North Penn senior Lauren Crisler and Council Rock South senior Alexis Hofstaedter were named to the 2012-13 PA Sports Writers All-State Team (Class AAAA).
By Mary Jane Souder
Lauren Crisler and Alexis Hofstaedter have been fixtures in their respective lineups for the past four years.
While Crisler was busy leading the North Penn Maidens to new heights this season, Hofstaedter was picking up the slack at Council Rock South with the graduation of all-state center Alex Wheatley.
The two senior standouts capped marvelous careers with their selection to the 2012-13 PA Sports Writers All-State Girls’ Basketball Team (Class AAAA). Crisler earned first team honors and Hofstaedter was named to the second team.
Talk to coach Maggie DeMarteleire, and she knew she had inherited a future star when Crisler opted to stay at North Penn.
“She played AAU a lot of years, and a lot of those kids are going to schools where they give you (scholarship) money,” the Maidens coach said. “Her family was so loyal to North Penn. I had just started there, and I am so grateful that they did that.
“She has been the ultimate team player. She works really hard every day at practice. The only game she missed her whole career was the very last regular season game against Pennridge this year with a sprained ankle after she toughed it out in the CB West game. She just sets an example by her work ethic.”
Propelled in no small part by the play of Crisler, the Maidens captured a share of the SOL Continental Conference crown and advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
“It’s been a really special season,” deMarteleire said. “And Lauren has been the glue. She has the person that has just led us there.
“There have been players before her that have pulled us up, and the program has definitely improved. The person I always want to emulate is (former Cheltenham coach) Bob Schaefer, and I think we’ve taken a step towards that. This is the culmination of Lauren’s hard work.”
Crisler averaged 15.3 points and 9.6 rebounds a game this season. She closed out her career with 1,161 points, but stats don’t begin to tell the story of her contributions. Even if Crisler wasn’t scoring, the 6-2 senior captain - who can handle the ball - was a steadying presence in the lineup.
“She is a terrific role model and just a great leader by example,” deMarteleire said.
Crisler has accepted a full basketball scholarship to American University.
Hofstaedter’s all-state selection came on the heels of receiving the Markward Club’s Female Player of the Year award for the suburbs, and the senior point guard finds herself in the spotlight after years of unselfishly setting up her teammates.
“She’s come such a long way in her career,” coach Monica Stolic said. “She was always ‘the other ‘player. She’s the one that got the ball to Alex for three years and all her other teammates.
“This year she knew she had to score more points and really lead this team, and she did.”
Stolic gave Hofstaedter a mandate heading into her final season.
“I said, ‘Okay, you’ve averaged eight or nine points a game, but you have to really pick it up,” Stolic said. “I didn’t even know if she could because she isn’t used to shooting that much.”
The senior point guard answered the call, averaging 15 points a game, but Hofstaedter’s legacy will not be the points she scored but rather the points others scored because of her passes. She leaves Rock South as Council Rock School District’s all-time assist leader with 583.
Despite having the ball in her hands on almost every possession for four years, Hofstaedter averaged just two turnovers a game.
“She took care of the basketball,” Stolic said. “She’s so unselfish. That’s why I’m really happy for her.
“You ask her if she’d rather have the points or assists, and I’m sure she’d say assists. That’s a testament to who she is as a person too.”
Hofstaedter and Wheatley, under Stolic, led the Golden Hawks to lofty heights, developing a winning tradition in a program that had won just five games the year before Stolic and Wheatley arrived on the scene.
“It’s the players,” Stolic said. “You can’t win without good players.”
In addition to scoring 15 points a game as a senior, Hofstaedter also averaged 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game.
“This is something Alexis deserved,” Stolic said of the all-state honor. “She put the time in the gym, she works with Jimmy Dillon, she plays AAU – it’s all paying off for her, so that’s great. I couldn’t be more happy for her.”
Hofstaedter has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at the College of William and Mary next year.
2012-13 PA Sports Writers All-State Girls’ Basketball Team (CLASS AAAA)
First team
Lauren Crisler, North Penn, 6-2, Sr., 15.3 ppg
Sarah Curran, Archbishop Carroll, 6-0, Sr., 15.1 ppg
Kaitlyn Eisenhard, Boyertown, 6-1, Sr., 15.7 ppg
Jackie Falconer, Cumberland Valley, 6-1, Sr., 15.7 ppg
Shanice Johnson, Cardinal O'Hara, 6-1, Sr., 11.9 ppg
Erin Mathias, Fox Chapel, 6-3, Jr., 17.1 ppg
Sammy Stipa, Spring-Ford, 5-5, Jr., 11.0 ppg
Isis Thorpe, Reading, 5-8, Sr., 19.4 ppg
Second team
Victoria Blackburn, Hershey, 5-7, Sr., 15.4 ppg
CaLee Gelbaugh, Central Dauphin East, 5-8, Jr., 18.8 ppg
Emily Gingrich, Gov. Mifflin, 5-8, Sr., 16.7 ppg
Alexis Hofstaedter, Council Rock South, 5-8, Sr., 15.0 ppg
Alex Louin, Mount St. Joseph, 5-11, Jr., 15.8 ppg
Megan Marecic, Bethel Park, 5-11, Jr., 15.8 ppg
Third team
Mia Farmer, Cardinal O'Hara, 5-9, Jr., 11.5 ppg
Morgan Griffith, Hollidaysburg, 6-0, Sr., 14.9 ppg
Alayah Hall, Dover, 5-7, Jr., 15.5 ppg
Darby Lee, Altoona, 6-0, Jr., 18.8 ppg
Avery Marz, Wilson, 5-7, Jr., 10.7 ppg
Shelby Mueller, Spring-Ford, 5-10, Jr., 10.7 ppg
Sarah Payonk, Spring-Ford, 5-11, Sr., 10.3 ppg
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:Sarah Curran, Archbishop Carroll
COACH OF THE YEAR:Jeff Rinehimer, Spring-Ford
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