Difference makers
One plays for a big school, the other for a smaller one.
One's team enjoyed a deep playoff run, the other's failed to qualify.
But when it came to determining the Butler Eagle's Girls Basketball Player of the Year honors this season, Butler junior Julia Baxter and Karns City sophomore LeeAnn Gibson could not be separated.
Thus, the two forwards and top two scorers in the area share the Player of the Year distinction for the 2013-14 season.
“It's all about the team for LeeAnn,” Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer said. “She's a competitive girl who doesn't like to lose at anything.”
The 5-foot-9 Gibson led the county with 16.6 points per game. She also averaged 8.1 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 2.3 assists per contest.
Karns City finished 25-2 this season, winning the District 9 Class AA title before bowing out in the PIAA tourney's second round. Gibson had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the Gremlins' season-ending 64-40 loss to Bishop Canevin.
“Nobody cared who scored the points on our team ... We just wanted to win,” Gibson said. “When our guards were hitting shots from outside, it made things easier for me inside.”
The 6-foot-0 Baxter averaged 16.2 points, 11 rebounds and four steals per game for a Golden Tornado team that missed the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs despite an 11-9 overall record.
Butler and Class AA Chartiers-Houston (12-9) were the only WPIAL teams to miss the playoffs with a winning record.
“It was frustrating, not going, but it tells us what we need to work on next year to get to the playoffs,” Baxter said.
Butler coach Dorothea Epps lauded the physical efforts of Baxter inside.
“She's just so strong in there,” the coach said. “When she gets the ball down low, it's either a basket or a foul.
“Last year, Julia had Mackenzie O'Donnell (now a freshman center at La Roche) as a buffer. This year, it was all her and she was triple-teamed at times.”
Gibson and Baxter both return to their respective teams next season — with plenty of company. Karns City and Butler both had only one senior on this year's roster.“We played AAU ball last summer, but on different teams,” Gibson said of the Gremlins. “This summer, we're going to try to play for the same team and stay together.”Kerschbaumer wasn't surprised by the productive play from his sophomore.“Not at all,” he said. “LeeAnn came on toward the end of her freshman year and during the offseason, she worked hard to get stronger.“All she wants to do is get better and improve her game. She can do a lot of things on the floor and she works well within the framework of what we're trying to do as a team.“Numerous times, in the third and fourth quarters of close games, LeeAnn's competitive fire would come out and spark the other girls,” Kerschbaumer added.Epps said Baxter will be challenged even more next season.“She'll draw the defensive attention from the start of the year and teams figured out she likes to go left,” Butler's coach said. “Julia will have to adapt to that.”Baxter welcomes the challenge.“I like to be challenged,” she said. “I'm already preparing for it.”Baxter is participating in a once-a-week basketball drill to improve her ball handling and hand-eye coordination. She competes in the high jump in track and field, qualifying for the state meet last year with a leap of five feet, four inches.“I'm working on improving my vertical jump and, obviously, the high jump helps me there,” Baxter said. “I hope to hit 5-7 this spring.“Before every game this year, I wrote down my goals of how many points, rebounds and blocked shots I could get that night. I reached that goal most of the time.”All that's left is the playoffs — something Gibson hopes to expand on as well.“We did well this year,” Gibson said. “Maybe next year, we can take it a little bit farther.”
