GREENE COUNTY — The No. 1-ranked team in Ohio has one talented Carroll Patriot receiving All-Ohio honors. Senior standout Elisabeth Bush was named to the Division II Girls Basketball All-Ohio team by a panel of Ohio sportswriters, and the accolades were truly deserved.
Bush led the Patriots during the regular season in scoring with a 13.5 points per game average, she was second on the team in rebounding (4.5 per game), third in assists (2.5), second in steals (1.7 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (46.0 percent), sixth in free-throw percentage, and third in 3-point percentage (43.3 percent). All solid numbers, and all very much appreciated, I’m sure, by coach Cecelia Grosselin as well as Bush’s teammates.
To those disgruntled Carroll High School girls basketball fans who might’ve expected more Patriots among the All-Ohio ranks, please take solace in knowing that the post-season All-District and All-Ohio teams are loaded with big-number players.
Player of the Year Zia Cooke, of defending Division II state champion Toledo Rogers, averaged 22.5 points a game, and she wasn’t the highest scorer on the All-Ohio first team! Youngstown Ursuline’s Dayshanette Harris averaged 28.3.
As talented as she is, Bush isn’t a dominant go-to player at Carroll, because she doesn’t have to be. Carroll is a multi-talented team with several weapons in its arsenal. For that reason, Bush’s numbers don’t fly off of a stats sheet.
With the workmanlike, mix of talent on the Carroll team, Bush’s numbers didn’t have to.
During the regular season, for example, Bush led the Patriots in scoring 10 times, shared scoring honors with junior Julia Keller — the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed Co-Player of the Year with Bush — for one game. Keller led the team in scoring on eight other occasions, and sophomore Megan Leraas was the scoring leader in three other games.
So far in the postseason, Keller has led the Patriots in scoring four times, junior guard Allie Stefanek led in a lopsided win over Eaton, and Bush led in the win over Bloom Carroll.
Even while the Carroll players probably understand why there’s not more Patriots on the All-Ohio team, they’ll probably use it as motivation at the state Final Four tournament this week.
Carroll opens up against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, an unranked 18-9 team that has developed a hot hand at the right time. The Fighting Irish have won seven straight. Lanae Riley (16 points per game) and Maria Dobson (15 ppg) are Special Mention and Honorable Mention All-Ohio picks.
The Carroll-SVSM contest is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, Wednesday, March 14 at Ohio State University’s Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus. The winner will take on either Thornville Sheridan (25-2) or Toledo Rogers (also 25-2) in the state title game on Saturday.
The Patriots defeated No. 5 Sheridan back on Dec. 29 in Thornville. Kendyl Mick (9.3 points per game) was named a second-team All-Ohio pick along with Bush. Sheridan will play defending champ and No. 4-ranked Rogers in the other state semifinal contest on Wednesday. Rogers had two players listed on the All-Ohio first team — Cooke (22.5 ppg) and Madison Royal-Davis (18 ppg).
