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 metaphorical hardware.
We continue today with the NE8.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Addison Baxter, Columbia City
This is a no brainer. The biggest in the history of no brainers?
Baxter is a flat out demon on the court and Bounce means that in absolutely the most flattering way possible. As she led Columbia City to a berth in the semi state night game, Baxter averaged an area best 23.1 points per game to go along with 5.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and an amazing 4.7 steals per game. Her ability to change the game and lead an offense even she she wasn’t scoring was fantastic.
What didn’t Baxter do? She finished as Columbia City’s all-time leading scorer and assister, regardless of gender. She also was the girls all-time steals leader and has the school’s all-time field goals made mark; she also finished as the NE8’s all-time leading scorer.
HONORABLE MENTION: Emily Bleke (Bellmont), Vanessa Rosswurm (Norwell), Ashley Cox (DeKalb), Leah Shappell (Leo)
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Emily Bleke, Bellmont
If you know Bounce’s awards and OTH history, you know MVP means something different than Player of the Year. MVP to us is someone who is legit the most valuable to their team and overall success of that program.
Winning the NE8 is never an easy task. Norwell, Bellmont and Columbia City are always strong at the top, while DeKalb, East Noble, Huntington North and Leo are pretty capable of pulling upsets on any given night. But for Bellmont this season, a perfect 7-0 in the conference is able to be credited in a lot of ways to their senior leader Bleke, who averaged 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 steals and a pair of assists per game.
Over her career, Bleke surpassed all of the major Bellmont milestones. She finished her career with 1,026 points as well at 504 rebounds and 200 steals.
HONORABLE MENTION: Marissa Trout (Huntington North), Ashley Bleke (Bellmont), Ashley Cox (DeKalb), Addison Deming (East Noble), Averi Amstutz (East Noble)
BREAKOUT/MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Macie Saalfrank, Norwell
As you will read more below, Norwell lost a lot after last season’s state finals appearance. And that meant that they were going to rely on some newish faces to step up, not just a little but into major roles.
Saalfrank was a major catalsyt in Norwell’s run to a Class 3A state title this season. The junior averaged 14.1 points, three rebounds and 2.8 steals per game as she was able to execute that Norwell game plan on both ends of the court.
A season before, as a sophomore, Saalfrank scored two total points and spent 3 minutes and 48 seconds on a varsity court all season. She flipped that to 408 total points as she played a combined 12 hours, 1 minute and 33 seconds on the court for Norwell.
HONORABLE MENTION: Luci Reich (Huntington North), Ashley Bleke (Bellmont)
COACH OF THE YEAR: Eric Thornton, Norwell
The argument over this ended the second the buzzer at Gainbridge Fieldhouse rang on March 1. Eric Thornton made it to the promised land and is a state champion.
Imagine taking a team – it doesn’t matter how experienced you are as a coach – losing a bunch of them after a state title game appearance and then just going right back to the state finals the next season and winning the whole thing? Keep in mind, Norwell lost arguably their best player ever after last season AND another 1,000-plus career point scorer.
What Thornton has done over all of the years at Norwell is nothing short of wizardry, but he rallied this season. Norwell didn’t have the best record in the area, they did not win the NECC title, but they were prepared when a run at state was on the table again. In the process, they avenged a loss to Bellmont for a sectional title and also avenged a loss to Columbia City to even get to the title game.
HONORABLE MENTION: Amy Shearer (Columbia City), Andy Heim (Bellmont)
GAME OF THE YEAR: Bellmont vs. Columbia City, January 10
There were plenty of other valid options for this spot and most of them revolved around these two teams, as well as Norwell. But despite this being a double digit advantage in the end, a 53-41 win for the Braves, the entirety of this game and the story it told was fascinating.
The first half was a bit rough, with numerous turnovers and fouls, but that didn’t mean that we weren’t seeing a war with NE8 implications. Turnovers were not often unforced, the teams were really getting after eachother. Bellmont held a narrow 9-7 lead going into the second quarter and extended it to 21-14 by halftime as they were really able to stifle the Columbia City offense.
The Eagles hit zero three point shots in the game, despite Addison Baxter scoring a game high 26 points in the loss. Bellmont was paced by Ashley Bleke’s 23 points, while Emily Bleke added 10.
EARLY 2025-26 CONFERENCE CHAMP PICK: Norwell
Vanessa Rosswurm is back.
That could be the entire paragraph, because its a big deal. Rosswurm was really good a year ago and this past season she was a superstar as one of the area’s top scorers at 22.4 points per game. Her return is crucial, but so is getting back Macie Saalfrank (14.1 ppg) and Addison Norris, among other names.
But you can look above at the coach of the year if you need any more value to why I think Norwell wins the title next season. Norwell is Norwell. They reload and they have the coach to do it and make it work. Also keep in mind that this is a program who succeeds on every level down through the middle school and that kind of continuity is essentially unmatched for any other program, boys or girls, in Northeast Indiana right now.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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