Local players honored on Associated Press All-State girls basketball team

By Craig Beilfuss
LocalSportsJournal.com

Newaygo’s Jaxi Long was named a Division 2 girls basketball first-team all-stater by The Associated Press.

Long was among a strong contingent of area players to be honored by the AP.

Another Newaygo standout, senior Emmerson Goodin, was an honorable mention selection.

Long and Goodin led Newaygo to a 22-2 overall record. Long led the Lions scoring 19.7 ppg and Goodin averaged 15.7 ppg.

“I am very proud of both Jaxi and Emmerson,” Newaygo coach Nathan Thomasma said. “Both girls have earned all the awards that they receive.

“Both girls have not only been great players over the past four years, but they have also been a joy to coach and be around,” Thomasma said. “Both girls have worked extremely hard on the court and both girls are great students too. They both take coaching very well and are great leaders.”

Jennifer Judge a Spring Lake senior, was also an honorable mention selection. Judge averaged 9 points per game and led the Lakers to a 14-9 record.

“Jennifer is the epitome of what it means to be a high school student-athlete with her 4.0 GPA,” said Spring Lake coach Rich Hyde. “We will have a hard time replacing what Jennifer Judge has done for our program these past 4 years.”

Ludington senior RyAnn Rohrer was another honorable mention selection in Division 2. Rohrer scored 11 points per game and led the Orioles to a 20-6 record and a spot in the state semifinals.

“She’s an amazing player who really did everything for our team,” said Ludington coach Warren Stowe. “She was a team leader who scored, rebounded, defended, played and defended all 5 positions and often was our primary ball handler. For those that know her, this isn’t a surprise, she is an incredibly hard worker who puts a ton of time into her game.”

Also named honorable mention was Montague sophomore guard Kendall Osborne. Osborne helped lead the Wildcats to a 17-5 record this season and averaged 11.4 ppg.

“She had a great season,” Montague coach Nick Thaler said. “For her to do some of the things she did for us was remarkable. She had to learn a completely new position than what she was playing last year.

“She is an awesome kid and teammate. She could have scored more for us, but always deferred to the other players on the team, which in turn, made us a better team.

“Kendall can build in this season and become even more dangerous. Her potential is very high and in two years it is scary thinking of what type of player she could be.”