Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Two of the area’s top girls basketball programs within The Press coverage area, Genoa and Gibsonburg, competed in Midwest Live on June 19-20 at the Cedar Point Sports Complex in Sandusky, which highlighted a busy June slate for each program.
Genoa’s head coach Glenn Black said the event is really good for his program.
“It’s one of the best events that we partake in in the summer,” he said. “The reason being is just the level of competition, and it's extremely well-ran. It's organized, and it really lets us see not just from a divisional standpoint, but just across the state and even into other states, how good the competition is, and that spans from not just northwest Ohio, I mean it's all over, so it's really cool to see different areas and also how different teams play. That's always kind of fun to see.”
The Comets are coming off one of the best seasons in program history, where they went 20-7 and advanced to the regional final. It was the first time the program has reached that level of postseason play since 1989-90.
Black’s team returns key seniors such as Makenna Moritz, Lucy Schlageter, Kylie Pennington and Stella Rethman.
“We're getting a lot of production from a lot of kids,” Black said. “We feel like we have some depth, so it's kind of figuring out who's going to play where, and we felt really good about the production we got from our underclassmen this summer. We're excited to see what they can do. I'm kind of excited for the challenge.”
In addition to the aforementioned group, Genoa also gets back Izzy West, a senior who took last year off after playing for the Comets two seasons ago.
“Our seniors have just been phenomenal,” Black said. “Getting Izzy back after she took last year off should provide a little bit of depth for us. She's a really good athlete.”
Additionally, Genoa’s keys to a successful season will include replacing the production of the graduates Addi Moritz, Keira Combs and Adrianna Williams.
“Some big shoes to fill, for sure,” Black said.
With that, several younger players such as Mia Brunkhorst, Avery Henneman-Dallape, Josie Downour and Allie Antry saw plenty of action at Midwest Live.
“It was really good for us,” Black said. “We played two Division I schools, so we got to see kind of what we're made of. It was a good learning experience, and I think we realized that we still got a lot of work to do. Our kids know that.
Genoa finished up the main portion of its summer action at Central Catholic’s Summer League on June 24, and Black is excited to see what his team evolves into by the start of the season.
“Overall, these kids have been really fun to work with,” he said. “We've got a great senior class, but really all of them, it’s just been a lot of fun. I've really enjoyed getting to know these kids outside of basketball. With me not teaching at Genoa, it makes it a little harder, but the month of June is a fun time to get to know kids and see their personalities outside of just basketball.”
Gibsonburg, meanwhile, features several fun storylines going into a crucial year with star guard Elly Evarts entering her senior season.
“Elly’s gotten better,” head coach Bo Evarts said. “Losing early in the tournament last year really motivated her. She has worked out. She’s gotten stronger. She’s a much better defender now, and she’s had a very, very good spring AAU season. She’s kind of in an extra gear. She realizes it’s her senior year.”
In addition to her, Evarts is excited about a freshmen class that he said will likely include between five and seven players by the time the season starts.
“Obviously we’ve lost some really good athletes to graduation the past few years, so this freshmen class is a nice refreshing part of the team,” he said. We have a very good junior class, too, like Ava Dawson, who has started for a couple years and played really well this summer. And then Katie Hall and Mackenzie Muntz are our two post players who will most likely start in the class.”
In addition to Elly Evarts, the senior class will also include Emma Jividen and Macey Kohler. The sophomore class includes Lacey Castillo on the summer roster.
Meanwhile, the talented freshmen class includes several familiar names in Gibsonburg, including Chloe Jividen (Emma’s sister), Kenzley Walby, Sophia Foos and Emily Fruth.
Another player, though, Callie Diebler, joins Gibsonburg after her family moved in from the Pittsburgh area. Her father, Jeremiah, will be an assistant coach with the team. He led the state in scoring as a senior at Gibsonburg in 1999-2000, a team that was coached by his father, Keith, who spent 15 seasons leading the Golden Bears program starting in 1984.
Callie’s uncles are also big names in the state and Northwest Ohio as Jake Diebler is the head coach for the men’s basketball program at The Ohio State University, and Jon Diebler is an assistant coach at Butler University.
“Callie’s super athletic,” Evarts said. “She’s built really well for a freshman. She likes to shoot. All the Diebler’s like to shoot, we always kid around. She’s not afraid. She’s very athletic, and she’s going to be really good. She’s still very raw defensively, but when she gets hot, she’s a very good outside shooter. Then she’s also very athletic and versatile for her size. She already looks like a varsity player.”
Evarts said it was Chloe Jividen, though, who could potentially start for the varsity team this year.
“Elly over the years has had some good guards, but Chloe will probably be one of the best guards she’s played with in terms of relieving Elly with the pressure of handling the ball and doing everything all the time,” he said. “She’s going to help us right off the bat. She handles the ball really well. She has a nice shot. She’s very fundamental, and she’s quick as heck.”
Evarts said Foos has some great footwork and is calm in her demeanor with good fundamentals.
“The biggest storyline besides Elly entering her senior year is our depth,” Evarts said. “It’s going to be something we’ve never had. We’ll have 10 girls where I could pull out three and put in three, and we won’t lose much. We might even gain something different. It’s been fun this summer. You go to your bench, and you just hope they can keep things close, and our bench is just as good as our starters for the most part. It’s going to be good.”
The Golden Bears went 3-1 at Midwest Live, which pushed their summer record to 25-3. They lost their final game at Midwest Live after a busy week that included practice on Monday, a Findlay team camp, and the Rossford league beforehand. The other two losses featured an overtime defeat and one against the defending state runner-up in Indiana’s highest division.
“It's funny because when I took over head coach like eight years ago, I knew the season and preseason was busy, but I didn't realize how busy June was,” Evarts said. “It's the busiest month of all just because you're doing so much stuff, including running your own camps. It's just a lot, but it's a good thing, and it's good team bonding.”
Just this summer, Gibsonburg has also defeated Genoa, Perrysburg and Clay, which are all bigger schools. Margaretta is on the regular season schedule, and new SBC member Ottawa Hills has a talented player in Kendall Skiver (the state’s reigning Division VI Player of the Year who plays with Elly Evarts on the Michigan Storm Elite AAU team). Gibsonburg has also scheduled non-conference opponents such as Clyde, Norwalk, Eastwood and Genoa.
But with events like Midwest Live, Evarts got to see a small preview of how his team could match up against good competition.
“The college coaches see them in a different light with their high school team,” he said. “Most of these girls are obviously the best players on their teams, but I like it for two aspects. One, for promoting your players. If you have a prospective college player, it's a very good event. And also for our team, just playing solid basketball teams. Whether we won or lost, it was all about getting better and playing good competition.”
