed to do to be a better team they did this year. We moved the ball better. You guys didn’t see it tonight, but this is a fun group to watch.”
Seniors Matt Knight, Cameron Pozsgai and Jake Viebranz played their final basketball game as Bombers.
Hill, 60, has won 581 games in 38 years as Windham’s coach.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com.
