Last year was one to remember for the Bethel girls’ basketball team. No they didn’t win a state championship, but they did reach their very important goal for the kids...they reached double figures in victories.

After several down years, the Bees strung together some solid victories, and competed in several of their games. One of the reasons was the emergence of a presence who opened some eyes last year, and now wants to take her game to another level.

Alaina Hawthorn, a junior for the Bees, is a three-sport athlete at Bethel and on the basketball court, saw her game progress all year before ending the year as one of the top players in the Cross County Conference. The talented wing player also plays volleyball and track in high school, but has taking quite a liking to the world of basketball.

Basketball is my favorite sport,” she said. “We had some fun games this year where we came from behind and won. Our high school program is in a rebuilding phase and only won one game three years ago, so it was great to help take our team to four wins my freshman year and 10 wins last year. We look to win even more next year.”

“I was also excited when I reached my goals of averaging more than 10 points a game and having a 20 point game.”

She has received a lot of support from her family when it comes to guiding her toward sports.

“My parents and brothers have all guided me into sports and I don’t know what I would do without them,” Hawthorn said. “They all played sports and have encouraged and coached me at times over the years.”

She expanded on her thoughts about the improvement that the basketball team made last year, and is focused on taking her game and the teams’ success to another level.

“My main goal for the upcoming basketball season is to keep improving,” she said. “Not just my individual skills but growing as a team and continue the success we've had the past two years. We look to be better than .500 as a team and hopefully be one of the top teams in the league.”

During the off-season, Hawthorn is working to become even a better player, and she has the tools to become one of the rising stats in the conference when the season tips off in November.

“Right now is my off-season so I am really focusing on all of my weak points and just being the best I can be,” she said. “I'm in sports all-year-round but when I'm not, I go to all the conditioning and training for all other sports, currently about six hours a day six days a week. I also hope to play in some tournaments with a Dayton Metro team in July.”

While she wants to see her game grow the next two years, she wants to possibly take it to the next level.

“I have always dreamed of going to a huge Division One college, like Ohio State, but know I won’t be able to play any sports there, so I am still figuring out how much my academic plans would change if I'm able to play a sport at a smaller college.”

Hawthorn was second-team all-conference for basketball and honorable mention for volleyball. She also is a part of a leadership group at Bethel that put on a week of service for the Bethel students.

After high school, Hawthorn wants to get involved in architecture and plan on majoring in Architectural Design with a possible minor in Spanish.

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