For at least 20 years, the girls’ basketball teams in Chenango County have boldly stated their merit on the floor as top-notch representatives of the game. Five teams this season finished with 14 or more wins and winning percentages better than 70 percent. Three teams won division titles, one claimed a league championship, two players were chosen to a team that selects only the best of Section IV...and there is more.
– Three-time All-Evening Sun All-Star, Hannah Runyon of Norwich, was named Section IV’s Class A Player of the Year, the first Norwich girl to earn that distinction.
– Tanya Barnes of G-MU surpassed 1,000 career points, just the third Raiders player to pass that total.
– Oxford’s Haley Witchella also crossed 1,000 career points, and her career mirrors Barnes’, although the style each plays is much different.
– Sherburne-Earlville seniors Caitlynn Adams and Bridget Irwin had large hands in the best three-year run of basketball success in the program’s history. The duo played on back-to-back league champions, and won 48 games over the past three years, more than any other local team.
As we did last year, we broke down our all-stars into a first and second team. We can safely conclude that every athlete on our all-star team was either an all-division or all-conference player in their own league.
On our squad are returning first-team all-stars Runyon, Witchella, Adams, and Irwin. Barnes and Bainbridge-Guilford’s Randi Conway make the jump from second team to first team.
Our second team all-star group includes first-timers Amanda Off of Unadilla Valley, Shania Vandermark of Bainbridge-Guilford; Kaitlin Gorton of Greene; Cassie Beaver of Sherburne-Earlville; and returning second-teamer, Bryn Loomis of Norwich.
This year’s all-star team was chosen with the aid of our area basketball coaches. The boys’ basketball all-stars will appear in an edition next week.
FIRST TEAM
(Players listed alphabetically)
Caitlynn Adams, S-E, 5-foot-8, senior
Bridget Irwin, S-E, 5-foot-7, senior
Over the past three seasons, Adams and Irwin have played on teams that won two Center State Conference division titles, and won 48 total games, the best string of victories for any players over a three-year span in school history. The duo is inexorably linked despite differing playing styles on the floor. Adams was more of an outside shooting threat with the ability to slash to the basket, whereas Irwin created most of her scoring opportunities in the low post. “They both did so many things well, and they always came through in the clutch,” said S-E third-year coach, Karen Mulligan. “If one was struggling, the other would always pick it up.” Adams led S-E in scoring at 13.6 points per game, while Irwin topped the team in rebounding and steals to go with 13.3 points per game. Neither was separated by more than a point in scoring over the past two seasons with each player taking turns as the leader. Irwin also added a pair of triple-doubles this season in points, rebounds, and steals. Adams banged in a team-high 26 three-pointers, and scoring 20 points or more three times. “I’ve had both of them for a long time,” Mulligan said, who coached her senior standouts for five straight years if you include junior varsity. “You could always rely on those two getting something done. Our style will probably change not having them around.”
Tanya Barnes, G-MU, 5-foot-6, sr.
In Barnes’ senior season, her longtime personal success on the basketball court was matched by team success as her Raiders captured their first Tri-Valley League championship since the 2006 season. Barnes won her second straight area scoring title finishing with 17.2 points per game, and she became just the third G-MU girl to cross the 1,000-point barrier. “She became a dynamic passer over the last couple of years,” said G-MU’s longtime coach, Jim Johnson. “She understood how the team concept worked and how to get kids a pass where they can catch and finish.” Barnes, clearly a capable scorer from any place, used her full-speed-ahead determination – and quickness – to get a large percentage of her points in the open floor. “Her speed was unbelievable, and her ability to go from the opening tip to the last horn was unmatched,” Johnson said.
Randi Conway, B-G, 5-foot-7, jr.
Conway asserted herself as the Bobcats’ unquestioned floor leader, and she shrugged off any remaining tentativeness in her game to become the hub of her team’s offense. Conway was remarkably consistent on offense scoring at least nine points in every game but one, she led the team with 109 assists, had 46 steals, and from the guard spot pulled down close to four rebounds a game. “She really took over a leadership role for us this season, and down the stretch she became more offensive-minded,” said B-G coach Bob Conway. “She knew she had to score, and she did a nice job.” One of Conway’s best all-around games came against Afton when she had 14 points, 11 assists, seven steals, and six rebounds.
Hannah Runyon, Norwich, 5-foot-9, sr.
Runyon was the most valued player on the best local team in the area, and she was deservedly chosen as Section IV’s Class A player of the year. More accolades are likely to come for the Tornado senior, who was second in area scoring at 17 points per tilt. She added a team-high 7.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game for Norwich, who reached the Section IV championship game. “She is the kind of point guard a coach can only hope to have,” said Norwich coach Josh Bennett. “One thing about her that you see in all great players is her competitiveness and refusal to lose. She wanted to win every game at all costs. Runyon was the only girl in Chenango County this year to score in double figures in every game she played. She topped 20 points six times, and had a career-high 27 points in a win over Seton Catholic Central – the first Norwich win over the Saints in several years.
Haley Witchella, Oxford, 6-foot, sr.
For four years, Witchella filled the stat sheets in become the school’s second all-time leading scorer, and the top rebounder over the past 11 years. Witchella finished this season with a career-best 16.1 points a game, and she averaged 9.9 rebounds, four steals, and 2.7 blocked shots per game. She surpassed 1,000 career points finishing with 1,130, while also pulling down nearly 800 rebounds, blocking over 150 shots, and finishing with over 225 steals. Witchella was also justly named to the all-Section IV team. “She can compete at that type of level, and to be named among the best in the section is pretty prestigious,” said Oxford coach, Chris Palmer. “We’ll be a different team without her. We won’t have that stopper and backbone of our defense.” Witchella scored 20 points or more six times, and had a career-high 30 points in a victory over Unadilla Valley.
