Published: April 28, 2008 09:57 am         

DeGross voted conference player of year

Junior guard led Allegany to first AMAC title, state tourney

CUMBERLAND - DeTonia DeGross, who led Allegany to the conference championship and 24-win season, was voted the Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference's girls basketball Player of the Year by the league's head coaches.

DeGross, a junior, is joined in the first team by teammate Jenna Mathews, conference scoring champion Kaitlynn Fratz of Northern, Diana Dayton of Frankfort, Holly Williams of Mountain Ridge and Shayna Sweitzer of Southern.

Second-team honors went to Torie Bosley, Brittany Boyce and Kerry Conroy of Southern, Cali Alkire of Hampshire, Brianna Twigg of Allegany and Megan Wiley of Northern.

Honorable mention went to Elizabeth Getty of Allegany, Cassie Donahue of Fort Hill, Jenna Delaney of Mountain Ridge, Kasie Fratz of Northern, Mariah Miller and Aira Whiteman of Frankfort, Lesley Swisher of Hampshire and Julia Ludwick of Keyser.

* DeGross, a quick 5-foot-2 junior guard, helped the Campers run away with the AMAC title, finishing 13-1 with a 3 1/2 game lead over runner-up Southern.

Allegany went 24-3 overall and won the AMAC, Cumberland City and Class 1A West Region championships.

DeGross was the leading scorer on a balanced Allegany attack, and finished 13th in the league in scoring with 9.9 points per game. She ranked seventh in foul shooting at 67 percent, making 33 of 49 chances.

A strong all-around player who was also first-team All-City, DeGross averaged 10.5 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals for the 27-game season. She shot 45 percent from the field.

* Mathews, a 5-foot-6 junior forward, averaged 8.5 points per game in league play, and was the conference's fifth-best foul shooter, making 30 of 42 shots for 71 percent.

For the season, Mathews averaged 10 points and seven rebounds. Also first-team All-City, Mathews was seventh in the area in foul shooting at 74 percent (61 for 82).

* Fratz made a huge impact in her first year at Northern, which went 15-6 overall and 8-5 in the league. The Huskies were the only team to beat Allegany in conference play, 43-36.

The freshman guard led the conference in scoring with a 17.5 average, and was second in three-point goals with 22 for 1.69 per game, and sixth in foul shooting at 71 percent (52 for 73).

For the season, she averaged 16.9 points, three rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.5 assists per game. She was among the area leaders in foul shooting, at 72 percent, and three-point goals, with 37.

* Dayton, a junior forward at Frankfort, was runner-up in the conference scoring race with a 14.3 average. She was 11th in foul shooting, making 44 of 68 for 64 percent.

For the season, Dayton was fifth in the area in scoring at 15.2 per game, shot 67 percent from the foul line, and averaged 9.4 rebounds, 4.2 steals, 2.4 blocked shots and two assists in leading the Falcons to a 12-8 record and third place in the conference at 9-5.

* Williams, a 5-foot-10 senior forward, led Mountain Ridge to an 11-11 season that included a 6-8 mark in the conference. She finished sixth in the AMAC in scoring with an 11.6 average, fifth in three-point goals with 13 and 1.08 per game, and ninth in foul shooting, making 41 of 63 chances for 65 percent.

For the season, Williams averaged 12.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and two steals per game. She was also among the area leaders in foul shooting, making 72 of 107 for 67 percent, and three-point goals, with 26.

* Sweitzer, a 5-foot-9 junior, finished seventh in the conference in scoring with an 11.4 average, and was runner-up in foul shooting, making 39 of 51 free throws for 76.4 percent in leading Southern to an 18-5 overall season and second place in the conference at 9-4.

For the season Sweitzer, one of eight underclassmen on the Southern roster, averaged 12 points, four rebounds and two steals per game. She also had two of the top shooting percentages in the area, hitting on 53 percent from the field and 74 percent from the free throw line.