Members of the All-Thumb girls basketball first team for 2014-2015 include, from left, Megan Guitar of Croswell-Lexington, Skye Willer of Brown City, Sam Ewald of Unionville-Sebewaing Area, Jenna Boyl of Kingston, Brooke Krueger of Sandusky and Reyna Frost of Reese.
By Tom Gilchrist
Sports Editor
They’re six seniors who took center stage — sometimes against each other — this past season, but members of the All-Thumb girls basketball first team joined together in the Bad Axe High School cafetorium last month following their selection by the Thumb Sports Writers Association.
The first team featured three players from the Advertiser’s coverage area: Reyna Frost of Reese, Sam Ewald of Unionville-Sebewaing Area and Jenna Boyl of Kingston.
Others joining the first team include Megan Guitar of Croswell-Lexington, Brooke Krueger of Sandusky and Skye Willer of Brown City.
Frost, a 6-foot-1-inch guard/forward, was the unanimous choice as Player of the Year by media members from Tuscola, Huron and Sanilac counties. The group includes representatives of newspapers, radio stations and Internet radio websites.
As a freshman, Frost won the All-Thumb Defensive Player of the Year award, and the sports writers selected her for that honor again this season.
“My freshman year, I was surprised that I got the Defensive Player of the Year (award),” Frost said. “Looking back at it now, and going to Player of the Year, I realized how much hard work I’ve put in and how much it’s paid off. A lot of it has to do with my teammates — I’ve had great teammates over the years.”
Frost has received a scholarship to play basketball for Central Michigan University next year. In her senior year at Reese, Frost averaged 21.5 points and 14 rebounds per game. She also averaged 5.7 blocked shots, 4.1 steals and 3.4 assists per contest.
USA 5-foot-7-inch senior guard Sam Ewald joins Frost on the first team. Ewald’s Patriots reached the Class C regional finals this season after defeating Reese in the district semifinals. USA coach Lindsay Bitzer was named All-Thumb Coach of the Year this season, edging out Kingston coach Jay Green who finished second in the voting.
Ewald scored an average of 12.0 points per game while collecting 5.2 rebounds per contest and making 3.5 steals per game. She also dished out 2.4 assists per game.
Kingston 5-foot-7-inch guard Jenna Boyl made the first team after helping lead the Cardinals to the Class C state quarterfinals. Boyl averaged 11.8 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, 4.4 assists per game and 2.3 steals per game.
Sandusky 5-foot-8-inch guard Brooke Krueger made the first team as well. Krueger averaged 10.3 points and 3.7 assists per game. She also collected 2.7 steals and 2.7 rebounds per contest for the Redskins.
Brown City landed 5-foot-9-inch guard Skye Willer on the first team. Willer scored 12.6 points per game, grabbing an average of five rebounds per contest, along with 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game.
Croswell-Lexington forward/center Megan Guitar joins the first team after averaging 12.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game for the Pioneers. The 5-foot-10-inch Guitar also made 4.6 steals per game and averaged two assists per game.
The sports writers chose Croswell-Lexington, coached by Darren Bongard, as the Thumb girls basketball Team of the Year. The Pioneers finished with an overall record of 17-4 and won the Blue Water Area Conference championship.
Haley Nelson of Sandusky won the Sixth Girl of the Year award for her efforts coming off the bench to spark the Redskins this season.
ALL-THUMB GIRLS BASKETBALL
FIRST TEAM
Reyna Frost (Reese)
Megan Guitar (Croswell-Lexington)
Sam Ewald (USA)
Skye Willer (Brown City)
Brooke Krueger (Sandusky)
Jenna Boyl (Kingston)
SECOND TEAM
Hailey Murray (Millington)
Haley Cross (Marlette)
MacKenzie Kelly (Marlette)
Mariah Cook (Laker)
Emily Pawlowski (Harbor Beach)
Jessica Kursinsky (Sandusky)
HONORABLE MENTION
Cassidy MacGuire (Kingston)
Sarah Savage (Kingston)
Rebecca Huizar (Vassar)
Maddie Coulter (Reese)
Melissa Cockerill (Caro)
Haley Trickey (Millington)
Marisa Morton (USA)
Emily Wagner (Akron-Fairgrove)
Jamie Weber (Harbor Beach)
Rebecca Oden (Croswell-Lexington)
Kaitlyn Kociba (Bad Axe)
Jenna Genoff (Deckerville)
Keegan Nelson (Sandusky)
Brittany Hatfield (Laker)
Katelyn Frostic (Carsonville-Port Sanilac)
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Croswell-Lexington
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Reyna Frost (Reese)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lindsay Bitzer (USA)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Reyna Frost (Reese)
SIXTH GIRL OF THE YEAR
Haley Nelson (Sandusky)