SHS girls hoops hopes to feel different emotion in tourney
The Smithville High girls basketball team wrapped up a 19-3 regular season on Feb. 6 by clinching the outright Wayne County Athletic League championship. Smithville enters the OHSAA tournament as the favorite to capture the Division VI Norwayne District title.
There’s no reason to rewatch it.
Every Smithville girls basketball player and coach remembers what happened a year ago all too well.
Over the course of three seconds, the Smithies traded very realistic visions of cutting down the nets to celebrate a district championship on the Wooster High School floor for agony, as Chippewa’s Bree Regan swished a 24-foot hook shot at the buzzer to claim the title instead.
“That was definitely heartbreaking,” Smithville senior Madi Singer said. “It’s motivated us in every way this year. We know that every play counts.”
It’s not something the 19-3 Smithies plan on feeling again. Led by seniors Singer and Aly Wickens, along with breakout junior Leah Keib, Smithville has its sights set in making memories of a different kind this tournament season, which begins Feb. 15 against Campbell Memorial.
Smithville enters the OHSAA tournament as the favorite to capture the Division VI Norwayne District title. The outright Wayne County Athletic League champions — outlasting defending champion Chippewa and an up-and-coming Norwayne team — are a real contender to march deep into the tournament.
On paper a season like this didn’t seem likely for Smithville. It lost three starters from last season including back-to-back WCAL Player of the Year Naomi Keib and do-it-all forward Cammi Wickens.
Singer had proven herself as one of the best guards around, but Aly Wickens had played a more complementary role as a starter in years past and Leah Keib never had to play a big role.
Despite playing through a back injury that might debilitate others, Singer has been one of the top players in the WCAL, piloting the offense as the team’s point guard and go-to scorer, scoring 12.7 points per game while dishing out 2.9 assists.
Things clicked for Aly Wickens and Leah Keib in the summer when they fully realized their older sisters were no longer on the court to help them out. It was their turn, whether they were ready or not.
“Madi (was the only one scoring),” Aly Wickens said. “We were just there. I think we realized, ‘Oh shoot, our seniors aren’t here. We have to step up. We have to drive more. Even if it’s not scoring, it’s at least creating plays for other people to score.’”
Turns out they were ready.
Aly Wickens has been Smithville’s most complete player in many ways, averaging 12.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists and serving as a disruptive force for a more than disruptive defense.
“Aly’s just an energy giver,” Smithville coach Eric Nickles said. “That kid gets rebounds where you think no one can get to, and there’s Aly. That’s been her whole life, her whole career.”
Meanwhile, Leah Keib has blossomed into a real offensive weapon a year removed from coming off the bench, scoring 11.3 points per game and showcasing a versatility as a scorer every team craves.
“Her growth has probably been better than any player from one year to the next that I’ve had,” Nickles said. “We’ve really relied on her. She can score inside. We post her up a lot. She’s our leading 3-point shooter. She can score a lot of different ways at all three levels.”
Add in fellow starters Kiersten Ross and Faith Lengacher and Beka Keib and Reagan Gherian off the bench and Smithville has a rotation that can hang with anyone in Div. VI, especially with a team-wide embrace of Nickles’ defense-first mentality.
Now there’s only one thing left to do — cut down the nets.
Perhaps more than once.