GREENE COUNTY — Three area Division IV girls high school basketball standouts, and Legacy Christian Academy coach Mark Combs, received All-Ohio recognition on Tuesday, March 12 by an Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association panel.
Combs, who was also the Associated Press Southwest Ohio District Coach of the Year, led the LCA Knights to the Metro Buckeye Conference title, and a Division IV district championship as part of a 25-3 campaign. The Knights bowed out of the D-IV tournament in the regional semifinal to the state’s No. 1-ranked Fort Loramie, on March 7.
Two LCA players — Emily Hess and Kathleen Ahner — and Cedarville’s Maggie Coe also earned All-State recognition.
Hess, the Metro Buckeye Conference’s co-Player of the Year (with Yellow Springs freshman Angie Smith) earned first-team league and district honors after averaging 15.9 points per contest during the season. The 5-foot-10 sophomore forward also led the MBC in field goal percentage, hitting 46.7 percent of her shots. She led the Knights in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks, field goal percentage and three-point percentage.
Coe and Ahner both received Honorable Mention recognition.
Ahner, a 5-7 sophomore guard, averaged 11 points per game this season for the Knights. A second-team All-district selection, Ahner was a first-team MBC selection with Hess and Knights teammate Emily Riddle. She was third in the conference in assists (4.0) and finished fifth in conference field goal percentage with a 41.2-percent shooting touch.
Cedarville’s Coe closed out her senior year atop the Ohio Heritage Conference scoring lists with a 21.7 points-per-game average. The 5-6 guard was also second in the OHC in steals with 3.4 per contest. The Indians lost to Fort Loramie in the District final, March 2, to finish at 19-7 overall.
Coe will continue her basketball playing career at the collegiate level at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, just northeast of Columbus.
On Wednesday, March 13 the Division I and II All-Ohio teams will be announced. The Ohio Ms. Basketball Award will be announced Thursday morning, March 14.
