DIGITALSPORTS
2007-08 ALL-CARROLL COUNTY GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAM
 

Coach of the Year:  Bernie Koontz, Winters Mill

Player of the Year:  Cassie Cooke, Winters Mill
 

COACH OF THE YEAR

Bernie Koontz, Winters Mill:
Koontz guided Winters Mill (25-1) to a school-record season. The Falcons blitzed through the regular season undefeated, one of only two metro high school teams to do so, along with the team they would later face in the state semi-finals. After a very strong start, every team was gunning for them, wanting to be the team that knocked Winters Mills from the ranks of the unbeaten. But the Falcons kept winning, stamping themselves as one of the top teams in the history of Carroll County girls’ basketball. They won big (seven games by 20 points or more), and they also won close games as well (seven games by seven points or less). Winters Mill won both the Carroll County and the Monocacy Valley Athletic League (MVAL) Blue Ridge conference titles.

It’s often said that it’s hard to beat a comparable team three times in the same season. But Koontz and team had to do just that in the region play-offs – and they had to do it not once, not twice, but three times. Winters Mill defeated Walkersville (61-53, after winning by one and 17 earlier), ousted Century (61-44, after winning by 14 and four earlier) and completed the trifecta with a win over Middletown (67-58, a team they had beaten by four and five earlier) in the region finals. That win put Winters Mill into the state Final Four at UMBC.

In a classic match-up of two undefeated teams in the semi’s, the Falcons came up just short, losing by a point (54-53) to eventual state-champ Mount Hebron in a game where one shot, one free throw, one turnover, one play, one call could have put WM into the championship game. Still, 25-1 … not a bad season at all.
 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Cassie Cooke, Winters Mill, JR, guard:
As part of the three-headed dragon that made the Falcons run, along with Jordan Neville and Jen Peters, Cooke was the one that made the team go, controlling the point position. The multi-talented athlete could have scored more points, but involving her teammates made Winters Mill a better team, a more multi-dimensional and harder-to-defend team. She averaged 12.6 points, and led Carroll County in both assists (7.1) AND steals (5.7). She even finished second in the County in rebounds (9.0) … her 13-9-7-6 is simply an awesome stat line for a point-guard. She also shot 36% from behind the arc and 74% from the free throw line.

Cooke, a transfer from Westminster, could score from outside, drive to the basket or post up smaller guards. She really showed her skills in the 67-59 region finals win over Middletown, simply shredding the defense with continuous drives to the basket, and scoring a game-high 26 points. She followed that up with a 19-point game versus Mount Hebron, again leading all scorers. She was a fighter until the end. With Hebron in the lead and her team trailing by four points with seconds ticking away, she took several dribbles and swished a 40-footer with 1.5 seconds to play, bringing her team to within one.
 

FIRST TEAM

Caitlin Bach, North Carroll, SO, forward:
Led the County in scoring and rebounding as a freshman last year, and picked up where she left off. She repeated the impressive double-double, leading the County in both points (15.2) and rebounds (9.7). She posted 13 double-doubles for North Carroll.

Cassie Cooke, Winters Mill, JR, guard:
Player of the Year, see above.

Kelsey Franklin, South Carroll, SR, guard:
Led the Cavaliers and was fourth in the County in scoring at 13.8 points per game, along with pulling in 5.1 rebounds. She is a tough defensive player and an excellent free throw shooter.

Stefanie McLallen, Century, JR, guard:
Led Century in scoring (13.5) and was third overall in the County.  McLallen also led all County players in three-point shooting at 46.3% and was second in free throw shooting at 79.2%. She was also sixth in steals, with 3.3 per game.

Jordan Neville, Winters Mill, SR, guard:
Returned to the court after missing all of last season with a knee injury. Part of the Winters Mill scoring trio, along with Peters and Cooke, Neville was in the top five in four important categories: averaged 13.8 points (fourth in County), 7.5 rebounds (fourth), 4.7 assists (third) and 3.4 steals (fifth). She showed how much the off-season work paid off in the season-opener for WM, posting a triple-double while playing the point with Cooke out of the line-up. One of the top pure shooters in the Metro area (led County with 52.3 FG%), she scored 11 in the loss to Hebron, and went 7-8 from the line.

Jen Peters, Winters Mill, SR, guard:
The third, and sometimes overlooked, of the Winters Mill scoring machine, Peters scored 13.3 points per game and shot 45.7% from the field and 72.7% from the line. With teams at times keying on her teammates, Peters hit numerous big shots late in games, especially in a come-from-behind win over Century, hitting a basket to tie and then a three-pointer to take the lead. Peters also had a big game with 24 points in the region semi-final win over Walkersville. She posted a solid double-double in the Final Four loss to Hebron, with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Katie Schwarzmann, Century, JR, guard:
A solid all-around guard for Century, she averaged 10.2 points, 5.7 assists  (second in County) and 5.1 steals (third in County).
 

SECOND TEAM

Megan Bach, North Carroll, SR, guard

Jen Nevius, Francis Scott Key, SO, guard

Caitlyn Poff, Liberty, SR, forward

Nicole Ruane, Century, JR, guard

Cinthia Ruiz, North Carroll, JR, guard

Cyndi Scurci, South Carroll, SO, guard

Lauren Tracy, Francis Scott Key, SR, guard

 

Note:

Carroll County is not part of the DigitalSports area of coverage as of yet; however, since my Girls Top 20 poll included teams from Carroll, I decided to add a Digital version of an All-County team.  My apologies for the delay in posting – I experienced a computer crash a couple months ago and lost numerous files and pictures.

Selections were made by Mike Buchanan after consulting with area coaches and fans. Selections are NOT based on just points and statistics. Offense is obviously easier to quantify, but also factored in are: defense, team-play, impact in big games and overall success of a player’s team, in-season AND post-season. If any errors to edit or additional stats to enter, please contact me:

mbuchanan@digitalsports.com