Before we get to the Outside the Huddle All-Area Team and our end-of-year awards, Bounce wanted to take some time and take a last glance at area conferences and hand out some league-specific hardware.
First up is the ACAC.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Renna Schwieterman, Jay County
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Schwieterman carved out the best career of any player we’ve seen in the ACAC in quite some time and her senior season was nothing short of sensational. Everything you could ask of a player, she gave back in droves and led the Patriots to another dominant tenure in the conference. And if we are being honest, she is one of the biggest snubs from the recently announced Indiana All-Stars.
She was, however, named IBCA Large School All-State in the process while leading the Patriots to a 23-2 record.
HONORABLE MENTION: Macy Pries, South Adams; Taylor Kneubuhler, Woodlan
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Renna Schwieterman, Jay County
See, we don’t normally double up here, but it was relevant in the ACAC. The MVP is different than the best player in so many ways. The MVP is just that: the most valuable to their team.
But who can stand in the way of saying that Schwieterman was as valuable as it gets to any team in the ACAC. Sure there were other standouts, but without Schwieterman, the conference as a whole would look different. She changed every game and dictated the entire outcome of the conference.
PFW is getting a star next season and someone who has shown that she can contribute just about any. way that you ask her to.
HONORABLE MENTION: Gaby Bilbrey, Jay County; Macy Pries, South Adams
BREAKOUT PLAYER: Taylor Kneubuhler, Woodlan
There have been a lot of really good players lately for Woodlan and we knew they had some of that talent back this season. But for Kneubuhler, her rise was pretty meteoric. She was a talented component for the Warriors a season ago, but she wasted no time in 2022-2023 pushing herself to the front of the conference.
She averaged 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds during her junior season and was a major reason why the Warriors were in the hunt at the top of the conference. Kneubuhler scored 20 or more point on six occasions and really demanded notice from others in December when she scored 30 against Heritage, 24 against Concordia and 24 against Wayne Trace, all in just a four game stretch.
HONORABLE MENTION: Athena Schwartz, Adams Central; Sophie Saxman, Jay County; Haley Gibson, Bluffton; Gaby Bilbrey, Jay County
COACH OF THE YEAR: Kirk Comer, Jay County
Comer just does a tremendous job to make sure the Patriots are a well oiled machine and did so again this season by continuing to develop the depth of his team. Comer has developed this group, and while Schwieterman was clearly as the top of the conference, there were so many other names and faces that helped the Patriots and Comer deserves a lot of credit for making it all work and at such a high level in and out of the ACAC.
Dynasties can be a lot of fun and Jay County is proof to that in the ACAC. You can’t help but to give a lot of credit to Comer and his staff for cultivating that.
HONORABLE MENTION: Gary Cobb, Woodlan
EARLY 2024 ACAC CHAMPION PREDICTION: Woodlan
The face of this conference will drastically change next season with Renna Schwieterman gone after a dominating four years and Gary Cobb’s exit from Woodlan after a stellar coaching career.
So predicting the top could be hard, but we area going to give that thought to Woodlan, even without a coach at the present moment.
Taylor Kneubuhler will be one of the top returning players in the conference and she has shown she can pace the Warrior team against almost anyone. Brooke Kneubuhler will be one of the best returning Class of 2025 players in the conference as well. The returning Warrior group is poised to make a run.
So it will be interesting to see how the trail to next season plays out in this ever changing ACAC.
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