Xcellent 25 National Rankings present by the Army National GuardA look at the country's top girls basketball teams. Canton McKinley High School junior Kierstan Bell was named Ohio Ms. Basketball Wednesday by a statewide media panel. Bell becomes the fifth two-time winner in Ohio history.
A 6-foot-1 junior, Bell averaged 33.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.0 steals, 3.9 assists and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor for the Pups (23-2), who lost to Wadsworth in the Division I district final. She set McKinley records for points in a game (53), season (833) and career (2,104).
Other finalists for the Ms. Basketball Award included Jacy Sheldon, Dublin Coffman; Jordan Horston, Columbus Africentric; Sammie Puisis, Mason; Alli Kern, Waterford; Lilly Ritz, Cambridge; Naz Hillmon, Gates Mills Gilmour Academy; Taylor Mikesell, Massillon Jackson; Zia Cooke, Toledo Rogers
Top 'Dog: McKinley's Bell repeats as Ms. BasketballBy Joe Scalzo, Canton Repository sports writer On Jan. 24, minutes before the biggest regular season basketball game of her career, Canton McKinley junior Kierstan Bell was standing for the national anthem when she started hearing whispers behind her.
"Everyone behind me was like, ‘LeBron's here, LeBron's here'" Bell said. "I was like, ‘You're joking.' And they said, ‘No, he's really here.'
"I wasn't trying to be rude and just look, so I turned my head a little bit and said, ‘I don't see him.' They said, ‘He's in camouflage.'"
That's when she spotted him, roughly 100 feet away from her in the top left corner of the Massillon Jackson High School bleachers. Bell was much easier to find that night, pouring in 38 points to go with eight rebounds and five steals in front of a crowd of 1,500 fans as the Bulldogs won 69-57 to clinch the Federal League title, avenge their only regular season loss and win Bell's final game against fellow Stark County standout Taylor Mikesell.
LeBron, meet "She-Bron."
"It was very exciting, but I told my team that we have to go out there and get the ‘dub,'" Bell said. "With one minute left, everyone was running and walking out to get their picture with him, but I didn't let it get to me, even though I wanted to so bad.
"That was the highlight of the year, for sure."
On Wednesday, she got a better one.
A year after becoming the first sophomore to win Ohio's Ms. Basketball, Bell became just the fifth girl to repeat, joining Garfield Heights Trinity's Vonda Ward (1990-91) and Semeka Randall (1996-97), Mason's Michelle Munoz (2000-01) and McKinley's Ameryst Alston (2011-12).
She's also on track to match James, the only player in Ohio history to win Mr. Basketball three times, which he did from 2001-03 at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.
"For her to be in the same breath as Ameryst, Michelle Munoz, Semeka Randall and Vonda Ward … I mean, those are legends of the game," said Bulldogs coach Pam Davis, who also coached Alston. "They played at such an elite, high level for a lot of years. I think that's legendary. I think her name will forever be in the record books with those types of athletes."
Bell, a 6-foot-1 junior, averaged 33.3 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.0 steals, 3.9 assists and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor for the Pups (23-2), who lost to Wadsworth in the Division I district final. She set McKinley records for points in a game (53), season (833) and career (2,104). Her 833 points also are a county record, while her career point total ranks No. 2 to Mikesell, a Maryland recruit who finished her career with 2,175.
"There was a lot of pressure this year," Bell said. "This (winning twice) would mean a lot. It means God gave me a gift and allowed me to perform the way I do.
"But it's not just about me. It's about God and family and community and helping kids. We had a little girl who came to practices all the time and they were like, ‘Who's your favorite basketball player?' She said me and it was so cute. It's amazing how the things you do can impact other people's lives."
Bell now has the chance to impact someone else's program. She's ranked No. 4 nationally in her class by ESPN — the highest of any girl in Ohio — and already has more than 30 Division I offers, including Ohio State, Michigan State, Notre Dame and UCLA. She plans to make her decision after her AAU season ends this spring.
Regardless of her college choice, Bell wants to make at least one more trip to Columbus — for next year's girls state tournament. After losing to eventual champion Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame in last year's state semifinals, this year's early exit still stings.
"We took our loss, but next year we're going to come back and fight harder than ever," Bell said. "Everyone thought we should have gotten it (a championship) this year, but things happen and you can only learn from it and get better. You're going to take losses in life. You just have to bounce back."
Past Ohio Ms. Basketball Ohio winners2018 – Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley, junior
2017 – Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley, sophomore
2016 – Jensen Caretti, Hannibal River, senior
2015 – Hallie Thome, Chagrin Falls, senior
2014 – Kelsey Mitchell, Cin. Princeton, senior
2013 – Ashley Morrissette, Twinsburg, senior
2012 – Ameryst Alston, Canton McKinley, senior
2011 – Ameryst Alston, Canton McKinley, junior
2010 – Natasha Howard, Tol. Waite, senior
2009 – Kendall Hackney, Cin. Mount Notre Dame, senior
2008 – Amber Gray, West Chester Lakota West, senior
2007 – Jantel Lavender, Cleveland Central Catholic, senior
2006 – Tyra Grant, Youngstown Ursuline, senior
2005 – Maria Getty, Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, senior
2004 – Mel Thomas, Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, senior
2003 – Brittany Hunter, Columbus Brookhaven, senior
2002 – Barbara Turner, Cleveland East Tech, senior
2001 – Michelle Munoz, Mason, senior
2000 – Michelle Munoz, Mason, junior
1999 – (TIE) Kaayla Chones, Eastlake North, senior; LaToya Turner, Pickerington, senior
1998 – Tamika Williams, Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, senior
1997 – Semeka Randall, Garfield Hts. Trinity, senior
1996 – Semeka Randall, Garfield Hts. Trinity, junior
1995 – Beth Ostendorf, Pickerington, senior
1994 – Na'Sheema Hillmon, Garfield Hts. Trinity, senior
1993 – Marlene Stollings, Beaver Eastern, senior
1992 – Katie Smith, Logan, senior
1991 – Vonda Ward, Garfield Hts. Trinity, senior
1990 – Vonda Ward, Garfield Hts. Trinity, junior
1989 – Carol Madsen, Reading, senior
1988 – Janet Haneberg, Cincinnati Seton, senior
Notable
Won as junior and also two-time winner (5): Vonda Ward, Garfield Heights. Trinity (1990, 1991); Semeka Randall, Garfield Heights Trinity (1996, 1997); Michelle Munoz, Mason (2000, 2001), Ameryst Alston, Canton McKinley (2011, 2012), Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley (2017, 2018)
Won as sophomore (1): Kierstan Bell, Canton McKinley (2017)
Co-winners (1): 1999 - Kaayla Chones, Eastlake North and LaToya Turner, Pickerington
DIVISIONS I & II ALL-OHIO TEAMS
DIVISIONS III & IV ALL-OHIO TEAMS
