It was a very successful season for four area basketball players, as Bethel and Tecumseh each placed two players on the all-Ohio teams, selected by a select panel of sportswriters from each district in Ohio.

Bethel senior Ryan Rose, who has verballed to Capital University, was named to the Division Three first-team all-state, while senior Caleb South, uncommitted as of yet, was selected to the honorable mention all-state team.

From Tecumseh, junior Corinne Thomas was named to the girls Division 1 third-team, and junior Presley Griffitts was voted to the honorable mention team.

Rose became the main threat for the Bees this season for most of the season with South getting injured. Bethel coach Brett Kopp said Rose fit right into the position of a leader.

“He excelled in his role this year, Ryan is one of the best pure shooters in the area,” Kopp said. “He is more than a shooter though. Ryan has the ability to attack the rim, and has good vision to get his teammates involved. He plays smart on the defensive end.”

“Ryan has a tremendous work ethic and is a gym rat. This is a great honor for him, Ryan will continue his academic and basketball career at Capital University in Columbus, he will contribute for Coach Goodwin immediately and leave his mark on the Crusaders program like he did ours.”

South only had the chance to play in limited games due to his ankle injury early in the season, and knee injury at tournament time. Even with his limited time, South made his mark this season. In a tough road game at Tri Village, he scored 46 points to keep the Bees perfect conference record in tact with an overtime win.

“When Caleb came back from his first injury he was the dominate player everyone in the area has expected,” Kopp said. “We were at our best when he was healthy, and a top team in D3. He had his probably best game of his career against Carroll with 29 points 10 assists and 6 rebounds. He topped it off in our next game with 46 points and 5 assists in a CCC clinching game.”

“Caleb will go down in Bethel history as one of the two or three best players to wear green and white. A college is going to get a player with a knack of scoring the basketball and a work ethic that is outstanding.”

For the Tecumseh girls, Thomas blossomed into a player being recruited by several colleges, and has seen her grow.

“Corinne has really evolved into a total player,” Tecumseh coach Danielle Thomas said. “As a freshman she was simply an outside shooter that we very desperately needed that year, but now she can take it to the hole or post up, and then she can still kill you with her three-point shooting.”

“Her personal goals for this season were to become more efficient shooting outside and finishing around the rim, along with rebounding better. She is one of the best I’ve seen at moving without the ball to set her man up to score.”

As for Griffitts, she originally verballed to Bowling Green but has since reopened her recruiting when the coach was let go. The honorable mention all-Ohio player is multidimensional and Thomas said her athleticism will be a major factor in her success.

“Presley is one of the most athletic kids on the floor every night,” Thomas said. “Her passing abilities are impressive for a kid her age. Her length makes it very hard for opponents to pass the ball past her without her picking up a steal.”

“She’s a ball hawk at the top of our defenses we run. That’s where a lot of her offense comes from during the games because she’s so long and can jump really well to steal balls. She also has a great jump shot from the 15-foot range and she stops on a dime at any time to hit it.”